BOC Family Card
Earn 10% cashback on dining and movies, 5% cashback on Family Club Merchants, and 3% cashback on groceries, online shopping, telco and hospital bills
Bank of China Family Card Overview:
A credit card made for everyday family spending— enjoy high cashback on common daily transactions such as dining, movies, public transport, and even hospital! This offers up to 10% cashback which is a pretty high earn rate among other credit cards.
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs); S$60,000 (foreigners)
- Annual Fee: $205.20, first year waived
Key Benefits:
- Earn 10% cashback for dining and movies, 5% cashback on Family Club Merchants (BEST Denki, POPULAR Bookstore, Unity Pharmacy, Watsons and Welcia-BHG (except for retail stores in schools, roadshows, expo and events), 3% cashback on groceries, online shopping, telco bills and even hospital bills
- Minimum spend of S$800 per billing cycle
- Capped at S$100 (S$25 per category) per billing cycle
- Earn 0.3% cashback on other spends
How to Best Optimise it:
Best Used on Dining and Movies Spends
- This card can earn a high cashback rate of 10% on lifestyle spends such as dining and movies. This can be used at any restaurants, cafes, and any movie theater in Singapore
MCC | Category | Earn Rate | Eligible Categories | Cashback Cap |
MCC 5812 MCC 5814 MCC 7832 | Dining & Movies | 10% | Restaurants, cafes, fast food restaurants & other eating establishments worldwide; Transactions at any movie theatre in Singapore | S$25 |
Family Club Merchants | 5% | – BEST Denki – POPULAR Bookstore – Unity Pharmacy – Watsons – Welcia-BHG (except for retail stores in schools, roadshows, expo and events) | S$25 | |
MCC 4111 | Public Transport | 3% | Contactless card transit transactions on MRT Trains & SBS/SMRT Busses via TransitLink ABT System | S$25 |
MCC 5411 | Supermarkets | 3% | Transactions at major supermarkets & hypermarkets | S$25 |
All online purchases with exclusions | Online | 3% | Retail transactions made via the internet (exc. apply) | S$25 |
MCC 8062 (those who don’t belong in this MCC will earn 0.3% cashback) | Hospital Bills | 3% | Transactions made at hospitals in Singapore | S$25 |
- With the S$25 cashback per category, here is a strategy on how much to spend to hit the minimum spend and earn maximum cashback, yielding a 6.44% cashback with a minimum spend of S$800:
Category | Rate | Max Cap | Spend to Cap |
Dining & Movies | 10% | S$25 | S$250 |
Family Club Merchants | 5% | S$25 | S$500 |
Public Transport or Supermarket,Online, Hospitals | 3% | S$1.5 | S$50 |
Total Amount | 6.44% | S$51.50 | S$800 |
Best Used For Things on Exclusion List (Like Insurance, Taxes) Via Cardup or iPayMy
- This card can be used on commonly excluded spending such as hospitals, just make sure that the transaction is under MCC 8062, or else it will only earn 0.3% cashback. Since BOC Family Card specifically included hospitals on their earning categories, you can use your credit card to pay directly. Alternatively, you can use CardUp and iPayMy on other commonly excluded spendings like insurance or taxes— these platforms let you earn cashback or miles by charging a smaller fee. Basically, they will charge your credit card and help you pay off your insurance or tax payments and you get miles or cashback on your credit card. You can sign up for Cardup using my promo code: IJTLFREE to get S$30 off your first payment. For iPayMy, you can use my link to get S$30 off of your first payment (if you sign up from the website itself, you only get $20 off as new user).
What to Avoid:
Exclusion List:
- payments to government institutions and payments for government related services;
- payments to financial institutions (including banks and brokerages) and payment for financial services;
- utility bill payments;
- any form of donations
- payments of funds to prepaid accounts and merchants who are categorised as “payment service providers”;
- payments for parking lots;
- payments for cleaning, maintenance, and janitorial services;
- payments made via AXS and SAM; and
- any other transactions as determined by BOC from time to time.
Online Spend Exclusions:
Category | Examples |
Government Institutions / Services | ACRA CPF HDB SEASON PARKING ICA LTA MOM Town Council URA |
Financial Institutions / Services (including banks and brokerages) | helloPay MatchMove Pay Saxo Cap Markets IGMARKETS FOREX.COM MONEYBOOKERS.COM OANDA PACIFIC Swiss Money Transfer |
Money Transfer and Remittance Services | Swiss Money Transfer TransferWise WorldRemit |
Utility Bill Payments / Other Payments | SP Services AXS SAM payments |
Prepaid accounts and payment service providers | EZLINK (FEVO) EZLINK (IMAGINE) TransitLink NETS FlashPay SingTel Dash Youtrip GrabPay Top up MatchMove Pay HelloPay |
Cleaning, Maintenance, and Janitorial Services | Helpling Sendhelper |
Is it Worth it:
Advantages:
- One of the highest cashback card for hospital bills with MCC 8062
- not too shabby cashback rate of 6.44%
- Able to earn cashback for insurance, tax or rent payments via Cardup or iPayMy
Disadvantages:
- Minimum monthly spend of $800
- Application is archaic – need to print and send form
Frequently Asked Questions:
When is Cashback credited: It will be credited into the card account in the next billing cycle. And will be reflected on the monthly statement.
Final Thoughts:
In summary, this card is a great option for hospital bills under MCC 8062. By using it exclusively for hospital expenses, you can fully optimize the 3% cashback, earning S$25 with an ideal spend of S$833.33. For a more detailed breakdown, check out my post on the best cards for hospital bills. For commonly excluded transactions like insurance premiums and taxes, you can opt to transact through platforms like CardUp or iPayMy.
Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.
