FavePay CardLink Launches: Earn Bonus Cashback Plus Credit Card Rewards

FavePay CardLink brings offline cashback to your wallet. Here’s how it works, and how it compares to the incumbent ShopBack GO.

Cashback portals have come a long way since inception, even making the leap from online-only into the brick-and-mortar realm. ShopBack was the first mover in Singapore, introducing “offline cashback” with its ShopBack GO platform in December 2018. Now it’s Fave’s turn to join the party, with the rollout of FavePay CardLink.

FavePay CardLink should be immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever used ShopBack GO, because the fundamental concept is exactly the same. Customers link their credit or debit cards to the platform, and earn bonus cashback when they spend in-store on top of their usual card rewards. It’s a seamless way to double dip on both cashback and miles or even more cashback.

How does FavePay CardLink work?

FavePay CardLink can now be found in the Fave app (be sure to update it to the latest version). Tap on ‘Me’ on the bottom right of your screen, then on ‘FavePay CardLink’.

You’ll be prompted to enter your card number and expiration date (don’t worry, they’re not charging anything), which will complete the linking process. A maximum of five cards can be added to FavePay CardLink. At the moment, it’s restricted to Visa cards only, though it’s a good bet that support for Mastercard will soon be added. 

Once your card is linked, you’ll earn cashback from Fave whenever you use that card at selected FavePay CardLink merchants. Do note that this is a subset of overall FavePay merchants; you can identify them on the app via a special banner as shown above. 

Cashback will be automatically tracked and credited to your Fave account within 48 hours of the transaction. 

How does FavePay CardLink compare to ShopBack GO?

Given the similarities in model, the natural question people have is how FavePay CardLink compares to ShopBack GO. 

The biggest difference is that FavePay CardLink almost exclusively awards ‘partner cashback’, which, as the name suggests, can only be used for a future transaction at the same merchant. Cashback earned through ShopBack GO can be cashed out to a bank account (min. S$10 balance required), so in that sense, it offers more flexibility as you can “free” your cash from its ecosystem. 

ShopBack GO is also much more established, with a wider merchant network for customers to earn in-store cashback. It also has other loyalty schemes like stamp cards and return vouchers, providing different incentives for users. 

If you were hoping to double dip on cashback by linking the same credit/debit card to FavePay CardLink and ShopBack GO, you might be disappointed. While there may be ShopBack GO merchants which accept FavePay, they’re highly unlikely to be part of FavePay CardLink. Think about it this way: if you were a merchant, would you be happy to pay out twice on the same transaction?

What’s the best card to use with FavePay CardLink?

The most important thing to remember is that with FavePay CardLink, you’re still paying the merchant, not Fave. Therefore, the best credit card to use depends on what merchant you’re shopping at.

If you’re at a restaurant, you can consider the following miles or cashback cards to maximise your rewards (I’ve excluded Mastercard options, since FavePay CardLink currently supports Visa only):

Likewise, if you’re shopping at retail merchants, the following cards would earn the highest rebates:

Do note the minimum spend and caps for certain cards, which are summarised in the tables above. 

Conclusion

FavePay CardLink has limited merchants for now, but this will no doubt grow over the next few months. Even if you don’t see anything that interests you, it’s worth taking a minute to link your card to Fave. The earning process is completely passive, and who knows, you may be surprised by some unexpected cashback down the road.

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