Trustbank has just announced a new Trust Cashback Credit Card! From the first looks, it’s poised to be one of the simplest and best credit cards for travel spending.
Before you click away since it’s not a miles-specific card, you might want to give this card a second look.
The Trustbank Cashback Credit Card is a new product, distinct from the existing Trust Link Credit Card. It is also different from the standard Trust Card, which, in our opinion, is one of the best cards to withdraw cash from foreign ATMs.
Here are some of the features that make it stand out as a great credit card for travelling.
No FX Fees
First and foremost, it has no foreign transaction fees on all purchases. If you are buying something in Japan in JPY using the Trust Cashback Credit Card, you’ll not be charged any additional fees for that transaction. For reference, the typical foreign transaction fee that banks and credit cards charge is about 3.25%.
Although we can often find fee-free forex transactions in multi-currency cards like YouTrip or Revolut, we seldom see it in credit cards.
Despite the lack of foreign transaction fees, do note that it’s very unlikely you’ll get the exact Google rates. The banks, or Trust in this case, typically put a small spread on the exchange rate.
From our own uses of the Trust Card previously, we found the spread is very low and the overall exchange rate is very competitive. I think it can be safe to assume that the Trust Cashback Credit Card should be fairly similar when it comes to the exchange rate.
Unlimited 1.5% / 1% Cashback on Everything
The Trust Cashback Credit Card offers an unlimited 1.5% Cashback on all purchases (outside of the bonus categories which we’ll talk about later). This means that when you spend your Trust Cashback Credit Card overseas, you not only save on the foreign transaction fees, but you also get an additional cashback from it.
Even though it’s advertised as 1.5%, the real long-term cashback is actually 1%. The 1.5% cashback is a limited-time offer for new Trustbank customers only which will end on 1st January 2025. Following that, the unlimited cashback will revert to 1%.
Up to 15% Bonus Cashback on Categories
To further tickle the cashback itch of its customers, the Trust Cashback Credit Card also offers up to 15% Bonus Cashback on 1 selected spending category. Before getting too excited, know that it’s not as good as it sounds.
After signing up, you’ll have to select a spending category on which you can receive up to 15% cashback.
To earn the bonus cashback on the selected category, you’ll have to hit a minimum spending requirement on the card for 3 consecutive months. The minimum spending does not need to be from the selected bonus category.
| Bonus Cashback | Minimum spending Requirements | Maximum Cashback from Bonus Category |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | S$500 for 3 consecutive months | S$30 |
| 10% | S$1000 for 3 consecutive months | S$100 |
| 15% | S$2000 for 3 consecutive months | S$250 |
Using an example, let’s assume Sally has the Trust Cashback Credit Card and has selected Travel as her bonus category. She spent a total of S$700 in July, S$800 in August and S$900 in September. This spending is done across all types of spending categories, but only S$200 on an air ticket in July.
She will qualify for 5% bonus cashback on the S$200 air travel and earn 1.5%/1% cashback on the remaining S$2200. This makes her a total cashback S$32, which translates to an effective total cashback of 1.45%.
Sign-up Scratch Card Promotion
When you sign up for the Trust Cashback Credit Card, you can receive up to 3 scratch cards. You’ll receive one scratch card for achieving each of the spending milestones below.
| First spend on the card |
| Spent S$500 |
| Spent S$1,000 |
For each scratch card, you can receive a cashback of between S$5 to S$1,000. This makes the potential total bonus S$3,000. By chance, it’s more likely you’ll get S$15 in total instead, but hey it’s free money.
If you’re looking to apply for the Trust Cashback Credit Card, you can download the Trust app from the App Store / Play Store and use the code 7F1X2SN1 during sign-up.
Final Thoughts
The Trust Cashback Credit Card is a step in the right direction for consumers. There aren’t a lot of credit cards in the market it’s suitable for transactions in a foreign currency. With the introduction of this card, hopefully, there’ll be more competition which ultimately benefits us as consumers.
Currently, we’ll usually recommend the Instarem Amaze Card paired with the Citi Rewards card for foreign transactions.
Despite our recommendation of this pairing, it is not without its flaws. The Instarem Amaze card has a 2-3% implicit currency spread when making foreign transactions. To many, it might be a fair price to pay to earn 4 mpd.
However, if your goal is to spend as little as possible while reaping some rewards in the process, then the Trust Cashback Credit Card might be a decent option for you.
