Wondering how you can settle your bills with your credit card and still earn rebates? Read up on these cashback credit cards if you’re planning to apply for a new credit card.
Moneysmart folks will go for a credit card that will help them manage their expenses. If this sounds a lot like you, then you’ll definitely want to know the highest cashback rates you can get on different categories so that you can choose the right credit card.
Check out these cashback credit cards below that offer up to 5% rebate for your telcos, utilities, and medical bills.
| Credit Card | Rebate on Utilities | Terms & Conditions |
| EastWest EveryDay Titanium Mastercard | Up to 5% |
|
| Security Bank Complete Cashback | 3% |
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| Citi Cashback Card | 2% |
|
| UnionBank Gold Mastercard Cashback | 1.5% |
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| BDO Amex Cashback Card | 1% |
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| China Bank Cash Rewards Credit Card | 1% |
|
Eastwest EveryDay Titanium – up to 5% rebate on drugstore purchases
EastWest EveryDay Titanium Mastercard offers up to 5% cash rebate when you use the card on specific spending categories.
Essentials include drugstore purchases, groceries, and fuel. But there’s a catch before you earn the rebate of 5%.
You need to spend on non-essentials such as travel, dining, shopping, and hotel accommodations to earn the rebate.
Below are the rebates you earn on non-essentials and essentials.
| Essentials spend rebate earned | Amount of non-essentials spend to qualify for the rebate |
| 5% | Over P10,000 |
| 3% | Below P10,000 – P5,000 |
| 0.5% | Below P5,000 |
Rebates will be credited to your account when you reach P250 worth of rebates.
Here’s a sample illustration of non-essentials and essential spending with an emphasis on drugstore purchases.
| Purchases | Non-Essentials Spending Category |
| P3,500 | Clothing |
| P2,500 | Dining |
| P5,000 | Flight Tickets |
So, if you spend more than P10,000 (on the table above, the total spend is P12,000), you are eligible to earn a 5% rebate on drug store purchases, too.
The figures will vary on your statement of account, of course, because it will depend on how much you spend per billing cycle.
If you spend about P7,000 on groceries and P5,000 on fuel, plus P2,000 on drug store purchases per month, here’s a sample computation of the rebates you’ll earn.
| Purchases | Essentials Spending Category | Cash Rebates Earned |
| P5000 | Groceries 1 | P250 |
| P2,000 | Groceries 2 | P100 |
| P2,500 | Gasoline 1 | P125 |
| P2,500 | Gasoline 2 | P125 |
| P2,000 | Drugstore Purchase 1 | P100 |
| Total Cash Rebates Earned | P700 |
This card will be just right for a family of 3 to 4, or maybe even more. Consider the total expenses per month will be more than P25,000 based on the figures above.
A starting young professional will have different expenses, and it would be impractical to spend like this just for the rebates.
Another thing to take note of with this card is that it requires you to spend more on non-essentials to get those rebates from your drug store purchases.
But the sample computation above could be a reality for a family living in Metro Manila with their accumulated spending on this card.
The rebate cap per cycle month is P1,000.
If you think this card’s terms and conditions can’t help you manage your expenses, there are other credit card options with more lenient terms and lower minimum spending requirements.
- Minimum annual income requirement: P480,000
- Annual fee: P2,800
- Monthly interest rate: 3.5%
Security Bank Complete Cashback – 3% rebate on utilities
Here’s another card that’s worth exploring if you’d like to earn rebates when paying for your utility bills.
The Complete Cashback covers five spending categories – groceries, fuel, utilities, dining, and shopping.
For each spending category, you earn a corresponding rebate.
| Spending Category | Rebate |
| Groceries | 5% |
| Fuel | 4% |
| Utilities | 3% |
| Dining | 2% |
| Shopping | 1% |
Keep in mind that to earn rebates, you need to swipe the card at the merchants’ POS terminals. Paying via the online portal won’t earn you any rebates. The same for bills that are enrolled in Bills Assist.
There’s no minimum spend requirement. You earn rebates regardless of how much you spend. But there’s a rebate cap of P1,000 monthly.
Unfortunately, online and overseas transactions aren’t qualified for cashback. As per the terms and conditions, this card will generally qualify local transactions only.
You are likely to get a 1% rebate on drug store purchases since most pharmacies’ merchant category code falls under shopping.
- Minimum annual income requirement: P360,000
- Annual fee: P3,000
- Monthly interest rate: 3.5%
Citi Cash Back Card – 2% rebate on Meralco Bills
How much do you spend on your utilities per month? You may want to explore the features of the Citi Cashback Card that offers a 2% rebate when you pay for your Meralco Bills via Citibank Online or Citi® One Bill®.
But there’s a catch. There’s a minimum spend of P10,000 on other spending categories, like drugstore purchases, dining, and more.
And if you’re not being serviced by Meralco, you may need to look for a different card. This one is only useful for people living in Metro Manila and nearby provinces like Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Batangas and Quezon, just to name a few.
Here’s a table showing the rebates you can earn based on the terms and conditions of this card.
| Cashback | Spending Category | Terms & Conditions |
| 0.20% | All supermarket and grocery spend | Regardless of the amount |
| 6% | At least P10,000 spend on non-supermarket and non-Meralco purchases | |
| 0.20% | Meralco bills | Regardless of the amount |
| 6% | At least P10,000 spend on non-supermarket and non-Meralco purchases | |
| 0.20% | Other spending categories (fuel, dining, entertainment, travel, drugstore purchases) | Regardless of the amount |
In a nutshell, if you spend at least P10,000 on other spending categories like dining, travel, and accommodations, you can earn a 6% rebate on your Meralco bill. If not, you still get a 0.20% rebate.
Here’s a sample illustration to show the total rebate you earn if you spend P8,000 on Meralco bills and at least P10,000 on non-supermarket or non-Meralco transactions.
The rebate cap per month is P1,000.
If the minimum spend to earn rebates is too high for you (P10,000 is the monthly salary of most Filipinos already), you can review other cashback credit cards with more lenient T&Cs.
- Minimum annual income requirement:
P180,000 (if you have an existing card with other banks)
P250,000 (for first-time credit cardholders) - Annual fee: P3,500
- Monthly interest rate: 3.5%
UnionBank Gold Cashback Mastercard – 1.5% rebate on all spending categories
Now you don’t have to think about which spending categories to prioritize to earn rebates. With UnionBank Gold Cashback Mastercard, you earn 1.5% cashback on all your purchases, and there’s no cap on how much you earn.
Whether you’re shopping, dining, or purchasing medicines for your loved ones, you can earn anytime, anywhere.
The cashback you earn doesn’t expire, you can redeem them anytime at your convenience.
Here’s a sample computation of monthly expenses derived from UnionBank’s online calculator to give you an idea of your monthly rebates.
| Spending Category | Expense Per Month | Rebate |
| Groceries | P4,000 | P60 |
| Fuel | P4,000 | P60 |
| Shopping | P2,000 | P30 |
| Dining | P2,000 | P30 |
| Utilities | P8,000 | 120 |
| Total Rebate per month | P300 | |
Assuming that you’ll have an expense of P20,000 every month, your annual cash rebate earned will be P3,600. Not bad, right?
What’s unique about this card is that you don’t have to worry about spending categories, corresponding rebate rates, and monthly caps.
It’s also ideal for both individuals and growing families because you earn cashback regardless of how much you spend.
BDO American Express Cashback – 1% rebate on all local spending
For paying your telco and utility bills, you can earn a 1% rebate with the BDO American Express Cashback.
The rate isn’t that high compared to other cashback cards. But the good thing about this is that it doesn’t have a minimum spend requirement.
Any amount you spend, you earn 1%. And for overseas purchases, you earn a 2% rebate.
Under its terms and conditions, you earn cashback based on the nature of the merchant’s business and the location where you made the transaction.
If you’re approved as a new credit cardholder, you’ll enjoy a 5% cashback welcome gift when you use your card within the first 3 months of card issuance.
Here’s a table taken from T&Cs page of this card:
- Minimum annual income requirement: P420,000
- Annual fee: P3,000
- Monthly interest rate: 3.5%
China Bank Cash Rewards Card – 1% rebate on drug store purchases
If you’re a China Bank depositor, you get to enjoy the key features of China Bank Cash Rewards.
Get a 1% rebate on drug store purchases as long as you spend a minimum of P1,000 on non-drugstore and non-grocery purchases.
This means that if you spend on dining, travelling and shopping, you’ll be qualified to earn a 6% rebate.
Here’s a table that illustrates how this card works.
| Spending Category | Minimum Amount to Earn Cash Rewards | Cash Rewards |
| Non-grocery/
supermarket, non-gas, non-drugstore purchases |
P1,000 | 6% |
| Gas and drugstores | P1,000 | 1% |
| Grocery and supermarket purchases | P5,000 | 1% |
There’s also a rebate cap of P1,000 every cycle month.
Which is the best cashback card for bills payment?
The EastWest EveryDay Titanium and the Citibank Cash Back Credit card have higher minimum amount spend requirements compared to Security Bank and Union Bank’s cards.
And although EastWest and Citibank offer higher rebates, you also need to consider the other spending categories.
You’d probably still go for a credit card that has no minimum spend amount or has more lenient terms and conditions, even if the rebates are not that high.
Security Bank Complete Cashback offers 3% rebate with no minimum amount spend. Union Bank Gold Cashback is also a good contender.
Then again, if you’re living in Metro Manila, you don’t want to miss out on the 6% rebate on your Meralco bill. Just keep in mind that you need to spend at least P10,000 on other spending categories.
All things considered, you still need to review the card’s terms and conditions, the minimum income requirement from the issuing bank, and your monthly expenses as well.