These credit cards in Singapore have no annual fee for at least 3 years

This is probably your routine every year: You turn to the back of your credit card, key in all the possible options until you come across an option that says “to request for an annual fee waiver, please leave your contact number and we will contact you”.

Yes, we love the convenience of credit cards but do we want to pay an annual fee? Not if we can help it.

The good news is, we found credit cards that either don’t charge an annual fee or offer long annual fee waivers of at least 3 years, thereby saving you from a lot of angst.

1. Maybank Family & Friends Card

The Maybank Family & Friends Card is a good card to use for groceries, transport and selected retailers including Popular Bookstore, Guardian, Watsons and McDonald’s, thanks to their generous cashback rate of 8 per cent (capped at $80 a month), if you manage to hit the minimum spending requirement of $800.

If you don’t, but still manage to spend at least $500 in a month, you get 5 per cent cash rebates instead of 8 per cent.

The card’s annual fee of $180 is waived for 3 years.

2. ICBC Global Travel Mastercard

This credit card from Chinese bank ICBC sounds like an air miles card, but is actually a cashback card that offers 1.5 per cent unlimited cashback on local spending and 3 per cent cashback on overseas spending, with no minimum spending requirement.

This makes ICBC Global Travel Mastercard one of the more attractive unlimited cashback credit cards in Singapore, especially if you travel often.

Until Dec 31, 2020, you also enjoy global VIP lounge service at high-speed railways and airports.

The annual fee is waived for 3 years.

3. ICBC Chinese Zodiac Credit Card

Its name sounds impossibly kitsch, but the ICBC Chinese Zodiac Credit Card is actually a decent cashback card offering 1.6 per cent unlimited cashback on local and overseas spending with no minimum spending requirement.

The annual fee is waived for 3 years.

4. CIMB Visa Signature

CIMB Visa Signature offers a very generous 10per cent cashback (capped at $100 a month and $20 per category) on beauty and wellness, online shopping, groceries, pet shops, vet services and cruises.

Almost anyone can benefit from the grocery and online shopping cashback, and if you often go to spas or have a pet, the card becomes even more attractive.

The main drawback is that the minimum spending requirement of $800 is quite high.

On the bright side, the card charges no annual fees indefinitely, so it is truly free to use.

5. CIMB Platinum MasterCard

Here’s another CIMB credit card that offers 10 per cent cashback (capped at $100 a month and $20 per category) if you manage to fulfil their minimum spending requirement of $800 a month.

10 per cent cashback is offered on wining/dining, transport and petrol, travel in foreign currency (ie. hotel bookings made overseas), health and medical expenses, as well as electronics and furnishing at certain merchants like Harvey Norman, Ikea and Best Denki.

Like the CIMB Visa Signature, the CIMB Platinum MasterCard is free for life, which saves you from having to call them up and beg them to waive annual fees.

This article was first published in MoneySmart.