ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card: What You Should Know

Because of its flexibility, ANZ Optmum World is an ideal card to use with other rewards cards.
ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
PROMO: None currently available

ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card: What You Should Know

Because of its flexibility, ANZ Optmum World is an ideal card to use with other rewards cards.

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ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
PROMO: None currently available

UPDATE: ANZ Credit Cards are no longer offered in Singapore.

If you are looking for a card to complement your other cards to maximize cashback on everything you could ever spend your money on, look no further then ANZ Optimum World MasterCard card. This seems to be the only card that allows the customer to choose a category they want to maximize rebates on every quarter. You get four options to choose from, dining & leisure, travel, shopping and groceries. When you designate your category, ANZ Optimum provides 5% cashback on that category for 3 months. While every other expenditure will only yield 1% rebate, ANZ Optimum provides the flexibility for cashback optimizers who are looking to maximize cashback on all of their monthly expenses.

Pros of ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card

  • 5% cashback on a category of your choosing
  • No cap on cashback
  • No minimum spend requirement
  • Promotion: Up to S$168 of cash rebate for new customers and a free luggage gift worth S$300

Cons of ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card

  • Relatively high annual fee of S$180, waived 1st year
  • Only 1% cashback for categories outside of your choice

What sets ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card Apart

ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card is unique in the market because it allows the customer to choose among 4 categories of spend for maximum cashback of 5%. This flexibility combined with the high cashback rate of 5% makes this card ideal for anyone who is willing to juggle between a few different cards to maximize your cashback reward. Furthermore, unlike most cashback cards in the market, ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card does not have a cap on cashback reward you can earn. Therefore, if you choose your category wisely, you can earn not only one of the best cashback rate in terms of percentage points, but also one of the best cashback dollar amount possible in the market.

Every calendar quarter (Jan-March, April-June, July-Sept, Oct-Dec), ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card allows you to earn 5% cash rebate on one category of your choosing. There are four options to choose from: 1) Dining & Leisure (restaurants, bars, hotels, cinemas), Travel (airlines, Online travel portals), 3) Shopping (offline and online) and 4) Groceries. For the category that you designate, you will earn 5% cash rebate. On everything else, you can still earn 1% cash rebate. While this card by itself will not help you maximize total cashback reward, if you couple this card with other cards with higher cashback but low cap on cashback amount (like Standard Chartered Singpost Platinum Visa Credit Card for shopping), ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card can help you maximize cashback for every S$1 you have in your pocket. ANZ helps you achieve this goal by not requiring a monthly minimum spend to qualify for cashback award. No matter how infrequently you use the card and how little you spend on it, you will always get the 5% cashback on the chosen category. For suggestions on which card to pair with ANZ Optimum, we have curated a number of cashback cards that fit different spending needs in our Best Cashback Cards of 2016.

While ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card does have a high annual salary requirement of S80,000 for both locals and foreigners, we think this card is highly affordable given its annual fee of S$180 which is waived for the first year. Not only that, ANZ helps offset that cost with its rich welcome bonus gift: if you apply online, you can receive S$100 cash rebate and a OTO E-shape Massager worth almost S$300.

ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card's Features and Benefits:

ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card
  • Annual fee: S$180, waived first year
  • Salary requirement: S$80,000 for both locals and foreigners
  • 5% cashback on a category of your choosing (1) Dining & Leisure (restaurants, bars, hotels, cinemas), Travel (airlines, Online travel portals), 3) Shopping (offline and online) and 4) Groceries), 1% cashback for everything else
  • No cap on cashback
  • No minimum spend requirements
  • Promotion: S$100 welcome bonus cash rebate and a gift worth S$300 if you apply online

How does the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card Compare Against Other Cards? 

Read our comparisons of ANZ Optimum card with other cards and learn what makes each card unique in their own way. We compare and contrast each card to highlight its uniqueness to help you identify the card that you need.

A graph displaying how ANZ Optimum World Card compares to other credit cards in Singapore in terms of their rewards
ANZ Optimum World Card vs Other Cards by Dollar Value*

ANZ Optimum World vs UOB One

UOB One Card is another one of the best cashback rewards cards in the market. It actually has the highest flat rate cashback in Singapore of up to 5% rebate on all your expenses. As with everything, however, there is a catch. UOB One card caps quarterly rebate at S$300, and staggers its rebate level according to your spend level. It’s rather complicated to use, and requires some effort on the user to make sure the dollar spent on the card is consistent every month. Given this, we think UOB One is more appropriate for people who have high visibility on their monthly expenditures and can make sure to spend S$2,000 on the card consistently.

ANZ Optimum would not be good complement to UOB One given that they offer the exact same 5% no matter what category you choose for ANZ Optimum World. In our opinion, ANZ Optimum World may better complement cards like OCBC 365 Card or Standard Chartered Singpost Platinum Visa Card that offer extremely high rebates only in a few categories in which they excel.

ANZ Optimum World vs American Express True Cashback

American Express True Cashback Card
American Express True Cashback Card

American Express True Cashback is a great flat rate cashback cards in the market. Quite similar to ANZ Optimum World, American Express True Cashback has neither the monthly cap on rebates nor monthly minimum spend. The main difference is that Amex True Cashback offers 1.5% for all your expenditures vs. 1% that ANZ Optimum World offers outside of the chosen category.  Given this, Amex True Cashback is a more appropriate choice as a convenient way to earn cashback on everything. We recommend ANZ Optimum World for people who already have a great cashback card that lacks benefit in a specific category, thereby maximizing return on your dollar no matter what you purchase.

ANZ Optimum World vs Standard Chartered Manhattan World

Standard Chartered Manhattan World MasterCard
Standard Chartered Manhattan World MasterCard

Standard Chartered Manhattan World MasterCard Credit Card is a flat rate cashback card that offers up to 3% cashback on all your expenses. Despite its popularity, we think there are better options if you are looking for a flat rate cashback card. On the surface, SC Manhattan World card may seem compare favorably against other cards. SC Manhattan World card offers a 3% flat rebate on everything for an annual fee of S$180 (waived for the 1st year). It also offers a S$138 of welcome gift. However, the devil is in the details. SC Manhattan World card requires a minimum spend of S$3,000 a month to qualify for 3%, and then imposes a S$200 cap on quarterly rebate. If you spend below that amount, you only receive 1% (and possibly lower if spend less than S$1,000). This effectively implies that the maximum rebate you can earn is 2.5% on S$8,000 of quarterly spend.

Compared to this, American Express True Cashback has no minimum spend, making the card one of the easiest to use in Singapore, and offers 1.5% cashback on everything no matter how much or little money you spend. Not only that, Amex True Cashback will match SC Manhattan World’s 3% flat rate for the first 6 months. Hence, American Express True Cashback is actually the better card if you are spending less than S$2,000 a month. If you are spending more than S$2,000, there is an even better card called UOB One card that could yield up to 5% of rebate on all your purchases. 

*ValueChampion calculates the dollar value of rewards based on S$2,000 of monthly spending. We sum the value of points, miles and cashback in dollar terms and subtract the annual fee over a 24-month period. The estimates here are ValueChampion's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

Duckju Kang

Duckju (DJ) is the founder and CEO of ValueChampion. He covers the financial services industry, consumer finance products, budgeting and investing. He previously worked at hedge funds such as Tiger Asia and Cadian Capital. He graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with honors, Magna Cum Laude. His work has been featured on major international media such as CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, the Straits Times, Today and more.

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