Yahoo Finance Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card – MoneySmart Review 2022
As Singaporeans living in a Smart Nation, heads bowed over our smartphones, our every move tracked by security cameras that are getting smarter by the day, the new Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card seems like it would be relevant to our lives.
So what makes this card so smart? Does it have bluetooth? Can it measure your body temperature? Nope, but it gives you a generous 6% worth of cashback on some of the most mundane transactions like your daily MRT ride or breakfast at Toast Box. Let’s see if it’s as good as it sounds.
Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card T&Cs
Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card | |
Annual fee & waiver | – |
Supplementary annual fee | – |
Interest free period | 0 |
Annual interest rate | 23.9%, 26.9% or 29.9% based on bank’s assessment of your credit profile |
Late payment fee | $100 |
Minimum monthly repayment | 1% or $50, whichever is higher |
Foreign currency transaction fee | 3.5% |
Cash advance transaction fee | – |
Overlimit fee | $40 |
Minimum income | $30,000 |
Card association | Visa |
Wireless payment | Visa Contactless, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Good Pay |
How does the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card work?
The card serves mainly as a vehicle for Standard Chartered’s EasyPay installment plans. EasyPay lets you split a single transaction into an installment plan lasting 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.
With the Smart Credit Card, you get three-month interest-fee installments. All service fees are refunded to you via cashback, making the plan totally free so long as you pay it back in full and on time.
So, if you make a $1,500 purchase and decide to pay it back over three interest-free installments, you will pay $500 per month over three months.
Another thing to note about the card is that the interest rate is variable. Twice a year, the bank will assess your credit rating and assign you an interest rate (23.9%, 26.9% or 29.9%) based on that.
As someone who uses credit cards purely for perks like cashback, none of the above sounds relevant or exciting at all. So let’s go into the actual reasons this card might be worth your time.
If you’re a seasoned credit card hunter, you might already have noticed from the table above that the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card doesn’t charge any annual fees or cash advance transaction fees. At the very least, this saves you from having to call the bank annually begging for an annual fee waiver.
But of course, the real reason you’re still reading this is because you want to know about the 6% cashback right? More on that below.
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Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card
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Valid until 31 Mar 2022
More Details
Key Features
0% interest 3-month EasyPay on all eligible expenditure with 100% cashback on fees. Earn Rewards Points on your instalments.
Enjoy dining and shopping discount privileges at over 3,000 outlets in Asia with Standard Chartered’s The Good Life benefits program
6% cashback on your everyday spend at your favourite merchants across fast food dining, coffee and toast, digital subscriptions and on your daily commute (Bus/MRT). No minimum spend requirement.
6% cashback on Netflix & Spotify, but only for a month…
The card promises 6% cashback when you spend on certain types of everyday expenditure, with no minimum requirement each month. That makes it one of the only credit cards to offer such a generous cashback rate with no minimum spending required!
However, the 6% cashback is only valid in the first 30 days of card approval.
The 6% cashback rate is doled out when you spend on the following in Singapore:
McDonald’s
KFC
Subway
Burger King
Ya Kun Kaya Toast
Toast Box
Fun Toast
Bus and MRT rides via SimplyGo
Netflix
Spotify
YouTube
Disney+
Granted, most of us do not eat at McDonald’s and Burger King every day (at least I hope not), but those who commute daily by public transport finally have a way to claw a bit of those fares back… but only for a month.
How does the Standard Chartered Smart Card cashback work?
Actually getting your hands on that one month’s worth of cashback adds administrative bother to your life, because the cashback isn’t simply credited to your next statement.
No, Standard Chartered makes life more difficult by giving it to you in the form of 360° Rewards Points, which you can also use to redeem gifts in their rewards catalogue.
If you have no desire for dining vouchers or hotel staycations and just want to exchange your points for the cashback you were promised, $10 cashback will cost you 3,200 rewards points.
Your first batch of Standard Chartered rewards points are only valid for 3 years from the day your Smart Credit Card account is opened. So you want to be very careful to exchange all your rewards points for cashback before they expire.
Also note that is a cap on the number of bonus points you can earn each month, equivalent to about $818 worth of spending. Although, to be fair, you’d have to eat an obscene amount of McDonald’s meals to bust that limit.
Who is the Standard Chartered Smart Card for?
As the Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card gives you a nice, high cashback rate on certain expenses for a month, you might want to sign up just for this promotion. In addition, you can get 6 months of Disney+ subscription for free and up to $300 cashback when you spend $350.
However, you’ll have to live with the administrate hassle of exchanging your rewards points for cashback.
Since there’s no annual fee, there’s no harm in applying for the card and then keeping it in the back of your wallet as a backup.
If you regularly use instalment plans, it can also serve as an alternative to Buy Now Pay Later services, although you should be aware that only 3 months’ worth of instalments are fee-free.
Alternatives to the Standard Chartered Smart Card
The Smart Card isn’t the only 0% installment plan credit card around. Here are some others to check out.
OCBC Cashflo Card – 0%-interest auto-installments stretching out over 3 or 6 months. Also gives you 1% cashback on your spending if you spend more than $1,000 in a month.
OCBC Cashflo Credit Card
More Details
Key Features
Stretch payments across 3 or 6 months with 0% interest
Up to 1% cash rebate on all spend
Discounts on movie tickets and F&B at Cathay Cineplexes
POSB Everyday Card – Under POSB’s My Preferred Payment Plan, you can get 0% interest, fee-free installments up to 6 months. The card also offers cash rebates on a number of things, including 10% on foodpanda, Deliveroo and WhyQ, 8% at Redmart, up to 8% at Amazon, Lazada and more, 5% at ShengSiong, and 3% on dining, electricity and telco bills, Watsons and Pet Lovers Centre
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Valid until 31 Mar 2022
More Details
Key Features
No minimum spend
Base cashback rate: 0.3% POSB Daily$ rebate for all purchases
Activate SimplyGo to use your card as an EZ-Link card. SimplyGo charges MRT and bus fares to your credit card, eliminating the need for auto top-ups
Link the POSB Everyday Card to your DBS or POSB Savings or Current account to use card at ATM
Standard Chartered Spree Card – Like the Smart Card, this card gives you access to Easy Pay, too, with transactions above $200 split into 6 or 12-month interest-free installments. You’ll have to pay a service fee, though.
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