DCS Flex Card
Earn up to 8% cash rebates (best value), 2.4 miles per dollar, or 8% investment credits
DCS Flex Card Overview:
The DCS Flex Card offers a versatile rewards structure wherein you can earn miles, cash rebate, or investment credits. With a competitive earning rate on cash rebate, this makes it a solid option for those seeking a cashback credit card. It also has its additional benefit like travel insurance.
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs) or S$15,000 (aged 56 and above); S$60,000 (foreigners)
- Annual Fee: Monthly service fee of S$15, (first year waived)
Key Benefits:
- You can choose from three (3) reward options: Miles, Cash Rebates, or Investment
- Earn up to 2.4 miles per dollar
- Earn up to 8% cash rebates
- Earn up to 8% investment credits
- Minimum monthly spend of S$600
- Capped at:
- Miles: 750 miles per category; total 3,000 miles for all 4 categories
- Cash Rebates: S$25 per category, total S$100 for all 4 categories
- Investment Credits: S$25 per category, total S$100 for all 4 categories
Miles | Cash Rebates | Investment | |
Foreign Currency Spend | 2.4 miles per dollar | 8% cash rebates | 8% investment credits |
Contactless Spend (SGD) | 1.8 miles per dollar | 6% cash rebates | 6% investment credits |
Online Spend (SGD) | 1.8 miles per dollar | 6% cash rebates | 6% investment credits |
All other spends (when you don't reach the S$600 minimum spend) | 0.4 miles per dollar | 0.3% cash rebates | 0.3% investment credits |
- Enjoy up to S$1 million in personal accident protection, S$250,000 in on-flight personal accident insurance, and reimbursement for travel inconveniences when you pay your full airfare with the card.
Audz’ Preferred Strategy: Cashback
- While miles programs can be tempting, the earn rate is too low as compared to the other miles credit cards in the market which offer better rewards with no minimum spending requirements. Investment credits, while potentially lucrative, come with added complexity and risk. The longevity of the investment platform can impact your returns. For greater control and potential returns, I would rather take cashback, then invest it into my preferred assets, tailoring it to my specific goals.
Best Used For Local Online and Contactless Spending for Maximum Rewards
- To earn the most, spread your spending across at least two categories. Given the minimum monthly spend requirement of S$600, focusing on a single category won’t yield optimal rewards due to the earn rate cap. Stay within the Sweet Spot Spending for each category to maximise your cashback.
Earn Rate Cap | Sweet Spot Spending | |
Foreign Currency Spend | Miles: 750 miles Cash Rebate: S$25 Investment: S$25 | S$312.50 |
Contactless Spend (SGD) | S$416.67 | |
Online Spend (SGD) | S$416.67 |
We will ignore “all other spends category” as the earn rate cap is irrelevant here for optimisation purposes.
- Here’s the most ideal scenario for maximum optimisation:
Online Spend (SGD) | Contactless Spend (SGD) | Earn Rate (Cash Rebates) | Reward |
S$416.67 | S$416.67 | 6% | S$50 (max) |
Good For Occasional Foreign Currency Spend
- Even though foreign currency spend seem to have the highest earn rate, do take note that there is a foreign currency fee of 3.25%. Therefore, the earn rate will be lower than the local online and contactless spending (~4.75%). You will max out the cashback on foreign currency spend at a sweet spot spending of S$312.50.
Use Rewards Tracker To Track Your Spending
- Open the app: Go to the DCS Cards app and find your DCS Flex Card.
- Check your rewards: If you’ve spent at least S$600, you’ll see your rewards. For example, you might have earned S$16 in cashback for spending S$200 overseas.
- See your reward history: To view a list of all your rewards, tap on “Benefit History.”
Exclusion List:
- Annual fees
- Service charges and/or late payment charges
- All disputed charges unresolved as at DCS’ processing date of the monthly SoA
- All adjusting entries on the statement of account
- Casino/access charges and/or cheque encashing charges
- Stolen/lost/fraud Card charges
- AXS bill payments
- Road Tax payment
- All transactions at LTA
- All transactions at Singapore Post
- 0% Interest-free Instalment Payment Plan
- ReadyCA$H
- DCA$H
- Balance transfer
- Pay4U transactions
- Cash advance transactions
- Transactions made with Esso Fleet Card (EFC)
- Any transaction with transaction description “AMAZE*”
- Any transaction made with the following Merchant Category Codes (MCC):
MCC | Description |
4784 | Tolls and Bridge Fees |
4829 | Wire Transfer/Remittance |
4900 | Utilities |
5199 | Nondurable Goods |
5960 | Direct Marketing – Insurance Services |
6010 | Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements |
6011 | Financial Institutions – Automated Cash Disbursements |
6012 | Member Financial Institution–Merchandise and Services |
6050 | Quasi Cash–Financial Institutions, Merchandise and Services |
6051 | Quasi Cash–Merchant (Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Non-Fiat Currency, Cryptocurrency) |
6211 | Securities–Brokers and Dealers |
6300 | Insurance Sales/Underwrite |
6513 | Real Estate Agents & Managers – Rentals |
6529 | Quasi Cash-Remote Stored Value Load-Financial Institute Rentals |
6540 | Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
7349 | Clean/Maint/Janitorial Serv aka Property Management |
7523 | Automobile Parking Lots and Garages |
4 | Government-Owned Lotteries (US Region only) |
7801 | Government Licensed On-Line Casinos (On-Line Gambling) (US Region only) |
7802 | Government-Licensed Horse/Dog Racing (US Region only) |
7995 | Gambling – Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, Off-Track Betting, and Wagers at Race Tracks |
8062 | Hospitals |
8211 | Schools, Elementary and Secondary |
8220 | Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools and Junior Colleges |
8241 | Schools, Correspondence |
8244 | Schools, Business and Secretarial |
8249 | Schools, Trade and Vocational |
8299 | Schools and Educational Services–Not Elsewhere Classified |
8398 | Charitable and Social Service Organizations |
8661 | Religious Organizations |
8651 | Political Organizations |
9211 | Court Costs including Alimony and Child Support |
9222 | Fines |
9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
9311 | Tax Payment |
9402 | Postal Services—Government Only |
9405 | Intra-Government Purchases—Government Only |
9399 | Government Services—not elsewhere classified |
9406 | Government-Owned Lotteries (Non-U.S. region) |
Advantages:
- Easy to achieve with broad requirements – No specific MCCs to spend on
- Higher cash rebate rate
Disadvantages:
- The annual fee is waived for the first year, after that, the fee is charged monthly. It’s currently unclear if you would need to call DCS each month to ask for a waiver, or if there’s other options.
- Currently, mobile contactless payments like Apple Pay or Google Pay are not supported. You’ll need to use the physical card.
- Some customers reported difficulties contacting the DCS call centres
- Is it possible to switch between cashback, miles, or investment credits on my card: Unfortunately, the reward type cannot be changed as of now, but DCS is already working on adding that option soon.
- Where and how will I receive the miles/cashback/investment credits: Miles are credited to your Miles holding account and can be transferred to your Krisflyer account in multiple of 5,000 miles. A conversion fee of S$25 (subject to GST) applies for each redemption request and the process make take up to 15 working days. Here’s how to redeem:
-
- Open the DCS Cards App and go to the Rewards Tracker screen
- Tap “Redeem” or “Redeem Miles” on the Benefit History screen
- Choose a redemption amount or enter a custom amount in multiples of 5,000 miles, then tap “Confirm.”
- Cash Rebates will be credited on your card account in the following statement, applied to offset the billed amount.
- Investment Credits will be deposited to your designated iFast account on the following month.
-
- What are their current transfer partners for miles: Miles can only be converted to KrisFlyer miles
Final Thoughts:
This card may not be one of the highest cashback in the market (currently, the highest is 8%), but it is certainly one of the three cashback cards in my opinion with a low minimum spend required of S$600 with broad requirements for local online and contactless spending. Since it is not MCC specified and you don’t need to drill down to the MCC of the merchant to know if it qualifies for cashback. However, there are some minor inconveniences like monthly fee chargeable after 12-months fee waiver.
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