Great Singapore Sale Credit Card War
Having lived in Singapore for 4 months I have gotten used to looking through my credit cards every time I have to pay for a meal – as a cardholder you are split for choice…
The Great Singapore Sale is now on and once again decisions about which card to use have to be made – should I pay with an OCBC Platinum card, which offers a 15 per cent discount? Or maybe a Standard Chartered credit card, giving a 1-for-1 deal for the set lunch?
With belts being tightened and consumer spending dropping in the past few months, credit card companies and banks have been going all out to tempt shoppers with irresistible buys during the annual Great Singapore Sale (GSS).
The best part? Consumers are feasting on the spoils of this war.
Walk into any store or restaurant, and chances are you will be plied with bigger card discounts, better lucky draw prizes and greater card rebates.
‘There are so many discounts everywhere now. When I shop, store owners would call out to me, asking me which credit cards I have and they try to give me a discount,’ said Citibank credit cardholder Georgina Chua.
MasterCard, the main sponsor of the two-month shopping season, which ends next month, is offering a treasure trove of deals this year for its shoppers.
Besides giving a record number of 200 tie-up offers with retailers, hotels and eateries, it has also upped its lucky draw giveaways by 20 per cent, to a total of $120,000 worth of shopping vouchers.
Wanting its slice of the pie, rival Visa is running ‘staycation’ deals with the Hilton and Shangri-La hotels for their cardholders. It is also, for the first time, holding a jackpot draw with Changi Airport offering up to $1.5 million in prizes.
