On the question of annual fees, the Alliance Visa Infinite is also now more accessible with the fee being lowered from RM800 per year to RM438 (waived for the first year). Maybe you’d like to maintain high earn rates at grocery stores. As long as you both reach the $100,000 threshold as a sum of your own individual and joint assets, you can both waive your premium banking fees. I’m taking a long term view that this is a card I’d like to keep. Paying annual fees for credit cards is something we tolerate in exchange for the increased perks and returns. The effective ban on non-essential travel means the Citi Prestige’s lounge, airport limo, and Boingo Wi-Fi benefits are close to useless right now. faster path to relevance than the overseas ones at least! Alternatively, CIBC waives banking fees with $100,000 in eligible savings and investments. Benefit from 5X rewards & various other vouchers. First two years annual fee waiver. The SCB Visa Infinite comes with only six lounge visits, and gives you 25,000 miles in the first year. They don’t do waivers for Prestige because of the 25K renewal miles. The bulk of the credit card's value is earned on spend, with great 1.6% back on all transactions except fuel (8 point per Rs. Offer is subject to change and tee-time availability on (excluding public holidays). spending of S$50,000 per year required to earn miles at accelerated rate Min. Join our Sunday newsletter to get weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox. Depending on your spending history and importance to the bank, you might get a retention offer (or waiver) that could change your mind. HSBC VISA Signature: Primary (RM) 600: Supplementary (RM) 600: Note: The following annual fees are applicable to cardholders who were upgraded by the Bank under the Credit Card's Upgrade Initiative on 1st January 2016. In fact, as per data points in the AMEX Platinum Charge group, cardholders have managed to get extensions on the other perks too, be it spa treatments, dining vouchers or hotel nights. I strongly suspect we’ll see a few new benefits added before July (where the first batch of annual fees come due), and to be fair, we have seen some nice offers of late, like a bonus on Emirates Skywards and Accor Live Limitless points transfers. Same for me: there is no "Customize Payments" toggle on the booking page when selecting a room. spending of S$50,000 per year required to earn miles at accelerated rate Min. These options provide an array of long-term appeal, including high earn rates on groceries and restaurants, lounge passes, and no foreign transaction fees. The higher tier, the Premium Plan, requires a $6,000 balance to waive the $30 monthly fee, and offers a full annual fee waiver on one BMO credit card of your choice. To qualify for the 10% cash back and annual fee waiver offer, make sure to: 1. As you can see, the differences are quite nuanced. 1 The 10% Cash Back and First Year Annual Fee Waiver Offer (the “Offer”) applies only to new Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite* credit card accounts (“Accounts”) that are opened, and any supplementary Account cards issued, by April 30, 2020 and is subject to the below terms and conditions. Smart Plus accountholders also get a $50 fee rebate on up to three authorized users – either free with Visa Infinite, or a net cost of $49 with Visa Infinite Privilege. So far the only card I have applied twice in AMEX PLAT... That pool view is dope. As consumers in our own pursuit of more, we can benefit from this integration ourselves. While we’re at it, we may even try out other features of premium banking included in these packages. Any limo rides earned through spending simply expire if not used by the end of the quarter. HSBC Visa Card Annual Fee Waiver Number Hi - can someone please remind me of the number to call to ensure they don't automatically post this charge to my account. Supplementary Cards: $160.50. Transfer non-HSBC … The annual fee for the HSBC Visa Infinite card is $650.00. This includes $150 on BMO World Elite, or $120 on the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite, BMO Air Miles World Elite, Cash Back World Elite. It seems like the open a new checking account and get 10k offer is gone. Whether it’s more products, more expensive products, or more deposits, they want more, more, more, to earn your loyalty and dependence. Not to mention, some cards with annual fees offer great ongoing value for daily use. Unless the card lets you carry forward benefits and entitlements (like the OCBC VOYAGE’s limo, or the vouchers with the AMEX Platinum Charge), you may want to cancel now and come back another time. The more you put into a bank, the more awards you can get out – the trick is making sure you’re still getting ahead as you increase your commitment. If COVID carries on till end of 2020 (ugh! I think e-upgrades on awards are a great feature in the new program. Fees and Charges. Be careful not to dip below this amount for even a second, or you may not qualify for the fee waiver that month. In case your HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card is lost, you will have no liability for transactions made after reporting and registering the loss of the card to HSBC. Big banks like to encourage you to do more business with them. With travel bans, circuit breakers, and a potential recession lurking around the corner, is it still worth holding a premium credit card? That makes these cards a good choice for paying taxes and fees on points bookings. $30,000 per annum Some may be offered by the card network (e.g Visa), and you can still enjoy them on other (cheaper) cards. Transfer non-HSBC credit card debt. I think Amex Platinum isn’t charging the annual fee for those with card anniversary in March (at least in my case) – I have not seen them bill this amount in my statement although I have been monitoring it. (S$30/60K spend for Premier/regular customers), • Buy unlimited miles at 1.9-1.95 cents each, • Buy miles at 1.2/1.5 cents each via tax payment. spending of S$50,000 per year required to earn miles at accelerated rate Min. CIBC’s co-branded Aeroplan cards are useful for insurance on Aeroplan award tickets. VIP Banking extends a $120 partial rebate on the Avion Visa Infinite Privilege, and a full annual rebate on the other cards mentioned above. Check it out now. Unfortunately, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege isn’t eligible for a partial rebate. The annual fee on the Maybank Visa Infinite can be waived if you spend at least S$60,000 in a membership year. It’s wise to designate a keeper card for this purpose. Annual fee is levied upon card approval. This effectively represents a 2.4% return on your principal over the course of a year. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing haha.. Maybe it’s fine while we are in Covid-19 mode. Scotia is $129 fee while CIBC is $99 fee. Instead, a Family Bundle may be a better choice if you are teaching your teenagers about money management, rather than enlisting your young adult children to earn extra Air Miles. Fees and Charges for HSBC Visa Infinite Credit Card. Primary Cardholder Annual Fee: $149 ** (as an HSBC Premier * client, the Account will be eligible for a $50 rebate of the annual fee) Annual Interest on Purchases: 19.9% ; Annual Interest on Cash Advances and Balance Transfers: 22.9% ; Authorized User Annual Fee: $0 Per Card; Rates and Fees Points earned on your Visa Infinite Credit Card never expire. Annual Fee: S$488: Waiver Possible? Does the waiver mean you don’t get the vouchers too? Same question, waiver means no vouchers and no freebies? Get up to 45,000 miles with $9K spend in first 3 months, Get up to 28,500 miles and B&O E8 earbuds with $5K spend in the first 3 months, Get up to 87,500 miles with $20K spend in first 6 months, Get up to 23,300 miles plus an Acer monitor with $3K spend in the first 3 months, Get up to 22,800 miles with $3K spend in the first 3 months. As a final point, do note that not all your card’s purported benefits are provided by the bank itself. Signature customers receive access to the full suite of wealth management solutions, plus an exclusive array of banking products and service privileges. If you can earn a higher return through other means, you’d come out ahead by skipping the premium chequing account, putting that principal elsewhere, and swallowing the credit card annual fee. Can you provide a more detailed sequence of applying for an cancelling cards? It covers the gap in Amex Love Dining for top-end establishments. You could use the OCBC VOYAGE to buy all the miles you want for 1.9-1.95 cents each, but you could just as well get the much cheaper UOB PRVI Miles card (which annual fee can be waived) and wait for a 1.8 cents PRVI Pay offer to come round again. After all, it’s not like you get a pro-rated refund of the annual fee. At the end of the day you’re still paying S$642 for 25,000 miles and some dining benefits. I rather be a “model card member” than opportunistic. If you’ve got an expiring voucher on your hands, you definitely want to call up customer service and see what can be done. So wouldn’t it be better to pay a little premium to keep the points in the bank especially for those cards whose points that have no expiry? CIBC offers two premium banking tiers: Smart and Smart Plus. Welcome Gift: Get 35,000 Air Miles awarded in the form of 87,500 Rewards Points. That said, even if you conclude your premium credit card isn’t pulling its weight at the moment, you shouldn’t cancel it prematurely. And unless you’re planning to do a four-night staycation, the Fourth Night Free benefit goes out the window too. I guess you could crack the same joke for the now-discontinued SCB Visa Infinite. It’s worth a shot- the worst thing they can say is “no”. Use your new card to make everyday eligible purchases and earn 10% cash back on the first $2,000 you spend in your first 3 months from account opening. You’d need at least $200 of income, depending on marginal tax rate, to end up with $120 in your wallet. spending of S$50,000 per year required to earn miles at accelerated rate Min. New customers Apply in a few steps Apply in a few steps This link will open in a … Should you take it? I’m guessing they are going to wait awhile till things clear up a bit. However, the equation changes from the second year, because the annual fee doesn’t get you any renewal miles (if you make a fuss, you might get 20,000 miles, but that depends on a lot of factors and is hardly a given). Otherwise, Love Dining remains a big perk as ever (it doesn’t apply to takeaways, so it won’t be an option during the circuit breaker), although you don’t need the AMEX Platinum Charge to enjoy that. If there’s one thing the Covid-19 outbreak reveals, it’s how reliant premium cards are on travel benefits. Anyway 1-for-1 at Iggy’s and Alma (ongoing) will add up to the annual fee. Otherwise, the card charges a standard annual fee of S$192.60. Minimum Income. In contrast, the Citi Prestige (and all other cards with limo benefits for that matter) is adopting a “use it or lose it” policy. Are you holding on to a premium credit card? One strategy would be to open a Preferred account in your first year with the card, then upgrade to Ultimate in the second year for only an extra $1,000 minimum balance. Would you believe it didn’t even cross my mind? Annual fee: HKD300 /USD40. The SCB Visa Infinite’s replacement is the even more expensive SCB X Card. Combined with the $100 annual Travel Enhancement credit, you can effectively have the entire annual fee rebated each year. He was 50% successful. Is that worth an almost S$600 annual fee though? Avid travellers can rely on their credit cards for travel insurance. Great post. Milelion Weekly Deal Summary [15-22 Jan 21], HoteLux: Book luxury hotels and enjoy elite benefits, without elite status. 200 spent; 1 point = Rs. This card offers annual fee waiver if you spend at least once for 12 consecutive months, else you will be charge RM600 per annum. Air Canada eUpgrades: How Much Are They Worth? Your rates of return would be 3.5% in the first year, and 2.8% thereafter. So what card benefits are still usable in these Covid-19 times, and can they justify the fees? Nada. Not ‘offer’ menus but the regular full degustation menus. For the scotia ultimate, there is another way to waive the monthly fee, if you have a combined balance of $30,000 across their Ultimate Package and their MomentumPLUS Savings Account, they will waive the annual fee. you’re talking $25, and most FFP partners for SG cards either have activity-based expiry policies or 3 year validity. However, there’s one important distinction: OCBC has announced that VOYAGE cardholders can accumulate limo rides throughout 2020, which means your spending might yet reap dividends if travel becomes possible towards the second half of the year. This leaves buying miles as the main value proposition of the card. A wide variety of investment vehicles are available, including registered and non-registered accounts, both managed and self-directed. Annual Fee: Miles: Cost per mile: HSBC Visa Infinite: $120,000: $488 (Premier banking) $650 (Regular) 35,000 – First year 0 – Subsequent: 1.39 (Premier banking) 1.86 (regular) SCB Visa Infinite: $150,000: $588.50: 35,000 – First year 20,000 – Subsequent: 1.68 (first year)2.9 (subsequent) Citi PremierMiles AMEX: $80,000: $267.50: 15,000: 1.78: OCBC 90N Card: $30,000: $192.60* 10,000 Enjoy annual fee waivers for the first 2 years, and subsequently from the third year if you spend a minimum of S$12,500 in the previous year. The annual fee of Visa Infinite is SGD650 (incl. 75,000 American Express Membership Rewards points The rebate on the Performance Plan is only 1% of the minimum balance, whereas Premium will net you 2–2.5%. Some banks also offer a partial rebate for seniors or students, but these can’t be combined with the full fee waiver for holding a minimum balance, nor are they enough to remove fees entirely on their own. (S$30/60K spend for Premier/regular customers) Key Benefits • 15,000 VOYAGE miles • Unlimited Plaza Premium Lounge (principal + supp) • Airport limo • Tower Club access (for PPC + BOS only) • Buy unlimited miles at 1.9-1.95 cents each This effectively represents a 2.4% return on your principal over the course of a year. Earn … 0.40 Yatra vouchers). And that, kind of perversely, could potentially work in its favor. Investing the same amount money in lower risk financial instructions such as broad market ETF and bonds will generate significantly higher return and allow the return to be compounded over the years, which will likely be more cost efficient than lending money to the bank interest free. I don’t think the $800 or most other benefits are going anywhere. Do you plan to renew it? What’s the best thing about the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card during this time? You can save up to $139 – a full rebate for Dividend, Aventura, or Aeroplan Visa Infinite cards, or a partial rebate of $139 for the Aventura or Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege. HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card comes with a host of benefits including nil joining & annual fee. The Maybank Visa Infinite’s lounge access, airport limo and JetQuay access don’t count for much right now. spending of … I kid, I kid. In particular, this is valuable as you seek to decrease the associated costs for any cards you plan on keeping long-term. With income tax season at hand, Citi Prestige cardholders can buy miles for just 1.54 cents each via PayAll (2% fee @ 1.3 mpd). • The annual fee for HSBC Visa Signature Credit Card is RM600 per annum (and applicable tax, if any) for Primary card and RM300 per annum (and applicable tax, if any) for Supplementary card. Not all packages are created equal, however, and the details of the fees, benefits, and requirements vary widely. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor a legal or tax professional. transfer fees, in the grand scheme of things, aren’t really that much no? So I’m playing the long… Read more ». Bottom line though, is that by God’s grace we can afford it. Its terms are the exact same as the regular HSBC World Elite, except you get a $50 annual fee rebate (plus free authorized users, $50 value each). Otherwise, the card charges a standard annual fee of S$192.60. Better to go all-in if you’re going to bother at all. The RBC British Airways Visa Infinite is a quirky case, as you can get the entire $165 fee rebated here. You won’t miss the travel benefits. Easy! Annual Principle Fee: $650; Annual Supplementary Card fee: Free; Fee waiver: Not Available; Interest-Free Period: 20 days; Annual Interest Rate: 25.90%; Minimum monthly payment: 3% or $50, whichever is higher; Late payment charge: $55; Cash advance fee… It does not make sense to put down $4000-6000 only for the sack of waiving an $120 annual fee. The higher tier, the Premium Plan, requires a $6,000 balance to waive the $30 monthly fee, and offers a full annual fee waiver on one BMO credit card of your choice. One key way to do so is by opening a premium bank account at the same institution that issues the credit card, many of which provide an annual fee rebate for one card at the popular Visa Infinite or Mastercard World Elite tiers. Maybank will waive the annual fee on the Visa Infinite if you spend at least S$60,000 per year Citi Gold Private Clients can get the first year’s fee on the Prestige waived But generally speaking, it isn’t like cards in the $30K segment where you call up the hotline, press a few buttons and get an instant fee waiver. While the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card has no annual fee, the meaningful insurance benefits don’t kick in until you reach the Infinite tier or higher, for which a fee waiver may prove valuable. This sometimes drops to 1.9 cents, but like I said earlier, you’d be better off getting a UOB PRVI Miles card if you want to buy miles. The Bank of Montreal offers two accounts that provide a credit card fee waiver. As expected, TD’s Aeroplan cards are good keeper candidates for insurance and free checked luggage. So the effective interest rate you’d need to earn on the $5,000 is at least 4%. Required fields are marked *. Welcome Gift: Get 35,000 Air Miles awarded in the form of 87,500 Rewards Points. Cardholders get the occasional invite to special Citi Prestige events, and 1-for-1 offers on concert tickets/ 4 Hands Kitchen experiences, but these are understandably on hold until the worst of the outbreak passes. For example, let’s say you open an account that requires $5,000 to waive a $120 credit card annual fee. GST), SGD488 for HSBC Premier customers (incl. Instead, they offer a multi-product rebate for keeping a few different pieces of your financial puzzle at RBC. Are fee waivers even possible, and if not, should you pull the plug? Unlike other banks, RBC doesn’t have an option to waive chequing fees with a minimum balance. HSBC Visa Infinite Credit Card: 1 for every S$1 spent: 2 for every S$1 spent: ... First Year Fee Waiver and ... For example, the American Express Krisflyer card is free of charge, where HSBC charge an annual programme fee of S$42.80 (inclusive of GST). It’s a card worth keeping long-term, with a competitive base earn rate equivalent to 1.5% cash back, no foreign transaction fees, medical insurance on trips up to 31 days, and wide acceptance globally on the MasterCard network. Bank accounts with credit card fee waivers are a useful piece in an award traveller’s toolkit, as we seek to reduce costs while increasing our rewards. HSBC Premier customers are entitled to a discounted annual fee of $488.00. COVID-19 measures Close. Features of the HSBC Visa Infinite Credit Card. New customers Apply in a few steps Apply in a … If you tick all the boxes, your annual banking fees after the credit card rebate work out to about $85 for Signature No Limit Banking, or $120 for VIP Banking, plus the cost of the credit card itself. Tried asking for a waiver for my Citi Prestige last week, today they confirmed that it’s impossible. Ultimately, this card is the best option for versatile rewards on core local spending, especially if you spend enough to earn the fee-waiver. No love. Let’s see how we can use these accounts to boost our credit card gains. 6 50% off green fees: Offer valid until 31 December 2021 for Visa Infinite primary cardholders. – Cashback is capped at $70 a month ($125 a month for HSBC Advance customers). HSBC cardholders do have the opportunity to buy miles at 1.2/1.5 cents each when paying their income taxes (the cost depends on whether you’ve unlocked the “step-up” rate of 1.25 mpd), which is a decent price. BMO’s premium credit cards are known for offering strong travel insurance, extending full coverage to trips partially paid with the card. But neither of those will convince cardholders to stick around- if anything, they’ve given them excuses to cash out their points. A handling fee of HKD20 will be levied for applications switched from other banks or re-activation of AAVS service. Citi Prestige is worth considering for the heterogeneity of transfer partners; otherwise the new T&C for the 4th night has more or less gutted the card. © Copyright 2021 The Milelion All Rights Reserved | Web Design by Enchant.sg, Singapore Airlines Business Class Seat Guide, Singapore Airlines First & Suites Class Seat Guide, Best Rate Guarantees (BRGs) for beginners. In these challenging times, we're here to support our customers and employees. These discounts might be useful if you’re interested in premium banking for its own sake, but not if you’re only in it for a free credit card. Complimentary airport transfers and expedited immigration clearance up to 24 times a year Complimentary unlimited access to airport lounges for primary and supplementary cardholders I Wbu guys? AMEX is known for its excellent Platinum events that typically happen once every two months or so, and I’m sure we’ll see these return once circumstances allow. Any way you cut it, there’s no way to reduce your net credit card costs by adding a bank account at RBC, and I can’t see the appeal unless you value their premium banking services. To convert HSBC rewards points to air miles, you need to pay annual mileage programme fee of S$42.80 Min. How you think the Covid-19 situation is going to pan out. I think that’s a very important question to ask yourself. These were booked way before but from the look of things, are likely to be no go. That means you’re banking on the LoungeKey, airport limo, and expedited immigration to get your money’s worth- all unusable right now. As premium credit cards form the backbone of a strong Miles & Points strategy, annual fees are a necessary evil, and it’s well worth minimizing them by any means possible. The silver lining is that annual fees on the OCBC VOYAGE can be waived if you spend at least S$60,000 (regular) or S$30,000 (Premier) in a membership year. If around the 2cpm range, I think it’s worth the slight premium (in normal times we would have paid anyway, no?). upon spending $7,000 in the first three months, > For example, let’s say you open an account that requires $5,000 to waive a $120 credit card annual fee. Also, if you open the chequing account after the credit card, Scotiabank will still give you a full retroactive rebate on the credit card. The only benefit to speak of is the complimentary golf for cardholders who spend at least S$1,000 in a calendar month. The annual fee is not waivable. I’ve been monitoring my account every few days to see if they will charge me. I don’t see this as a loss. If a top-tier Aeroplan card appeals to you, this is one area where CIBC is stronger. To be fair though, the savings I got out of it when terms were better will cover another 3-4 years of annual fee so it balances out I guess. By settling minimum payment every month, i.e 5% of the outstanding balance or RM50 whichever is higher, you will be charged 15% p.a on monthly basis. Unfortunately, neither tier offers even a partial rebate on BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege, nor any rebate on supplementary cards. Ontario Launches COVID‑19 Rapid Testing at Toronto Pearson, American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, Review: La Ville City Walk Dubai, Autograph Collection. For example, if you really value the Visa Infinite golf benefits, or the ability to book hotels through the Visa Infinite 4th night free program, then just get yourself a no-fee CIMB Visa Infinite and be done with it. HSBC Premier customers can enjoy a lower annual fee of S$488. ... 2 To enjoy the annual fee waiver, you have to be an HSBC Advance customer. … You could enjoy the same benefit through the AMEX Love dining program, or even for free through Eatigo (where the 50% can be enjoyed by more than 2 people). Again, CIBC shines brighter, offering triple the benefit on a comparable product. The Preferred Package grants a full annual fee waiver on one card up to $139, but only for the first year. But it’s otherwise difficult to make a case for the annual fee, and I’d have serious second thoughts about staying in the absence of a fee waiver. At the mid-range level, Unlimited Chequing requires a $4,000 balance to waive $16.95/month, with a first year rebate of $139. The mid-range tier, the Performance Plan, requires a lower balance of $4,000 to waive the $15.95 monthly fee, but only gives a $40 rebate on the credit card fee. Premium cards often point to travel benefits when justifying their hefty annual fees. This gives the VOYAGE a slight leg up in that regard. There’s no using the lounge or hotel benefits right now, and you’re obviously going to have issues spending the S$800 travel credit, what with all the uncertainty around future travel plans. Perpetual annual fee waiver for HSBC Advance banking customers, or a minimum annual spend of $12,500 for waiver. Interest-free days. But if we don’t pay the (upcoming) annual fee, we have to transfer the points out. First Year Free isn’t forever, and there are more considerations than merely a welcome bonus. Enjoy annual fee waivers for the first 2 years, and subsequently from the third year if you spend a minimum of S$12,500 in the previous year. If renewal is due imminently, you need to accept the very real possibility of not being able to use any of the travel benefits for the better part of half a year (or more, who knows). In other words, get the premium bank account to waive the premium credit card fee, and deposit the minimum required balance to waive the premium bank account fee. Are You Eligible For The HSBC Visa Signature Also the tiny table with sanitizer in the elevator is hilarious for some reason. And who knows, maybe one day we can aspire to Centurian. GST). All bookings … The former is certainly not enough to justify the annual fee alone, and the latter isn’t unique to the HSBC Visa Infinite. The rebate is available on any one of TD’s Visa Infinite or Visa Platinum cards, including the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite or the TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum. It’s true that cardholders have access to the lowest cost miles facility in all of Singapore- by paying your income tax, you can buy miles for as low as 1.14 cents each. Annual Card Fee: $321. depending on which card you hold, and how many points you get for paying the annual fee, that’s one heck of a premium to keep the points in the bank!