Is Shopee’s Mari Credit Card Singapore’s Best Unlimited Cashback Card?—MoneySmart Review (2024)

mari credit card moneysmart review 2024

Who knew that Singapore’s highest-earning unlimited cashback card would come from…Shopee? 

The Mari Credit Card is named after MariBank, Shopee’s digital bank. With this card, you can earn 5% unlimited Shopee Coins on your Shopee spending. Considering that Shopee is the biggest e-commerce platform in Singapore and people order anything from groceries to home furniture on it, those rebates could really add up.

But that’s not all. The Mari Credit Card will also earn you an unlimited 1.7% cashback on your other card spending, which Shopee claims is the highest unlimited cashback rate in Singapore. They’re not lying—the 1.7% puts them in first place, albeit tied with the UOB Absolute Cashback Card.

5% unlimited Shopee coins, 1.7% unlimited cashback, and no annual fee. Is the Mari Credit Card too good to be true? Let’s take a look.

Mari Credit Card—Is it MoneySmart?
mari credit card moneysmart review Overall : ★★★☆☆ (2.8/5) Best for: As you can guess, Shopee-holics and MariBank users. This is not a bad credit card, but it is a niche one. The catch: You must have a MariBank account, and the 5% Shopee Coins rebate is a promotion set to end on 30 Sep 2024.
Pros—What we like			Cons—What we don’t like
– 5% Shopee Coins on Shopee spend (from now to 30 Sep 2024) – 1.7% cashback on card spend – 5% Shopee Coins on Shopee can stack with Shopee platform vouchers. – No minimum spend – No cap on cashback or Shopee Coins earned – No annual fee			– You must have a Mari Credit Account and link it to your Shopee account to earn your 5% Shopee Coins. – The 5% Shopee Coins and 1.7% cashback do not stack; you can earn one or the other, but not both on the same purchase. – High foreign currency fee of 3.77%. Do not use this card overseas!
Mari Credit Card at a glance
Category		Our rating		The deets
Earn rates: Cashback		★★☆☆☆		–5% Shopee Coins on Shopee spend (from now to 30 Sep 2024) – 1.7% cashback on card spend – No minimum spend – No cashback or Shopee Coins cap – Usual exceptions apply, e.g. Annual fees, instalments, bills, payments to educational, governmental, and financial institutions, insurance premiums, and more.
Earn categories		★★★★★
Annual fees and charges		★★★★★		No annual fee
Accessibility		★★★★☆		Minimum income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans and PRs) Minimum age: 21 years and above
Extras/periphery rewards		☆☆☆☆☆		Unlike credit cards from banks that offer things like dining privileges and complimentary travel insurance, this card just does its one job of earning you cashback or Shopee Coins.
Sign-up bonus		★☆☆☆☆		Currently no welcome bonus aside from the 5% Shopee Coins rebate ongoing till 30 Sep 2024. From 24 Jul 2024 to 31 Aug 2024, sign up with the promo code [MCCMONSM] to enjoy $8 cashback* when you successfully sign up for the Mari Credit Card and make your first spend. * Not sponsored—MoneySmart doesn’t earn anything if you use the promo code above. We’re just sharing a potentially useful code with our readers.

See our credit card ranking rubric to find out how we rank credit cards.

 

Mari Credit Card—MoneySmart Review (2024)

1. Mari Credit Card: Cashback earn rates and categories

2. Mari Credit Card: Do the cashback and Shopee Coins earnings stack?

3. Mari Credit Card: Is the 5% Shopee Coins rebate good?

4. Mari Credit Card fees and charges

5. Should I get the Mari Credit Card?

6. How do I apply for the Mari Credit Card?

7. Alternatives to the Mari Credit Card

 

1. Mari Credit Card: Cashback earn rates and categories

There are 2 ways you can earn with the Mari Credit Card:

• Shopee Coins credited to your Shopee account (from now to 30 Sep 2024)

• Cashback credited to your card account

How do I earn 5% Shopee Coins with the Mari Credit Card?

From now to 30 Sep 2024, pay for your Shopee purchases using Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout to earn an unlimited 5% Shopee Coins rebate. The Shopee Coins will appear in your Shopee account on your Shopee app.

To pay using Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout, you must:

1. Have a Mari Credit Account

2. Link your Mari Credit Account with your Shopee account via the MariBank App

3. Keep these 2 accounts linked until you get your Shopee Coins reward

To earn Shopee Coins via this method, you must select “Pay In Full” as the payment option on Shopee. These payment methods will not earn you the 5% Shopee Coins:

• Instalments

• Credit Card/Debit Card option (when you manually input your Mari Credit Card details)

• Google Pay

• Apple Pay

If you pay using any of the last 3 options, Shopee will classify your purchase as a card transaction instead, for which you’ll earn 1.7% cashback.

Read more about the terms and conditions for the Mari Credit Card Shopee Coins Promotion.

 

How do I earn 1.7% cashback with the Mari Credit Card?

Outside of Shopee, you’ll earn 1.7% cashback on eligible purchases.

On the Shopee app, if you aren’t paying by Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout, you’ll also earn 1.7% unlimited cashback.

Either way, this 1.7% cashback will be credited to your card account and be used to offset your next Mari Credit Card statement.

As always, exclusions like utilities, medical bills, education, and taxes do not earn you the 1.7% cashback. Read more about the terms and conditions for the Mari Credit Card’s cashback.

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2. Mari Credit Card: Do the cashback and Shopee Coins earnings stack? 

If only they did! But no:

• If you use Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout, you’ll earn 5% Shopee Coins.

• If you don’t use Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout, you’ll earn 1.7% cashback.

Unfortunately, these are mutually exclusive and don’t stack.

On the plus side, at least both are unlimited.

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3. Mari Credit Card: Is the 5% Shopee Coins rebate good?

By itself, a 5% Shopee Coins rebate isn’t very impressive—not when the cashback vouchers you can claim in the Shopee app range from 10% to 80% (via Shopee Live).

Image: Shopee. Navigate to “Daily Vouchers” under the first tab, “Daily Discover”, to claim your platform vouchers.

The good news is that the 5% Shopee Coins rebate promised by the Mari Credit Card doesn’t replace your platform vouchers, but adds to them.

As of 16 Jul 2024, MariBank has updated their terms and conditions to allow the 5% unlimited Shopee Coins rebate to stack with other in-app platform vouchers. For example, that means if I apply a 10% cashback voucher on my Shopee app and pay using Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout, I’ll earn 10% + 5% Shopee Coins from my purchase. That’s 15% cashback in the form of Shopee Coins.

This stacking is explained in clause 2.7 of the Mari Credit Card Shopee Coins Promotion’s updated terms and conditions.

Clause 2.7 before 16 Jul 2024			Clause 2.7 from 16 Jul 2024
“For the avoidance of doubt, Orders eligible to earn Cashback under the Promotion will not be eligible to earn any additional Cashback (including in the form of Shopee Coins) under any other Cashback or rewards program offered by Us, unless otherwise specified.”			“For the avoidance of doubt, Orders eligible to earn Cashback under the Promotion can be stacked with other promotions offered by our Affiliates and/or Marketing Partners (including but not limited to rewards granted in Shopee Vouchers), depending on their respective terms and conditions.

Friendly reminder if you plan on stacking cashback vouchers with the Mari Credit Card’s 5% Shopee Coins offer: Shopee’s in-app cashback vouchers only apply to items with Shopee’s dark blue cashback label, like the product listing on the left:

Image: Shopee

Without the cashback label, Shopee cashback vouchers will not earn you any Shopee Coins from your purchase of that item.

Regardless of how you earn them, Shopee Coins expire at the end of the third month from when they were awarded. If you don’t use Shopee enough to make use of them within 3 months, these rebates won’t be useful to you.

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4. Mari Credit Card fees and charges

The Mari Credit card goes very light on the fees—$0 annual fee!—but heavy on foreign currency charges. Don’t use this card overseas or to buy purchases with foreign currencies!

Here’s a summary of their fees, interest, and other charges:

Mari Credit Card fees and charges
Annual Card Fee	None
Late Fee	None. However, they will charge you late interest—see below.
Overlimit Fee	None
Interest-free period	Up to 51 calendar days from statement date (inclusive), if there is no balance carried forward from previous statement.
Minimum Payment Due	3% of the Statement Due (or S$30, whichever is greater) plus any amount that is overdue and/or exceeds your credit limit.
Interest on outstanding balances (Nominal Interest)	27.99% per annum, if the Statement Due is not paid in full by Due Date.
Late Interest on outstanding balances (Late Interest)	30.99% per annum, if the Minimum Payment Due is not paid in full by Due Date.
Foreign Currency Transactions	3.77% (includes the 1% charge imposed by MasterCard)

 

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ALSO READ: 3 Best Credit Card Pairings for Maximising Cashback, Miles, and Rewards

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5. Should I get the Mari Credit Card?

Get the Mari Credit Card if you:

• Regularly shop on Shopee (but do note that the 5% Shopee Coins rebate promotion is only valid till 30 Sep 2024!)

• Want an unlimited cashback card—1.7% is the best rate out there. It’s tied with the UOB Absolute Cashback Card, but the Mari Credit Card edges out the competition by being Mastercard. The UOB Absolute Cashback’s card association is Amex, which is not as widely accepted.

• Hate paying annual fees or calling the bank to get them waived.

Don’t get the Mari Credit Card if you:

• Do not have and do not want to have a MariBank account.

• Love credit card privileges like dining discounts and complimentary travel insurance—none here.

• Are expecting a welcome gift—also none here.

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6. How do I apply for the Mari Credit Card?

If you’ve been looking for the application page online to no avail, here’s why: the Mari Credit Card is currently on an invite-only basis.

How do you check if you’ve been invited? That depends on whether you’re:

• An existing Mari Credit Account user;

• An existing MariBank customer, but not a Mari Credit Account or Mari Credit Card user yet; or

• Not a MariBank customer yet

 

For existing Mari Credit Account users

1. Log in to your MariBank app.

2. Tap Mari Credit Card on the home screen.

3. Tap on Get Card Now.

 

For existing MariBank customers who are not Mari Credit Account or Mari Credit Card users:

1. Log in to your MariBank app.

2. Tap Mari Credit Card on the home screen.

3. Tap Apply.

4. Register for Mari Credit Card digitally with Singpass.

 

For those who are not MariBank customers yet

1. Download the MariBank app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or Huawei AppGallery.

2. Register with a valid Singapore mobile number.

3. Apply for Mari Credit Card digitally with Singpass.

Source: MariBank

In all cases, you’ll receive a virtual credit card immediately once you apply for the Mari Credit Card.

Mari Credit Card upcoming sign-up promotion: $8 cashback

MariBank is set to launch the Mari Credit Card to the public on 24 Jul 2024. If you’re planning on getting it, sign up with the promo code [MCCMONSM] to enjoy $8 cashback when you successfully sign up for the Mari Credit Card and make your first spend.

Disclaimer: We don’t get a cut if you use the promo code above. We’re just sharing it because why say no to extra cashback?

This promotion will run from 24 Jul 2024 to 31 Aug 2024. T&Cs apply.

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7. Alternatives to the Mari Credit Card

To compete with the 5% Shopee Coins rebate

UOB One Card: If you spend $2,000 a month, you can get 10% cashback on Shopee and other merchants like McDonald’s (including McDelivery®), DFI Retail Group (Cold Storage, CS Fresh, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven and more), Grab (including GrabFood) and SimplyGo (bus and train rides).

UOB logo

MoneySmart Exclusive

LUCKY DRAW | Up to 10% Cashback

UOB One Card

Cashback on McDonald's, DFI Retail Group, Grab, Shopee, SP and more

Up to 10%

Cashback Cap per quarter

Up to S$500

Min. Spend per month

^S$500

MoneySmart Exclusive:

[LUCKY DRAW]
Stand a chance to win a Cartier Santos-Dumont Watch - Large Model, Blue (worth S$6,000) or an Apple 11-inch iPad Air WiFi, 128GB (worth S$899) or a Sony PlayStation 5 SLIM Digital Edition (worth S$669) when you apply and spend a min. of S$1,000 in Eligible Transactions each month for the first two consecutive months from the card approval date. T&Cs apply.
 
PLUS get S$350 Cash Credit from UOB when you are the first 200 new-to-UOB credit card customers in July 2024 who successfully apply for an eligible UOB Credit Card and spend a min. of S$1,000 per month for 2 consecutive months from their card approval date. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 11 Aug 2024

Apply Now

More Details

Key Features

• Up to 10% cashback on McDonald's (including McDelivery®)

• Up to 10% cashback at Shopee Singapore (excludes ShopeePay)

• Up to 10% cashback at DFI Retail Group (Cold Storage, CS Fresh, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven & more)

• Up to 10% cashback at Grab (including GrabFood, excludes Grab mobile wallet top-ups)

• Up to 10% cashback (bus and train rides)

• Up to 10% cashback on UOB Travel

• Up to 4.33% cashback on Singapore Power utilities bill.

• Up to 3.33% cashback on all retail spend (based on S$500, S$1,000 or S$2,000)

• Fuel savings of up to 22.66% at Shell and SPC

• Exclusions and T&Cs at uob.com.sg/onetncs

• At MoneySmart, we strive to keep our information accurate and up to date. This information may be different from what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider, or specific product site. MoneySmart shall not be liable to compensate the Customer should the information is not as updated as our Partner.

See all card details 

 

To compete with the no minimum spend 1.7% unlimited cashback

UOB Absolute Cashback Card: Also 1.7% unlimited cashback, but the card association is Amex and so may not be as widely accepted.

UOB logo

MoneySmart Exclusive

LUCKY DRAW | 1.7% Unlimited Cashback

UOB Absolute Cashback Card

Cash Back on Eligible Spend

1.7%

Min. Spend per month

^S$0

Cash Back Cap

Unlimited

MoneySmart Exclusive:

[LUCKY DRAW]
Stand a chance to win a Cartier Santos-Dumont Watch - Large Model, Blue (worth S$6,000) or an Apple 11-inch iPad Air WiFi, 128GB (worth S$899) or a Sony PlayStation 5 SLIM Digital Edition (worth S$669) when you apply and spend a min. of S$1,000 in Eligible Transactions each month for the first two consecutive months from the card approval date. T&Cs apply.
 
PLUS get S$350 Cash Credit from UOB when you are the first 200 new-to-UOB credit card customers in July 2024 who successfully apply for an eligible UOB Credit Card and spend a min. of S$1,000 per month for 2 consecutive months from their card approval date. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 11 Aug 2024

Apply Now

More Details

Key Features

• Enjoy 1.7% limitless cashback across all your local retail spend including groceries, insurance, as well as big purchases such as home furnishings, electronics and luxury shopping.

• Enjoy 1.7% limitless cashback across all your overseas spend.

• Enjoy 0.3% limitless cashback on generally excluded spend such as Grab mobile wallet top-up, Charity, Education, Government, Healthcare, Utilities and other Professional services.

• No minimum spend and no spend exclusions ("No spend exclusions" does not include NETS transactions made with the UOB Absolute Cashback Card)

• At MoneySmart, we strive to keep our information accurate and up to date. This information may be different from what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider, or specific product site. MoneySmart shall not be liable to compensate the Customer should the information is not as updated as our Partner.

See all card details 

Citi Cash Back+ Card: Just 0.1 percentage-point lower cashback, and with Mastercard as the card association. Plus, better welcome offers.

Citibank logo

MoneySmart Exclusive

REWARDS RUSH HOUR FLASH DEAL

Citi Cash Back+ Card

Cash Back on Eligible Spend

1.6%

Min. Spend per month

^S$0

Cash Back Cap per month

Unlimited

MoneySmart Exclusive:

[REWARDS RUSH HOUR | FASTEST GIFT FULFILMENT]
Get UPSIZED CASH REWARDS of S$430* or 5,040 SmartPoints + S$80 Trip.com Coupon, in as fast as 4 weeks from meeting the S$500 spend criteria! T&Cs apply.
 
For a limited time, get additional Rewards Rush Hour gifts ON TOP of your baseline gift when you meet the flash deal criteria!

• Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS), 41mm (worth S$604.50) or

• Apple 10.9-inch iPad (10th Gen), 64GB (worth S$529) or

• Sony PlayStation®5 (SLIM) Digital Edition (worth S$669)

Use 5,040 SmartPoints to fully redeem a product from our Rewards Store. If the product costs more, redeem with your points and top up the rest by purchasing additional SmartPoints e.g. get an Apple 10.9-inch iPad Wi‑Fi 64GB (10th Generation) at only S$110 on top of your earned SmartPoints.

Valid until 23 Jul 2024

Apply Now

More Details

Key Features

• 1.6% cash back on your eligible spend all year round

• No minimum spend required and no cap on cash back earned

• Cash back earned does not expire

• Redeem your cash back instantly on-the-go

• Earn 0.4% Bonus Cash Back on your eligible spend if you are a Citi Plus customer who is the Primary Account Holder of a Citi Interest Booster Account

• With Citi PayAll, you can earn and accumulate Citi Miles, Citi ThankYou PointsSM or Cash Back quickly when you pay your big-ticket bills such as rent, insurance premiums, education expenses, taxes, utilities and more. T&Cs apply.

• At MoneySmart, we strive to keep our information accurate and up to date. This information may be different from what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider, or specific product site. MoneySmart shall not be liable to compensate the Customer should the information is not as updated as our Partner.

See all card details 

OCBC INFINITY Cashback Card: This card is very similar to the Citi Cash Back+ Card, with the same cashback rate and card association. Read my review of the OCBC INIFINITY Cashback Card for a thorough comparison of Singapore’s unlimited cashback cards.

OCBC logo

MoneySmart Exclusive

LUCKY DRAW | Earn 1.6% unlimited cashback

OCBC INFINITY Cashback Card

on eligible transactions

Earn 1.6% Cashback

Min. Spend

^S$0

Cashback Cap

Unlimited

MoneySmart Exclusive:

[LUCKY DRAW]
Stand a chance to win A Pair of Cat 1 Tickets to Jay Chou Carnival World Tour 2024 - Singapore (worth S$796) when you apply & submit the MoneySmart Claim Form (without the Unique Redemption Code first*) by 4 Sept 2024! No min spend required!
 
[MONEYSMART EXCLUSIVE GIFT]
Earn 1,890 SmartPoints or S$200 Cash via PayNow when you apply and spend a min. of S$500 in qualifying spends within 30 days from card approval date. T&Cs apply.
 
Use 1,890 SmartPoints to fully redeem a product from our Rewards Store. If the product costs more, redeem with your points and top up the rest by purchasing additional SmartPoints e.g. get an Apple 10.2 inch iPad Wi-Fi (9th Generation) 64GB at only S$315 on top of your earned SmartPoints.

Valid until 04 Aug 2024

Apply Now

More Details

Key Features

• Earn 1.6% in unlimited cashback on transactions made in stores or online, locally or overseas.

• No minimum spending required to earn cashback

• No limit to the cashback you can earn

• Cashback willl be credited automatically to your card account

See all card details 

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P.S. Here’s our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric

In case you’re wondering, here’s how we decide on our credit card rankings.

Is that credit card MoneySmart? Our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric
Category	Our rating
Overall	The average rating for the credit card on the whole, calculated from the ratings for the individual categories below. Plus, we’ll give you a one-liner on who we think the credit card is best suited for.
Earn rates: Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points	Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points . This category looks at the depth rather than breadth of earn rates. ✈ ✈ ✈ ✈ ✈ 5 stars means this card’s got the highest earn rates within that credit card type. 3-4 stars mean it’s average 1-2 stars reflect earn rates that are below average.
Earn categories	This category looks at the breadth rather than depth of your earnings. 5 stars: Earn with ANY spend. 3-4 stars: Earn on a large number of categories (e.g. all dining, transport and retail, but not telco bills) OR earn on 1 very broad category (e.g. all contactless/mobile payments). 1-2 stars: Earn a decent rate only on selected categories, such as fast food only.
Annual fees and charges	5 stars: $0  4 stars: $1-200 3 stars: $201-500 2 stars: $501-$999 1 star: $1,000 and up We dock a star if fee waiver is NOT allowed.
Accessibility	Minimum income requirements: 5 stars: Less than $30,000 a year 4 stars: Around $30,000 a year for Singaporeans and $40,000-$45,000 for non-Singaporeans 3 stars: $30,000-$60,000 a year for Singaporeans, $40,000-$70,000 for non-Singaporeans 2 stars: $60,000-$120,000 a year for Singaporeans, $70,000-$120,000 for non-Singaporeans 1 star: $120,000 and up for either, or both Exclusivity: We dock 1-2 stars if there is/are another category/categories that make the card exclusive and very specific to a certain clientele.
Extras/periphery rewards	These include: Travel benefits, such as airport lounge access Lifestyle benefits, such as spa privileges Dining benefits, such as complimentary AMEX Love Dining or Entertainer with HSBC subscriptions We count the number of benefits and award between 0.5 to 2 stars for each, depending on how good the perk is.
Sign-up bonus	5 stars: The gift(s), cash, or miles are the highest we see out there compared to other credit cards of the same type (miles, cashback, etc). Also easy to attain these welcome bonuses. 3-4 stars: Average but not disappointing sign-up bonus compared to other credit cards. You aren’t losing out. 1-2 stars: You are probably losing out in terms of the welcome bonus you’re getting; there are other similar credit cards with sign-up bonuses that are better or easier to attain.

Check out our ultimate list of credit card reviews for the low-down on credit cards in Singapore.

 

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About the author

Vanessa Nah is a personal finance content writer who pens articles on the ins and outs of buying your first home, the T&Cs of credit cards, and the ups and downs of alternative investments. She’s a researcher at heart and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to breaking down complex finance concepts and making them easy to understand for the everyday Singaporean. When Vanessa’s not debunking finance myths, you’ll find her attending dance classes, fingerpicking a guitar, or (most impawtently) fulfilling her life mission to make her one-eyed cat the most spoiled and loved kitty in the world.

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Original article: Is Shopee’s Mari Credit Card Singapore’s Best Unlimited Cashback Card?—MoneySmart Review (2024).

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