Best Credit Cards for Paying Utility Bills in Singapore

Telco: OCBC 365 Card | POSB Everyday Card | Maybank Family & Friends Card | UOB One Card | UOB Absolute Cashback Card | Citi Cash Back+ Card | Standard Chartered Simply Cash Card

Electricity Retailer: UOB One Card | OCBC 365 Card | POSB Everyday Card | UOB Absolute Cashback Card | Citi Cash Back+ Card | Standard Chartered Simply Cash Card

Get more out of your monthly expenses by paying your utility bills with these cashback and rewards credit cards.

If you own a home in Singapore, you may have observed a slight uptick in your utility bills during the last quarter. Notably, electricity tariffs have seen a 5% increase from in Q1 2024 to 32.58 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) after GST, due to higher energy costs. 

For homeowners seeking ways to mitigate these rising costs, there are limited options beyond comparing and switching to different electricity providers.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining—certain credit cards offer the opportunity to earn cashback and rebates on your utility bills, providing a small but valuable way to offset these increases.

Without further ado, here are the best credit cards for paying your utility bills in Singapore.

The OCBC 365 Credit Card gives you a decent 3% rebate, which covers multiple telcos – Singtel, StarHub, M1, Circles.Life and MyRepublic – as well as power service providers such as Senoko Energy, Sembcorp Power, and Geneco.  But you’ll need to charge a minimum of S$800 per month on your card to qualify. Otherwise, the cashback rate falls to a measly 0.25%. S$800 a month is achievable by consolidating all your utility and telco bills on this card.

Hitting the minimum S$800 minimum spend will see you earn S$80 cashback cap, but if you are a big spender, hitting a S$1,600 minimum spend will unlock a S$160 cashback! Note the cashback is capped at S$160 a month, and this adds up to a hefty S$1,920 per year in cashback!

Besides monthly utility bills, you will earn 5% cashback on dining and online delivery, 3% cashback on grocery shopping and online groceries and 6% cashback on fuel charges (both local and overseas spending apply for dining, grocery shopping, and fuel charges).

OCBC 365 credit card product summary:

• Highest possible cashback: 6%

• Minimum monthly spend: S$800 / S$1,600

• Maximum cashback you can earn: S$80 / S$160 a month 

• Income requirements: S$30,000 (Singaporeans/PR), S$45,000 (Foreigners)

• Annual fee: S$196.20 (First 2 years waived)

The UOB One Card gives you one of the highest utility rebate at 3.33%. However, this comes with a high spending bar — Spend a minimum of S$2,000 per month for three consecutive months to earn the additional 5% cash rebate. Do note that the cash rebates only come every quarter.

You will also get an additional 1% rebate (up to 4.33% rebate) on your SP bills when you qualify for your quarterly cash rebate.

Enjoy an additional 6.67% rebate on Dairy Farm Group Singapore merchants (e.g. Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven), Grab (excludes mobile wallet top-ups), Shopee (excludes ShopeePay) and UOB Travel transactions when you qualify for your quarterly cash rebate.

UOB One Card product summary:

• Highest possible cashback: 15% 

• Minimum monthly spend on 5 purchases or more:

  • Min. S$2,000 spend for three consecutive months: Additional 6.67% cashback + Enhanced 5% cashback

  • Min. S$500 or S$1,000 spend for three consecutive months: Additional 5% cashback + Enhanced 6.67% cashback

  • Up to 21.15% fuel savings at Shell kiosks

  • Up to 22.66% fuel savings at SPC kiosks

  • Up to 4.33% cashback on Singapore Power utilities bill

• Maximum cashback you can earn:

  Base 3.33% + (Additional & Enhanced) 11.67% = Up to 15% cashback total

  Base cashback is capped at S$50, S$100, or S$200 per quarter, not including additional & enhanced cashback. Hence, cardholders can earn a combined total cashback of up to S$2,000 cash rebates in a year.

• Annual fee: S$196.20 (1st year waived)

A newly enhanced perk, the POSB Everyday Card earns you 3% rebate on recurring utility bills from SP Group, Geneco, Union Power, Tuas Power and 2% rebate on Keppel Electric, Senoko Energy and Sembcorp Power

The big plus about this card? No minimum monthly spend required in order to earn the rebate on your utility bills. But take note, the cash rebate is capped at POSB Daily$3 per calendar month for your electricity bill.

That's not all. You can also earn 3% rebate on telco bills from M1, Singtel, Singtel GOMO, StarHub, StarHub giga, MyRepublic and Circles.Life so long as you make at least S$800 on eligible spend within the calendar month. Just remember that the cashback cap for your telco bill is set at POSB Daily$3 per calendar month.

POSB Everyday Card product summary:

• Highest Possible Cash Rebate Rate: 10%

• Minimum Monthly spend: S$800

• Income requirement: S$30,000 (Singaporeans/PR), S$45,000 (Other foreigners)

• Minimum age: 21

• Annual fee: S$196.20 (1st year waived)

The Maybank Family & Friends card lets you earn 8% cashback on Malaysian Ringgit spend on top of five categories of your choice when you make a minimum monthly spend of S$800. The categories that you can choose from include Groceries, Dining & Food Delivery, Transport, Data Communication & Online TV Streaming, Retail & Pets, Online Fashion, Entertainment, Pharmacy, Sports & Sports Apparels, and Beauty & Wellness

One thing that sets this card apart from the others is that you can enjoy cashback on online TV streaming on top of the usual internet and telco bills. You won't do your family and friends wrong if they, too, want to cut back on utilities while Netflix-ing or binge-watching Disney+ in peace.

Maybank Family & Friends card product summary: 

• Highest Cashback Rate: 8%

• Minimum Monthly spend: S$800

• Maximum cashback you can earn: S$150 per calendar month

• Income requirement: S$30,000 (Singaporeans/PR), S$45,000 (Malaysians), S$60,000 (Other foreigners)

• Minimum age: 21

• Annual fee: S$181.80 (First three years waived)

Like its slogan, “the card that lets you live without limits”, the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card truly lives up to its name.

This card certainly makes life simpler (and cheaper): earn 1.5% rebate on all expenditure, period. No minimum spend required. No restriction on telco or power service provider you’re signed up to.

Other perks include generous discounts on a wide range of dining, travel, hotel bookings and entertainment. We also wrote about this card as being a simple, fuss-free cash-back card.

Standard Chartered's instant credit card approval is also a great perk – receive your digital card instantly when you apply with MyInfo.

Standard Chartered Simply Cash Card product summary: 

• Earn up to 1.5% cashback on all spends

• No cashback cap 

• No minimum spend required to start earning cashback 

• Income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans/PR), $60,000 (Foreigners)

• Minimum age: 21

• Annual fee: S$196.20 (1st year waived)

Like the Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card, the American Express True Cashback Card is a fuss-free cashback credit card that rewards you with a flat 1.5% cashback on all your spending.

What sets the American Express True Cashback Card apart from the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card then?

As a sweet welcome bonus for new American Express cardmembers, American Express is throwing in a welcome bonus of 3% cashback on up to a total of S$5,000 spend in your first 6 months. This means you get to earn double cashback on the first S$5,000 of your spending within 6 months of card approval!

AMEX True Cashback Card product summary:

• Base cashback rate: Unlimited 1.5% cashback, no cap

• Welcome bonus: 3% cashback on up to S$5,000 eligible spend within first 6 months

• Minimum monthly spend: N/A

• Two supplementary cards free for life

• Annual income requirement: Card application is subjected to customers meeting the regulatory minimum income requirement and internal assessment

• Annual fee: S$174.40 (1st year waived)

If you want to earn 1.7% cashback the easy way on literally everything you spend on — including electricity bills and insurance premiums — whip out the UOB Absolute Cashback Card. There’s no minimum spend requirement and no cap on how much you can earn. 

The only thing you need to take note of? It’s an American Express card; not every merchant accepts American Express. Definitely check with your utility providers if they accept American Express payments! 

UOB Absolute Cashback Card product summary:

• Earn up to 1.7% cashback on all spends

• No cashback cap 

• No minimum spend required to start earning cashback 

• Income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans/PR), $40,000 (Foreigners)

• Minimum age: 21

• Annual fee: S$196.20 (1st year waived)

Paying your bills with a credit card eliminates the need to visit payment centres physically. You can easily settle your bills through the credit card's online portal, even while on the move, ensuring you avoid late payment fees. Additionally, using a credit card can save you from incurring extra interest charges. Numerous online and offline merchants accept credit card payments, including the option to pay your bills conveniently.

Contrary to the misconception that credit cards lead to debt, they can actually serve as efficient budgeting tools when used wisely. Each credit card transaction can be tracked through the card company's online banking service. This feature helps you stay within your budget limits, preventing debt accumulation and unnecessary expenses.

You can use your preferred credit card to pay your utility bill without concerns about extra charges. However, it's worth noting that some utility companies may impose a convenience fee when credit cards are used for bill payments. Unfortunately, some people switch to alternative payment methods to avoid these fees, unknowingly accumulating additional monthly charges. Consequently, settling dues with your credit card in one go may be the wiser choice.

Another advantage of using the best credit card for paying your utility bill is the option to set up automatic bill payments. This eliminates the need to remember various payment due dates, making it a time-saving and hassle-free way to manage multiple utility and insurance bills.

Many credit card companies offer rewards, cashback, or points for using their cards to pay bills. It's essential to keep an eye out for such deals, as they can help you save money and provide additional perks for your financial transactions.

When choosing the right credit card for you, be holistic. Don't just consider the card's rebate rate – also ask yourself questions like:

• Can you meet the minimum monthly spend?

• How likely are you to hit the rebate cap?

• Does the card provide access to other retail perks and discounts?

For example, if you're splitting your expenses between cards and are unlikely to reach the minimum S$800 per month spend for the OCBC 365 Credit Card, you may be better off with the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card, despite its lower cashback rates.

Similarly, the high rebate of up to 6% for the UOB One Card is only if you can spend S$2,000 on your card each month. This means you have to be prepared to spend a much higher amount each month to earn your cashback.