Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card review: What makes it so ‘smart’?

Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card review: What makes it so ‘smart’?
PHOTO: MoneySmart

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 six per cent 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 terms & conditions 

 
Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card
Annual fee & waiver
Supplementary annual fee
Interest-free period 0
Annual interest rate 23.9 per cent, 26.9 per cent or 29.9 per cent based on the bank’s assessment of your credit profile
Late payment fee $100
Minimum monthly repayment One per cent or $50, whichever is higher
Foreign currency transaction fee 3.5 per cent
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 instalment plans. EasyPay lets you split a single transaction into an instalment plan lasting three, six,  or 12 months.

With the Smart Credit Card, you get three-month interest-free instalments. 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 instalments, 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 per cent, 26.9 per cent or 29.9 per cent) 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 six per cent cashback right? More on that below.

Six per cent cashback on Netflix & Spotify, but only for a month…

The card promises six per cent 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 six per cent cashback is only valid in the first 30 days of card approval.

The six per cent 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 three 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 six months of Disney+ subscription for free.

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 three months' worth of instalments are fee-free.

Alternatives to the Standard Chartered Smart Card

The Smart Card isn't the only zero per cent instalment plan credit card around. Here are some others to check out.

OCBC Cashflo Card - zero per cent-interest auto-installments stretching out over three or six months. Also gives you one per cent cashback on your spending if you spend more than $1,000 in a month.

POSB Everyday Card - Under POSB's My Preferred Payment Plan, you can get zero per cent interest, fee-free installments for three or six months.

The card also offers cash rebates on a number of things, including 10 per cent on foodpanda, Deliveroo and WhyQ, eight per cent at Redmart, up to eight per cent at Amazon, Lazada and more, five per cent at ShengSiong, and three per cent on dining, electricity and telco bills, Watsons and Pet Lovers Centre. 

Standard Chartered Spree Card - Like the Smart Card, this card gives you access to Easy Pay, too, with transactions above $200 split into six or 12-month interest-free instalments. You'll have to pay a service fee, though.

Thinking about getting this card? Share it with your friends.

READ ALSO: American Express Platinum Card review 2022: Should you pay the $321 annual fee for this card?

This article was first published in MoneySmart.

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