At the heart of Money Luna is our mission to show you new ways to save money. With the cost of living on the rise in the UAE, shaving a few percent off your monthly spend can make a difference.
As ever, the detail's in the fine print, so we've scanned the market to bring you the best cashback credit cards currently available in the UAE. Read on to find out about:
- What are cashback credit cards?
- Top 5 UAE cashback cards + a special mention
- Our golden rules for credit cards
- In the news: Dubai's Smart Rental Index changes and how they might impact you
What are cashback cards?
A cashback credit card does what it says on the tin - it gives you cash back on your spending.
The cashback percentage usually varies by spend category (such as utilities, fuel, groceries etc.) and is always capped either at category level and/or total cashback per month.
The best cards can give you up to 10% back, though you will find 4-6% more commonly. Cashback is usually capped at a total of 1,000 per month and 200-300 at category level. Whilst it's not much, it does add up during the year!
Our top 5 UAE cashback cards
When evaluating the cards, we focused on the number of categories they apply higher cashback percentages on, as well as the maximum monthly cashback you can obtain.
| Credit Card | Cashback | Any catches |
|---|---|---|
| ADCB 365 | 6% on dining (incl. online orders), 5% on groceries, 3% on utilities, telecoms, fuel and Salik. 1% on everything else. | Monthly max cashback 1,000. To be eligible for cashback you need to spend 5,000 every month. Annual fee of 383.25 applicable from 2nd year onwards. |
| ADIB Visa Cashback | 4% on groceries, fuel, education, dining and utility payments | Max total monthly cashback 1,000. Max cashback on groceries (300), fuel (300), education (300), dining (200) and utilities (100). 99 annual fee applies. Only Apple and Samsung wallet support (no Google). |
| DIB Consumer Cashback Platinum | 4% on groceries, fuel, education, telecoms and utility payments | Max total monthly cashback 1,000. Max cashback on groceries (400), fuel (150), education (400), telecoms (150) and utilities (150). 199 annual fee applies. Only Apple and Samsung wallet support (no Google). |
| SIB Cashback | 10% on online and Apple Pay/Samsung Wallet transactions (excluding utilities, telecoms, groceries, education). 1% on domestic retail spend. 0.5% utilities, telecoms, groceries, education. | Monthly total 10% cashback cap at 300. 199 fee for 2nd year onwards unless you spend 10,000 in prior year. Only Apple and Samsung wallet support (no Google). |
| Ajman Ultracash | 5% on 2 of the following 4 categories (you choose): groceries, fuel, online spend and education. 1% on everything else. | Max cashback on fuel (400), online spend (200), groceries (200), education (200), i.e. total of 1,000. 300 fee for 2nd year onwards unless you spend 12,000 in prior year. |
Special mention credit card
We also wanted to call out a slightly different card, the Wio Credit card, which gives you cashback on paying off other credit cards.
| Credit Card | Cashback | Any catches |
|---|---|---|
| Wio Credit | 2% on credit card spend, 1% on paying off other credit cards | Monthly max cashback 2,500. Cashback for paying off credit cards is limited to 1% of your total credit limit value. Requires Wio Plus account. |
Normally, we would not advise using a credit card to pay off other cards. The Wio card is the only exception we know of, as it gives you 1% cashback on those payments.
When it's time to pay your credit card bill (for example, from one of the other cards above), you can pay for it using the Wio card, and get that additional 1% cashback. Afterwards, you can simply clear the Wio balance with cash.
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Golden rules for credit cards
Whilst we recommend cashback credit cards, you should only be getting any form of credit if you've got the discipline to follow the following rules:
- Always pay off your credit card balance in full every month.
- Never use your card to get cash out of an ATM (you'll see very high fees for that).
- Only use your card for non-AED spend / spend abroad if you know your FX transaction fees (none of the cards above are good FX cards!).
- Annual fees and T&Cs - Read and understand what you are signing up for, and how you obtain the benefits.
- Don't fall into debt - make sure you have the cash at the point of using your credit card. Treat it as a payment method, not a credit line.
IN THE NEWS - Dubai Smart Rental Index changes and how they might impact you
Earlier this year, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) launched its Smart Rental Index, which evolves the old RERA rental increase calculator.
The key changes are to the frequency of updates, and crucially, the condition of the building will now be considered in evaluating rental increases. Read more about it to understand how it may impact you in this Timeout Dubai article.
