Last updated on March 7th, 2022
There are quite a few cashback credit cards that you can use, including DBS Live Fresh and OCBC 365.
However, both of them have different types of cashback and minimum spend, so they may cater to your different needs!
Contents
The difference between DBS Live Fresh and OCBC 365
DBS Live Fresh offers a higher potential cashback (up to 10%) for merchants under the Sustainable Spend category, while OCBC 365 offers the highest cashback of 6% for the dining category. DBS Live Fresh offers a lower minimum spend to achieve the cashback, but the maximum cashback you can earn per month is lower compared to OCBC 365.
Here is a further comparison between these 2 cards:
Cashback and limits
Here are the different categories that you can earn cashback on for either card:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 |
|---|---|
| Contactless Spending | Dining + online food delivery |
| Online Spending | Fuel spending |
| Sustainable Spending | Groceries / Land transport / Online travel spending / Recurring electricity and telco bills |
OCBC 365 offers different amounts of cashback, depending on the spending category:
| Cashback | Categories |
|---|---|
| 6% | Dining + online food delivery |
| 5% | Fuel spending |
| 3% | Groceries Land transport (taxi / private hire) Online travel spending Recurring electricity and telco bills |
| 0.3% | All other spending |
You will be able to receive high cashback for dining and fuel spending.
For the land transport category, you will be able to earn a 3% cashback using OCBC 365.
What’s advantageous is the 3% on recurring telco (e.g. Circles Life) and electricity bills, where you can earn cashback for these purchases.
DBS Live Fresh has multiple ways of earning cashback
Meanwhile, DBS Live Fresh allows you to earn cashback in 2 broad categories:
- Visa contactless spend
- Online spending
You will receive 5% cashback for either of these spending, which is higher than OCBC 365 for groceries.
The DBS Live Fresh card has a rather long list of exclusions for their online spend, which can be found in Clause 6 of their Terms and Conditions.
What’s more, DBS Live Fresh boasts an additional 5% cashback for purchases on eco-eateries, retailers, and transport services.
This means that if you use your DBS Live Fresh card to purchase online or contactless on any of the listed eco-businesses, you can get up to 10% cashback in total!
The amount of cashback that you earn for MRT and bus rides is greater for DBS Live Fresh (10%) compared to OCBC 365 (3%).
To use either credit card for MRT and bus rides, you will need to add them to your SimplyGo account first. Moreover, you are able to add these cards to Apple Pay, so that you can use them for public transport too.
Cap on cashback
DBS and OCBC have different caps on the monthly cashback that you can receive:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Monthly Cashback | $75 | $80 |
The possible cashback that you can earn for OCBC is capped at a total of $80 per month.
Meanwhile, there is a cap to how much cashback you can earn per month for each category for DBS Live Fresh:
| Category | Maximum Cashback |
|---|---|
| 5% Sustainable Spending | $15 |
| 5% Online | $20 |
| 5% Contactless | $20 |
| 0.3% Cashback | $20 |
Minimum spend
Here are the minimum spending required to hit the bonus cashback:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 |
|---|---|
| $600 | $800 |
If you spend between $600 and less than $800, it may be better to get the DBS Live Fresh card instead.
You will only receive 0.3% cashback with both cards if you don’t meet the minimum spending criteria!
Eligibility
Both cards have the same eligibility criteria:
| Age | 21 years old |
| Minimum Annual Income (Singaporeans) | $30,000 |
| Minimum Annual Income (Foreign Nationals) | $45,000 |
Other rewards
You can enjoy different benefits and privileges with both DBS Live Fresh and OCBC 365:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 |
|---|---|
| Buy Now, Pay Later plans | Discounted prices on OCBC HealthPass |
| Frequent competitions | Visa concierge services |
| Complimentary upgrades at luxury hotels |
Fees
Here are the fees and other charges for both credit cards:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Principal card fee | $192.60/year | $192.60/year |
| Supplementary card fee | $96.30/year | $96.30/year |
| Annual fee waiver | 1 year | 2 years |
| Minimum monthly payment | $50 or 3% of the Total Balance, including anny overdue payment | $50 or 3% of the Total Balance plus any overdue amount |
| Late payment charges | S$100 | S$100 |
| Finance charges on cash advance | An interest rate of 28.92% per year | An interest rate of 28.92% per year |
| Lost/stolen card liability | S$100 | S$100 |
| Cash advance fee | $15 or 8% of the amount withdrawn | $15 or 8% of the amount withdrawn |
The fees for both cards are rather similar.
The main difference lies in the annual fee waiver, where OCBC 365 offers a longer annual fee waiver (2 years) compared to DBS Live Fresh (1 year).
Final Verdict
Here is a summary of the comparison between these 2 cards:
| DBS Live Fresh | OCBC 365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dining + online food delivery | 5% – 10% (depending on sustainable spend) | 6% |
| Fuel spending | 5% | 5% |
| Groceries | 5% | 3% |
| SimplyGo | 10% (with 5% sustainable spend) | 3% |
| Minimum spend requirement | $600 | $800 |
| Cashback limit | $75 ($60 on online and contactless spendings + $15 on green spending) | $80 |
| Other rewards and privileges | Buy now, pay later installment plan | Discounted prices on OCBC HealthPass Visa concierge services |
| Annual Fee | $192.50/year | $192.60/year |
| Annual Fee waiver | 1 year | 2 years |
Both of these credit cards will be beneficial, depending on your spending patterns:
Choose DBS Live Fresh for a potential 10% cashback
DBS Live Fresh offers the better choice as you can earn up to 10% cashback if your purchases are eligible under the sustainable spending category.
This is especially for SimplyGo transactions where you can earn 10% cashback, which is higher than both OCBC 365 and Citi SMRT cards.
However, the caps on the cashback are slightly more restrictive, where each category has its own cap.
The annual fee waiver is shorter compared to OCBC 365, so you may want to take note of that too!
Choose OCBC 365 for a higher cashback cap and dining cashback
If you dine out rather often, and are not eating at places eligible for the bonus sustainable cashback, you can earn a higher cashback (6%) compared to DBS Live Fresh.
Even though the minimum spend is higher for OCBC 365 ($800), you will be able to earn a higher maximum cashback from the card ($80).
If you are a big spender (particularly in those categories with bonus cashback), the OCBC 365 card may be a better option for you!
Choose an alternative card if you can’t hit the minimum spend requirement
The spending requirement for both cards are rather high ($600 and $800).
If you can’t hit these amounts, you may want to consider a credit card that does not have any minimum spend, such as the Amex True Cashback or UOB Absolute Cashback.
👉🏻 Credit Card Deals
Are you interested in signing up for a credit card? Check out some of the deals below!
DBS Live Fresh
OCBC 365
Do you like the content on this blog?
To receive the latest updates from my blog and personal finance in general, you can follow me on my Telegram channels (Personal Finance or Crypto) and Facebook.
Are you passionate about personal finance and want to earn some flexible income?
