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Ever since the outbreak of Covid-19, a lot of credit card companies have offered various promotions or points redemptions towards everyday spending. This category includes food delivery and groceries.
On IPI Facebook page, we had shared few promotions from supermarket category offered by selected banks. However, the cash back or discounts offered in these promotions are considered limited. (Typically 100-200 THB)
Although curfew in Thailand has come to an end since 15 June 2020, people are still be encouraged to StayHome, in order to avoid unnecessary exposure to the threat of virus. With more companies adapting Work From Home and constantly being inspired by tons of TikTok cooking videos, the frequency of heading to supermarket for grocery shopping has definitely increased. Cooking ought to be a skill most people had mastered during the pandemic.
Today, we are going to introduce the best grocery credit card, with few good ones and one to be avoided. The "Why" of them being on the list will be discussed after the introductions.
Great Grocery Card:
Big C World Mastercard- Aeon Bank
This is the newest card added into the credit card lineup of Aeon Bank.
Compared to its two ancestors (Big C Platinum Visa card and Big C Exclusive Card), the Big C World Mastercard holds the highest credit card tier and provides more benefits.
A highlight of Aeon Bank credit card is definitely the earning rate of 20 THB per AEON Happy Point. (While the average market rate is 25:1)
Cash Voucher of 100 THB could be redeemed with 1,000 Happy Points is definitely icing on the cake.
Key Benefits
- 10% instant discount at Big C Online.
- 7% instant discount at Big C.
Cash back capped at 1,500 THB/ month.
- Multiplier for accumulated spending (up to 2,000 points per month)
- Exclusive parking area at selected Big C.
- In addition to Aeon Bank's Happy Point system, card holders could still earn points for Big Card (reward program from Big C)
Benefits from World Mastercard
- LoungeKey: Airport lounge access with chargeable fee of 32 USD/ person/ visit.
- E-Commerce protection up to 200 USD.
- Luxury hotels and resorts program by Mastercard.
Annual Fee
1,000 THB*
Waived for first year and subsequent years when having at least 1 transaction at Big C.
Qualifications
Minimum monthly income of 30,000 THB.
Quick Summary:
The black and silver finishings gives the traditional Grocery Card a fresh and premium look. With relatively low requirements for World Mastercard and easily waived annual fee, the Big C World Mastercard is definitely a no brainer grocery card.
Good Grocery Cards
Big C Platinum Visa Card- Aeon Bank
Being as "Big Brother" of the newest Big C World Mastercard, the platinum version of it offers most of the key benefits.
Key Benefits
- 5% instant discount at Big C and Big C online.
Cash back capped at 1,000 THB/ month.
- Exclusive parking area at selected Big C.
- Earning rate of 20 THB per AEON Happy Point, in addition to Big Card membership.
Annual Fee
500 THB*
Waived for first year and subsequent years when having at least 1 transaction at Big C.
Qualifications
Minimum monthly income of 15,000 THB.
There is actually another variation of Big C credit card offered by Aeon Bank- the no annual fee Big C Exclusive card, with monthly income requirement of just 8,000 THB. However, the only perk offered is 0% 3 Months Instalment Plan. Hence, it is not on the list of "Good Grocery cards".
Good Flexible Grocery Cards
Citi Premier Credit Card
The Citi Premier is categorised as "Premium" Grocery card by IPI.
This card is initially designed for department stores shoppers, with:
- 4x on spending at department stores and duty-free shops.
- VIP Reserved Parking at selected malls (Eg. Siam Paragon, EmQuartier etc)
- Instant 15% discount at selected department stores (with points redemption)
However, a 5% Cash Rebate for spending at participating supermarkets (Eg. Villa Market, Central Food Hall, Tops) makes the Citi Premier card join the Grocery cards league.
Since it is categorised as "premium", the minimum spending per sales slip is 800 THB, for receiving the 5% cash rebate. Cash back amount capped at 500 THB/ month.
The liquidity of Citi Reward points and perks of premium credit card such as airport lounge access make it a good part-time grocery card.
Annual Fee
5,000 THB*
Waived for first year
Qualifications
Minimum monthly income of 30,000 THB (Thais), 80,000 THB (Foreigners) .
The requirement is not published on Citibank website, was found on masii.co.th.
Well, Citibank actually has a co-branded grocery card- Citi Makro Platinum Reward Credit Card.
There are 3 main reasons why it does not make into the list of "Good Grocery Card".
Firstly, Makro is definitely not everyone's regular grocery shopping spot as items are being sold in bulk size.
Next, Makro accept payment through TrueMoney Wallet, so it does not really make sense for holding a Makro credit card anymore. It did make sense in the past, as Makro used to accept payments by cash or Citi Makro credit card only.
Lastly, the earning rate of spending at Makro is 100 THB per Citi reward Point. The points earning of Hypermarket and Supermarket is capped at 100,000 THB per month. In summary: Maximum 1,000 points on groceries.
Since it is a Makro co-branded card, points earning is not applicable for other hypermarket (except Big C)
Good Less flexible Grocery Cards
Central The 1 Credit Cards
There are 4 variations of Central The 1 Credit Cards. The details of each tiers had been discussed in previous article.
Central group being one of the biggest tycoons in Thailand owns several businesses. Supermarket is definitely under their portfolio (Tops, Central Food Hall and even FamilyMart).
The Redz and Luxe will be the main focused today, simply because they are opened for applications while the other two variations are invitation only.
Key Benefits towards Supermarket:
Redz: x3 The1 Points
Luxe: x3 The1 Points and up to 5% discount at Central Food Hall and Matsumoto Kiyoshi.
Annual Fee
Redz: 500 THB
Luxe: 4,000 THB
The 1 Luxe does offer 2 visits/ year through Priority Pass.
Qualifications
Redz: Minimum monthly income of 15,000 THB (Thais), 50,000 THB (Foreigners)
Luxe: Minimum monthly income of 100,000 THB
Although The1 Points are not as flexible as other credit card reward points, there are multipliers offered throughout the business model of Central group. From restaurants to hotels.
The1 Points could also be cashed out at the rate of 0.125 (1 THB for 8 points).
Take an example from regular grocery shopping:
Points earning:
25 THB = 3 The1 Point (multipliers x3)
With spending of 800 THB, 96 The1 Points will be accumulated.
To cash out 96 points, it will be cash back of 12 THB.
12÷800=0.015 (1.5% cash back)
Don't forget that this is an unlimited cash out. The1 points could also be used to redeem products or gadgets.
The1 points could also be transferred and used towards redemption stays at Centara hotels and resorts. With transfer ration of 1 : 0.8 (1,000 The1 Points to 800 Centara Points).
Grocery Cards with Red Flag:
Tesco Lotus Credit Cards
There are 2 variations of the Tesco Lotus Credit cards. The redesign in 2019 gives them a more premium outlooks.
Common Benefits:
- 0.5% ClubCard cash discount* on other spending by points redemption.
- 0% 3 months instalment for spending at Tesco Lotus.
Key Benefits for Tesco Lotus Platinum Reward Credit Card:
- 2.5% ClubCard cash discount** when spending at Tesco Lotus (including online portal) by points redemption.
- 2% cash back at Esso gas station (6 times/ month and up to 1,000THB/ sales slip)
Key Benefits exclusively for Tesco Lotus Platinum Beyond Credit Card:
- 3.5% ClubCard cash discount** when spending at Tesco Lotus (including online portal) by points redemption.
- 3% cash back at Esso gas station (6 times/ month and up to 1,000THB/ sales slip)
- 24-hour roadside assistance
How these 0.5%, 2.5% and 3.5% work:
*Every 20 THB:
1 Tesco Lotus Rewards Points = 10 Club Card Points
**Every 20 THB:
4 Tesco Lotus Rewards points = 40 Club Card points for Reward
6 Tesco Lotus Rewards points = 60 Club Card points for Beyond
An addition of 10 Club Card points will be given by scanning the ClubCard barcode.
The cash out rate for Tesco Lotus is 10 THB per 1,000 points (0.01).
Quick math on other expense:
20 THB= 10 Club Card Points
Cash out rate= 10 x 0.01 = 0.1
Cash back rate= 0.1 ÷ 20 = 0.005
0.005, which is 0.5%.
The 3.5% and 2.5% are capped at spending of 15,000 THB per month.
With spending more than 15,000 THB per month, the ClubCard cash discount will be lowered to 1.5%.
With the calculation, you get the idea on how tricky credit card issuers could be for promoting their high multipliers (4x and 6x in this case).
Annual Fee
Reward: 600THB
Beyond: 1,200 THB
Qualifications
Reward: Minimum monthly income of 15,000 THB
Beyond: Minimum monthly income of 30,000 THB.
Behind the Rankings
The key differentiation between a good and great grocery card is Cash Back offered.
Follow by Perks at affiliated supermarkets and other benefits. A big No will be the unnecessary high annual fee.
The Big C World Mastercard- Aeon Bank checks all the points, with another huge plus from slightly lower requirement. The Big C Platinum Visa Card- Aeon Bank follows right behind as just few perks of slightly premium credit card being removed. Not a big deal.
The biggest problem with most co-branded supermarket cards is the inflexibility of points, which could only be used towards supermarket only. Hence, Citi Premier Credit Card and Central The 1 Credit Cards make them to the list as part time grocery cards. This makes annual fee reasonable, as the points earned have significantly more transfer partners.
The Tesco Lotus Credit Cards become a big "No" when having relatively low cash back and high annual fees.
Bottom Line
The "good and great" grocery cards with basically no annual fees are definitely good to have. There is no reason for saying "No" with that additional of 5% to 10% cash back, which could make up to 1,500 THB saving each month from what you would have already spent.
The biggest concern one might have is: There is no Big C around.
That might be not common, as Big C has 153 hypermarkets, 63 markets and 1,018 Mini Big C stores by year 2019. Moreover, BigC also offers delivery service, with a fee of 69 THB or free delivery when shop for more than 1,500 THB.
Although the Big C co-branded cards are great, in IPI we would recommend to have them as your secondary card. Mainly for supermarket purpose.
The flexibility of points usage has lowered the competitiveness of Big C co-branded cards in competition among other cards.
Optimisation of every cent we would have already spent is the goal here.
Having one card fits all is hardly existing, so far. Holding different cards and use them at the right time, at right place is actually the wisest way to utilise what we are going to spend.
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