Ask and you shall (may) receive. Some banks make it easy for customers to get their credit card annual fee waiver. Yes, you read that right.
Milking the most of your credit card is part art and part science. Besides reading credit card fine print and knowing the rewards mechanics like the back of your hand, asking your bank for a credit card annual fee waiver is non-negotiable if this is something that isn’t automatically offered to you. After all, savvy credit card users know it warrants some effort to get more money out of their bank.
In case you’re wondering, the majority of credit cards in Singapore offer a first-year annual fee waiver. For standard credit cards, they usually come with an annual fee of S$196.20 (w.e.f. 1 Jan 2024).
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
📣ONLY AVAILABLE ON SINGSAVER📣: You won't find this offer anywhere else!
Heads up! Citi and SingSaver are running an exclusive campaign for the Citi PremierMiles Card and Citi Prestige Card! Apply for either of these cards to receive the following:
For Citi PremierMiles Card: Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or an Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wifi 64GB (worth S$529) or 21K Heymax Miles or S$450 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
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For Citi Prestige Card: Get a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or 18K Heymax Miles (worth S$300) or S$350 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
DBS/POSB make it easy for their customers to request credit card annual fee waivers.
The waiver is only accepted via the automated system. DBS/POSB credit cardmembers can put in their annual fee waiver request easily via DBS digibot or DBS phone banking.
DBS digibot
Phone banking
DBS/POSB Credit Card Welcome Gift: Receive up to S$150 cashback or 85,000 miles when you apply for select DBS credit cards and fulfil the relevant promotion criteria. T&Cs apply.
While there’s no need for you to speak to a Citibank customer service officer, you’ll still have to go through Citibank’s hotline in order to put in your credit card annual fee waiver request.
📣ONLY AVAILABLE ON SINGSAVER📣: You won't find this offer anywhere else!
Heads up! Citi and SingSaver are running an exclusive campaign for the Citi PremierMiles Card and Citi Prestige Card! Apply for either of these cards to receive the following:
For Citi PremierMiles Card: Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or an Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wifi 64GB (worth S$529) or 21K Heymax Miles or S$450 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
For Citi Prestige Card: Get a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or 18K Heymax Miles (worth S$300) or S$350 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
Fret not, it’s an easy and fairly quick process. I can’t speak for all, but from experience, Citibank approved my credit card annual fee waiver request almost instantly — I got the welcome SMS soon after hanging up the phone.
📣ONLY AVAILABLE ON SINGSAVER📣: Enjoy the following rewards and experience Fastest Rewards Fulfilment when you sign up for a Citi Prestige Card.
SingSaver's Exclusive Offer: Receive a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or 18K Heymax Miles (worth S$300) or S$350 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
⬆️Reward Upgrade Campaign⬆️: Upgrade your rewards when you top up as low as S$200. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
SingSaver's Exclusive Offer: Receive the following rewards and experience Fastest Rewards Fulfilment when you sign up for a Citi Credit Card:
*📣For Citi PremierMiles Card: Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or an Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wifi 64GB (worth S$529) or 21K Heymax Miles or S$450 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
Get an additional S$100 eCapitaVoucher when you simultaneously open a Citi Citigold Account. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
*📣For Citi Prestige Card: Get a Samsonite Straren Spinner 67/24 + 2X AirTag (worth S$690.80) or 18K Heymax Miles (worth S$300) or S$350 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. This card offer is exclusively available on SingSaver. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
*📣ONLY AVAILABLE ON SINGSAVER📣
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Other Citi Credit Cards: Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or a Dyson Micro 1.5kg Vacuum (worth S$599) or an Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wifi 64GB (worth S$529) or S$450 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
For Citi SMRT Card and Citi M1 Platinum Visa Card: Receive a Dyson Micro 1.5kg Vacuum (worth S$599) or an Apple iPad 9th Gen 10.9 wifi 64GB (worth S$508.30) or S$350 Shopee Vouchers upon activating and spending (min. S$500 spend) within 30 days of card approval. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
⬆️Reward Upgrade Campaign⬆️: Upgrade your rewards when you top up as low as S$200. Valid until 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
Unlike Citibank and DBS/POSB, UOB credit cardmembers looking to get annual fee waivers for their UOB credit cards have to speak to UOB’s customer service officer. Here’s UOB’s phone banking menu for your easy reference.
UOB Credit Card Welcome Offer: Receive a Samsonite EVOA Z Spinner 25” Exp (worth S$730) or a GoPro (worth S$590) or an AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case and 2 units of AirTag (worth S$456.50) or up to S$350 Cash Credit or up to 50,000 miles when you apply for select UOB credit cards and fulfil the minimum spend requirements. Valid till 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply .
Standard Chartered Bank will ask customers to put in their credit card annual fee waiver request via its automatic fee waiver system.
OCBC customers can submit their credit card annual fee waiver request on the OCBC mobile app or via OCBC Online Banking.
OCBC mobile app
OCBC online banking
HSBC customers can request credit card annual fee waivers via HSBC’s 24-hour phone banking system.
⭐HSBC CC Lucky Draw⭐: Apply for an HSBC Credit Card and get the chance to win a Mercedes-Benz EQB or 86,000 KrisFlyer miles (enough for a round-trip economy class ticket to Paris). Get up to 30+ chances to win when you apply for HSBC Credit Cards and spend a minimum of S$500. Valid till 23 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
SingSaver Exclusive Offer: Enjoy the following rewards when you sign up for an HSBC credit card.
HSBC Advance Card, HSBC Live+ Card, and HSBC TravelOne Card: Receive a Flujo SmarTrax Standing Desk (worth S$739) or a Sony WF-1000XM5 (worth S$429) or a Xiaomi Robot Vacuum S10+ (worth S$569) or S$330 Lazada Voucher upon activating and spending min. S$500 by end of the following calendar month from the card account opening date and providing marketing consent. Valid till 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
For HSBC Live+ Card: Get an additional S$100 cashback on top of existing reward when you charge at least 1 qualifying transaction by the end of the month after date of card approval. Valid till 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
For HSBC TravelOne Card: Eligible applicants must also pay the annual fee of S$196.20 by end of the following calendar month from the card account opening date. Offer available for both new and existing customers. Valid till 30 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
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⬆️Reward Upgrade Campaign⬆️: Upgrade your rewards when you top up as low as S$200. Valid until 5 September 2024. T&Cs apply.
Maybank customers can request credit card annual fee waivers via Maybank’s 24-hour phone banking system.
The short answer is: no. Nobody knows exactly how banks determine whether or not to grant you a credit card annual fee waiver.
The only exceptions are those that automatically grant you a waiver so long as you’ve hit the stipulated minimum spend, say S$10,000, S$15,000, or even S$25,000, within the year. But, of course, S$0 annual fee credit cards exist.
From experience, my self-service fee waiver requests (i.e. those performed without speaking to any customer service representative) were typically successful.
In general, the more often you use your credit card, the more you spend on it, and the more consistent you are in paying your credit card bills in full punctually, the higher chances you have in getting the annual fee waived. Also, if you have to speak to a customer service representative, be nice so they’re more inclined to help you instead of shutting you down with a big, flat ‘no’.
Ask the customer service representative nicely if there’s any way they could help you appeal against the bank’s rejection. If that’s also unsuccessful and you feel you can do without that credit card of yours, consider cancelling it. Plus, there are benefits to cancelling your credit card!
But, before you do cancel, check for possible rewards points, cashback or miles. Make sure to redeem them. You do not want to forfeit those hard-earned credit card rewards.
It also doesn’t hurt to check if your recurring bills and insurance premiums are being charged to this soon-to-be cancelled credit card. If so, set up new recurring payment arrangements to avoid late payment charges and policy lapses.
Some people choose to pay their credit card annual fees because they get something in return, in the form of rewards points or bonus miles, depending on the credit card they hold.
For miles chasers like myself, it’s a no-brainer to pay the annual fee because it would have required way more spending at the rate of earning 1.2mpd or 2mpd to bag that 10,000 miles.
While I must say that American Express offers one of the best customer service experiences in the vast world of credit cards, it is tough to get them to waive the annual fee for you.
With American Express credit cards, it’s likely that you have to pay the annual fee if you want to continue using your card. That’s just the way it is.
Another common reason why some people pay their credit card annual fee? It’s their only credit card or their oldest credit card. A long credit history is always great news for your credit score, especially if things like late payments and partial payments have nothing to do with you!
In case you didn’t already know, a good credit score goes a long way in helping you get approved if and when you decide to take out a major loan, such as a home loan, car loan or education loan.
There are credit cards that offer perpetual annual fee waivers if you know where to look. For one, CIMB credit cards all come without annual fees!
Welcome Offer: Receive S$88 Cashback when you make a minimum of S$108 eligible spends within 30 days of card approval date. Plus, receive S$100 Cashback (S$188 in total) when you increase your minimum eligible spends to S$988 within 60 days of card approval date. Valid till 31 January 2025. T&Cs apply .
The Standard Chartered Smart Credit Card, HSBC Revolution Credit Card, and UOB EVOL Credit Card also let cardmembers enjoy S$0 annual fee for life, so long as their credit card accounts are in good standing or you meet a minimum number of qualifying transactions per month.
