Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card – MoneySmart Review 2022

Note: As of 5 December 2022, the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card was renamed to the Simply Cash Credit Card along with a card redesign. 

The premise of the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card is extremely simple — 1.5% cashback on everything with no minimum spending and no rebate cap.

Okay, so 1.5% doesn’t sound impressive. But most cashback cards require that you fulfil their minimum spending requirements before they’ll grudgingly hand over the rebates. And even so, there’s a limit to how much you can receive.

This cashback card promises you won’t have to suffer any of these two scenarios. Let’s find out if it’s worth signing up for.

Contents

Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card: Summary
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Fees
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Minimum Spend
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Bonus Cashback
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Exclusions
Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Sign-up Promo
Should I get the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card?
Alternatives to the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card

1. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card: Summary 

As a fuss-free, anything-goes card, this is as simple as it gets. You get up to 1.5% cashback on all spending, with no cashback cap and no minimum spending requirements.

MoneySmart Exclusive
Cash Back on Eligible spendUp to 1.5%
Min. Spend per monthS$0
Cash Back CapUnlimited
MoneySmart Exclusive:

Apply and spend S$250 to get an Apple AirPods Gen 3 (worth S$269) or Nintendo Switch Lite (worth S$279) or S$250 Cash via PayNow. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 11 Dec 2022

Key Features

Flat 1.5% cashback rate for all eligible purchases

No cashback cap and no minimum spend

Enjoy dining and shopping discount privileges at over 3,000 outlets in Asia with Standard Chartered’s The Good Life benefits program

2 year annual fee waiver, no minimum spend required

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 

While the 1.5% cashback rate the card offers isn’t really super high, the card’s strength lies in how uncomplicated it is. If you’re not one to meticulously keep track of your spending in various categories, the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card definitely has its appeal.

However, if you also have the Unlimited$aver account, you can earn an additional bonus cashback of up to $100 per month. The catch – you must have at least $100,000 in your savings account.

2. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Fees

The Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card is a beginner-friendly card with a minimum annual income requirement of $30,000. Besides that, the card’s annual fee is also waived for 2 years while most credit cards offer a one-year fee waiver.

Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card

Annual fee & waiver
$192.60 including GST (waived for 2 years)

Supplementary annual fee

Interest free period

Annual interest rate
26.90%*

Late payment fee
$100

Minimum monthly repayment
1% or $50, whichever is higher

Foreign currency transaction fee
3.5%

Cash advance transaction fee
6%

Overlimit fee
$40

Minimum income
$30,000 (Singaporean/PR) / $60,000 (non-Singaporean)

Card association
Mastercard

Wireless payment
MasterCard PayPass, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay

*The effective interest rate is 26.90% per annum (minimum). If full payment is not received by payment due date, finance charges will apply and are calculated on a daily basis at 0.074% from transaction date to payment due date.

3. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Minimum Spend

One of the best things about this card is that there’s no minimum spend that you need to meet to qualify for cashback.

If you decide to spend only $10 on your card one month, you still get the 1.5% cash rebates. It doesn’t matter what you use the card on, and you don’t have to worry if you’re using it in the right spending categories, as the 1.5% applies to practically everything (there are a few exceptions, like taxes and EZ Link top-ups).

On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re going through major (read: very expensive) life changes such as getting married, buying a new home, going on a round-the-world trip to find yourself, this fuss-free credit card will still deliver the same 1.5% rebate on your sky-high expenses.

With most other cashback credit cards, you would bust the rebate cap unless you really dedicate yourself to gaming the system and splitting your expenses. And frankly, who even has time for that!?

4. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Bonus Cashback

The Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card offers a standard 1.5% cashback on all spend. The only way to boost this is if you also have an Unlimited$aver account with at least $100,000 parked in it.

If that’s you, then you can earn up to an additional 1.5% in cashback (up to $100) monthly. But if you do have $100,000 to put into a savings account, we’d suggest putting the lump sum into another savings account to earn higher interest.

5. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Exclusions

The Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card is quite honestly as fuss-free as credit cards get. However, here are a few key exclusions that will not earn you any cashback:

EZ-Link top ups
Government services
Parking payments
Tax payments
Payments to educational institutions
Insurance payments
Betting
Payments to brokerages
Cleaning, maintenance services
Recurring bill payments

It hardly discriminates but if you’re thinking you could earn a steady stream of cashback with recurring bill payments that you charge to your Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card, we’re sorry to burst your bubble but that’s not going to happen.

Also take note that you won’t earn cashback for EZ-Link top ups or any stored value card purchases.

6. Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card Sign-up Promo

Thinking of adding the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card to your wallet? Take advantage of the ongoing sign-up promo to get $80 cashback. Here’s how to qualify:

You must be new to Standard Chartered credit cards (or have cancelled yours more than a year ago)
Activate your physical card within 30 days of card approval
Promotion ends 3o September 2022

On top of the promo above, there’s also an ongoing additional cashback promo that will give you up to $140 if:

 You are new to Standard Chartered credit cards (or have cancelled yours more than a year ago)
Activate your physical card within 30 days of card approval
Spend $200 in eligible transactions within 30 days of card approval
Promotion ends 3o September 2022

Do note though, there is a cashback cap of $100 that you can earn in total even when you qualify for both promotions.

7. Should I get the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card?

The Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card is great for beginners who are new to the world of cashback credit cards. You don’t have to think too much about the spending categories and their respective cashback caps or even about hitting a minimum spend requirement.

The no minimum spend requirement is especially great for students and first jobbers who might not be raking up enough monthly expenses to meet the usual requirement ($600 and above) by cashback credit cards to earn bonus rebates. Plus, without the limitations of spending categories, you can earn uncapped cashback on everything from your McDelivery orders to Grab payments.

Speaking of which, if you have a big expense coming up (perhaps, a wedding banquet), you can earn unlimited cashback with the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card. There’s no need to worry about being limited by cashback caps!

8. Alternatives to the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card

Standard Chartered’s offering isn’t the only unlimited cashback credit card on the market. American Express, Maybank and even ICBC have entered the fray. But we’ll look at the most mainstream options here:

UOB Absolute Cashback Card – This card has the highest cashback in the market at 1.7%, with lesser exclusions (you can use this card to pay your insurance premiums!) than the Standard Chartered card. The main downside is that it’s an Amex card, so you’ll be hard-pressed to find smaller merchants to accept it.

Cash Back on Eligible Spend1.7%
Min. Spend per month$0
Spend ExclusionsNo

Citi Cashback+ Mastercard – This card plays second fiddle to the UOB Absolute Cashback card, offering 1.6% cashback. For 0.1% less cashback, you get the benefit of the Mastercard association – a very important thing to note with the existence of the Instarem Amaze Card. This lets you stack an additional 1% cashback.

Cash Back on Eligible Spend1.6%
Min. Spend per monthS$0
Cash Back CapUnlimited

Key Features

1.6% cashback on your spend

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 with Pay with Points or for cash rebate via SMS

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

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 

American Express True Cashback Card – Extremely similar to the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card as both offer 1.5% cashback. Amex True Cashback has the advantage of also offering 3% cashback during the first 6 months of card membership for your first $5,000 worth of spending.

Unlimited Cashback
Welcome Bonus (min. spend of $5,000 on eligible purchases in 6 months)3.0% Cashback
Cash Back1.5%
Cash Back Cap Unlimited

Key Features

2.5% Cashback on foreign currency spend (1.5% + extra 1.0%).

Unlimited Cashback – No min spend & no cap

3% Cashback for the first 6 months up to S$5,000 spend, 1.5% Cashback on any purchase you make thereafter

After your welcome bonus, continue to earn 1.5% Cashback on all eligible purchases with no minimum spending and no earn cap.

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 

UOB One Card – This card gives more generous rebates on everything, but the main problem is that the minimum spending requirements are high, onerous (you need to hit the target every month in a quarter to qualify for rebates for that quarter) and confusing. If you’re looking for simplicity, avoid this card, unless you are consistently spending exactly $2,000 every month on a specific credit card.

Rebate on Shopee, Dairy Farm Group, Grab, SP and more Up to 10%
Rebate Cap per quarterS$300
Min. Spend per monthS$2,000

Key Features

Up to 10% rebate at Dairy Farm Group merchants (Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven, Guardian and more)

Up to 10% rebate on Grab, SP utilities bills and UOB Travel spend

Up to 5% cash rebate on all retail spend for spend such as home furnishings, electronics & bill payment

Up to 24% savings on fuel purchases at SPC and 20.8% at Shell Stations

1 year annual fee waiver of S$192.60 (First year annual fee waiver)

See all card details 

Maybank Platinum Visa Card – Another credit card that offers a flat cash rebate for consistent spending, but with lower spending tiers than the UOB One Card. Get up to 3.33% cashback on all local spending if you spend $300 or $1,000 each month in a quarter. If you don’t mind a wee bit of responsibility and a reasonable minimum spending requirement, consider this card.

Online Promo
Cash Rebates on All Local SpendUp to 3.33%
Cash Rebate on Overseas Spend0.3%
Cash Rebate Cap per quarterS$100
Online Promo:
Apply now and charge to your Credit Card and/or withdraw from your CreditAble Account a minimum of S$300 for each of the first two consecutive months upon approval. 
Successful applicants will receive $100 Cash Credit.  

Valid until 31 Dec 2022

Key Features

Up to 3.33% cash rebates on all local and foreign spend

3 years annual fee waived

See all card details 

Conclusion? For uncomplicated unlimited cashback, the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card and Amex True are extremely close, and the winner might just be whichever is offering a better sign-up promotion.

What is your favourite cashback credit card? Tell us in the comments!

The post Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card – MoneySmart Review 2022 appeared first on the MoneySmart blog.

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Original article: Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card – MoneySmart Review 2022.

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