Which CIMB credit card is right for you? Here’s an overview of the key features and benefits of each of them.

CIMB may be a relatively small player in the Singapore credit card scene, but it’s still worth familiarising yourself with their products. 

That’s because they offer some rather unique bonus categories, making for useful additions to your wallet. In this post, we’ll look closely at the key features and benefits of each CIMB credit card.

Overview: CIMB credit cards

The first thing to know is that Cimb Credit Cards aren’t for miles chasers. CIMB only offers cashback options in Singapore, and those who want to accrue frequent flyer miles will have to look elsewhere. 

On the plus side, CIMB is the only bank to offer a perpetual annual fee waiver across all its credit cards. Regardless of how many principal or supplementary cards you hold, you will not pay any annual fees for life. 

All CIMB card holders are eligible for various shopping, dining, travel and wellness deals when they pay using their credit card. 

Best CIMB credit cards

1. CIMB Platinum Mastercard: Best for high cashback and medical expenses

• Type: Cashback
• Income requirement: S$30,000
• Annual fee: None

The CIMB Platinum Mastercard awards 10% cashback on the following categories: Wine & Dine, Transport & Petrol, Foreign currency travel, Health & Medical and Electronics & Furnishing. There’s a cashback cap of S$100 per statement month, and S$20 per category. A minimum of S$800 must be spent each month, otherwise you’ll only earn only 0.2% cashback on everything (the 0.2% cashback is unlimited). 

Here’s how CIMB defines each of the bonus categories:

• Wine & dine: Caterers, bars, lounges, clubs, fast food restaurants, full service restaurants
• Transport & petrol: Bus and MRT rides, taxis, petrol kiosks
• Health & Medical: Doctors, dentists, optometrists, opticians, chiropractors
• Electronics & Furnishing: Harvey Norman, Best Denki, Challenger, Ikea, Courts, Parisilk
• Foreign currency travel: Airlines, hotels, travel agencies and railway transactions billed in foreign currencies

The inclusion of Health & Medical as a bonus category is interesting, because an increasing number of banks are excluding healthcare transactions from earning any sort of rewards. UOB, for example, added hospitals to its rewards exclusion list on 1 February 2021, and OCBC followed suit on 1 April 2021. BOC and DBS already exclude hospital transactions, leaving the CIMB Platinum Mastercard one of your only remaining options. 

2. CIMB Visa Signature: Best for online shopping (and pet services!)

• Type: Cashback
• Income requirement: S$30,000
• Annual fee: None

The CIMB Visa Signature awards 10% cashback on online shopping, groceries, beauty & wellness, pet shops and cruises. The 10% cashback is capped at S$100 per statement month, and S$20 per category. A minimum of S$800 must be spent each month, otherwise you’ll only earn 0.2% cashback on everything (the 0.2% cashback is unlimited). 

Here’s how CIMB defines each of the bonus categories:

• Beauty & wellness: Pharmacies, cosmetic stores (excluding department stores), hairdressers, massage parlours, spas
• Online shopping: All online merchants that sell clothes, accessories, bags and electronics, plus specific e-commerce merchants like Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Daigou, Ezbuy and Shopee
• Grocery: All supermarkets
• Pet shops: Pet shops or veterinary services
• Cruise: All cruise operators

While online shopping and groceries are common bonus categories for other banks, it’s very rare to find a card that gives you cashback for pet shops, much less veterinary services! 

3. CIMB World Mastercard: Best for unlimited cashback

• Type: Cashback
• Income requirement: S$50,000
• Annual fee: None

The CIMB World Mastercard awards an unlimited 2% cashback with no minimum spend on Wine & Dine, Entertainment & Recreation, automobile, and duty free store transactions. To give you a better idea of what this encompasses:

• Wine & Dine: Caterers, bars, lounges, clubs, fast food restaurants, full service restaurants
• Entertainment & Recreation: Theatres, amusement parks, tourist attractions, golf courses, country clubs, aquariums
• Automobile: Vehicle rental, dealers, repair and service, petrol kiosks, short-term parking
• Duty Free: All duty-free stores

That’s a fairly wide range of bonus categories, and all other spending earns an unlimited 1.5% cash back. I can’t think of any other bank which awards bonus cashback on vehicle repair and servicing, so this could be a good choice for motorheads.

Cardmembers will also enjoy 50% off green fees at 42 golf courses around the region under the Mastercard Southeast Asia Golf Program.

4. CIMB Visa Infinite: Best for travelling and golfing

• Type: Cashback
• Income requirement: S$120,000
• Annual fee: None

The CIMB Visa Infinite is one of the only no-fee Visa Infinite cards in Singapore. For the uninitiated, Visa Infinite is the highest tier of all Visa cards, and comes with special perks like a concierge service.

CIMB Visa Infinite cardmembers will earn an unlimited 2% cashback on travel and foreign currency spending with a minimum spend of S$2,000 in a statement month. Otherwise, they will earn an unlimited 1% cashback on all spends. 

While this isn’t a miles card, cardmembers will enjoy certain travel privileges like three complimentary airport lounge visits per year through DragonPass. Up to S$1 million of complimentary travel insurance is provided for cardmembers who charge their airfares to the card. 

For those who golf, cardholders enjoy complimentary green fees with a minimum spend of S$2,000 in the previous statement month at four golf clubs in Singapore and 104 clubs overseas. 

Exclusive sign-up promotions for CIMB credit cards

CIMB Sign-up Promotion: Get a Fitbit Inspire 2 (worth S$168) or S$130 via PayNow when you apply as a new CIMB credit cardmember from now till 7 May 2021. You will have to make a minimum spend of S$350 per month for 2 months following card approval to be eligible. T&Cs apply.

There is no exclusion for categories like insurance, education, government transactions, charitable donations, hospitals or utility bills. These are often excluded by other banks, so it’s a great opportunity to earn a S$130 rebate on spending that would otherwise go unrewarded.

Summing it up

While there’s no shortage of cashback cards on the market, CIMB attempts to differentiate themselves by offering bonuses on unique categories like medical bills, pet care and automobile repair. The ongoing sign-up offer is also an excellent opportunity to earn rewards on commonly-excluded categories of spending like insurance and education bills.

Read these next:
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By Aaron Wong
Aaron started The MileLion to help people travel better for less and impress “chiobu”. He was 50% successful. This is his story.

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