I can't use this CIMB card, but maybe you can

My wife applied for a couple of CIMB cards some months back during this promotion.
We were supposed to spend $300 per month and we would get $25 cashback for each of the months we spent $300 for the first 6 months. 
We managed to spend $300 for 5 of the first 6 months. So our total that we were supposed to get was $125.
I previously did an article and mentioned that ...

I recently had some issues getting some rebates from a credit card which I was using and had to call them. The issue lasted 2 months with the customer service bouncing me from department to department and I ended up having to escalate and send an email one of the heads in the company. (I managed to find his email address) It was only then that the issue got resolved. And just for $125 rebate. And the total hours and headache spent on it was probably not worth the effort. And yet I did not cancel the credit card cos they have really good deals all the time. So I take it in my stride and take the good with the bad. 

Copied from ​my previous post
http://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/my-split-personality

Well, CIMB is the culprit. I'm still waiting for my last $25. It's due next month. Hoping it will come in without any issues. 

CIMB has a new promotion.
As at 15 Aug 2017, for NEW CIMB Customers only, you can get $100 cashback.
​​Cuts of the key cashback criteria are below.
Please read the terms and conditions if you are planning to apply. 

Get Up To S$100 Cash Credit When You Apply Online
Apply for a CIMB Credit Card today and take home up to S$100 cash credit in total! Offer valid from 23 June to 31 December 2017 only.

Apply for a CIMB Credit Card
(Except CIMB Classic MasterCard)

Activate your newly approved card successfully, AND
Make a minimum spend of S$300 within the first 3 months from Card approval date

Take home up to S$100 cash credit!

An applicant who cancelled his/her CIMB Credit Card within the last 12 months prior to the start of the Promotion (i.e. 23 June 2017) is not an Eligible Customer for the purposes of this Promotion.

Fulfilment of Gift upon meeting the Qualifying Criteria within the Qualifying Period:
Each Gift will be credited into the Eligible Customer’s Principal Credit Card account within two (2) months after the corresponding Qualifying Criteria and all relevant terms and conditions herein are met.

Copied from ​http://www.cimbbank.com.sg

Anyway, I've been quite upset with CIMB due to my cashback issue. Cos it's been really troublesome. And now they have an easier criteria for cashback with less total spending.

BUT, I'll give credit where it's due. 

The CIMB Visa Signature is really quite a good card IF you can manage it.

Pros
+9.8% bonus cashback on wine and dine (excluding any F&B in hotels)
+9.8% bonus cashback for ONLINE Foreign spending
No admin fee for FX transactions (1.4% rebate will be cashback to your account after foreign spending)
​Member for life, no annual fee (you don't need to bother to cancel)

Cons
Base cashback 0.2% 
Member for life, no annual fee
(you won't bother to cancel, means you will not be able to re-apply for more promos after 12 mths)
Bonus cashback capped at $60 per month

Criteria for bonus cashback
Minimum spending $500
AND
8 x $30 transactions within the month

The criteria for bonus cashback is really quite a tough game. 
The obvious best way to optimize this card is to be able to spend $500-$600 purely on food and be able to make 8 x $30 transactions at the same time. Then you will be able to receive $50 per month. Much better than any other card. 

This is typically harder than it sounds, at least for me. 
Firstly, I already struggle with hitting my minimum spend on my 2 UOB credit cards. 
Hitting ANOTHER $500 on this CIMB would be unthinkable.
Not to mention to optimize it this would need to be allocated to food as best as possible.
I managed to get the rebate twice and for both times, I had only around 50%-70% food & online FX transactions. The rebates were somewhere around $25-$35. 
Which are still very good cashback rates. Cos if you look at it, you're still looking at 5%-7%.

For us, we really struggled to get the spending up to $500 and also to clock the 8 x $30 transactions. Cos we really needed to utilize the card regularly. We couldn't just hit the card with a few big ticket items and be done with it. Basically, we needed to make all our weekend spending on this card and they had to be >$30. AND it was AFTER we used the UOB card. So, ya, for us, we can't really maximize the use of this card, but it's still a great card if you are able to manage it well.



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