MariBank has announced (mostly positive) changes to the Mari Credit Card, which will come into effect from 1 Jan 2026.
✍️ Mari Credit Card is one of very few credit cards with no annual fee and no FX fees. I currently view it as one of the best cashback credit cards in Singapore, best used for general spending in SGD.
Here’s a quick recap of the current benefits of the Mari Credit Card (till 31 Dec 2025):
💡 Click on + Card Summary below to view key details like pros & cons, miles/cashback details, annual fee, income requirement, and more.
No more foreign currency junk fee
Let’s start with good news. From 1 Jan 2026, foreign currency transactions on the Mari Credit Card will not incur any foreign currency junk fees (currently 3%), as an evergreen card benefit. As a reminder, most Singapore credit cards charge upwards of 3% on foreign currency transactions, with a few exceptions.
These hefty FX fees take away a lot of value from your credit cards’ earn rates, be it miles or cashback.
Related: Credit cards with no FX fees
However, note that the 1% Dynamic Currency Conversion fee will still be applicable for SGD transactions made via overseas payment gateways (e.g. Agoda, Airbnb, iHerb).
1.5% cashback on foreign currency spending
Also from 1 Jan 2026, Mari credit cardholders can enjoy 1.5% cashback on foreign currency spending, on top of having zero FX fees.
While this is a great benefit, don’t get overly excited as this is currently only a promo that is scheduled to end on 31 Dec 2026.
Furthermore, while there’s no minimum spending requirement, this 1.5% cashback on foreign currency spending will be capped at S$1,500 worth of spending per calendar month.
Related: Best credit cards for Foreign Currency spending (Online & Overseas)
1.5% cashback on SGD spending
Now for the not-too-bad news.
Mari credit cardholders currently enjoy 1.7% unlimited cashback on Singapore Dollar spending, making it one of the best fuss-free cashback cards in this category, and a catch-all card in my 2025 credit card strategy.
This earn rate will drop to 1.5% from 1 Jan 2026.
Yeah…I know, it sucks, but I personally won’t lose sleep over losing 0.2% cashback on my last-resort card for SGD spending.
Related: My Miles & Credit Card Strategy for 2025
Is Mari Credit Card the next cashback king?
With these changes, Mari Credit Card will beat the Trust Cashback Card as the best “brainless” card for foreign currency spending, but only up to S$1,500 per calendar month. That’s also assuming that this card uses the standard Mastercard exchange rates with no sneaky mark-ups.
This card is perfect for those who don’t want to chase minimum spending requirements and annoying category caps on other cashback credit cards with higher earn rates.
Moving forward, Mari Credit Card will also be more rewarding than popular cards for foreign currency spending:
| Card | FX Fee | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Mari Credit Card | Zero | 1.5% cashback |
| Trust Cashback Card | Zero | 1% cashback |
| Trust Link Card | Zero | 0.22% cashback |
| YouTrip Card | Zero | Nil |
| Wise Card | Zero | Nil |
| Revolut Card | Zero (weekdays only) | Nil |
However, in my opinion, it falls just short of being the undisputed champion in the “fuss-free card” space, due to the 0.2% drop in cashback for SGD spending. For comparison, the DCS Ultimate Mastercard offers 2% cashback on SGD spending, with a generous cap of S$10,000 per month.
Implications on Miles strategies
Yes, this affects you too, Miles chasers.
Suitesmile readers should be familiar with the 4.25% opportunity cost of using Miles credit cards for foreign currency spending (with about 3.25% FX fees). This is because a no-effort card offering zero FX fees and 1% unlimited cashback exists, and there are currently no miles credit cards with zero FX fees.
With the new benefits of the Mari Credit Card, your opportunity cost of using Miles credit cards for foreign currency spending will rise to about 4.75%. Unless you’re a miles-at-ANY-cost kinda person, this is bad news as your miles acquisition cost for foreign currency spending will be increasing from 1 Jan 2026.
Unfortunately, with brutal credit card nerfs and award chart devaluations in the past couple of years, it’s now:
- More difficult to earn miles (lower credit card earn rates and caps)
- More expensive to redeem miles (higher award rates)
Hence, it hardly makes sense to use any credit card with an earn rate under 4 mpd and a 3.25% FX junk fee as your miles acquisition cost would be too high. There’s no need to spend to “buy miles” at over 1.5 cents per mile when you can simply purchase millions of them outright when a good promo comes along!
Here’s a quick comparison of your costs-per-mile, with a 4.75% opportunity cost:
| Earn Rate | Example Cards | Cost per Mile (4.75% opportunity cost) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 mpd | AMEX KrisFlyer | 4.32 cents |
| 1.2 mpd | AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend | 3.96 cents |
| 2 mpd | Citi Prestige StanChart Journey | 2.38 cents |
| 2.1 mpd | OCBC 90°N | 2.26 cents |
| 2.2 mpd | Citi PremierMiles DBS Altitude DBS Vantage | 2.16 cents |
| 2.4 mpd | HSBC TravelOne UOB PRVI Miles | 1.98 cents |
| 2.8 mpd | Maybank Horizon Maybank World | 1.70 cents |
| 3 mpd | UOB PRVI Miles (selected currencies only) | 1.58 cents |
| 3.2 mpd | Maybank World | 1.48 cents |
| 4 mpd | Citi Rewards UOB Pref. Plat. Maybank XL Rewards UOB Lady’s …and more | 1.19 cents |
1.5% coins back at Shopee
There’s more bad news which you probably won’t care about. From 1 Jan 2026 as well, Mari credit cardholders will earn just 1.5% Shopee coins (currently 3%) when transacting with Mari Credit Card Instant Checkout on Shopee.
There are better miles and cashback cards for Shopee and online shopping, seriously. Also, I periodically share more meaningful 20-30% off Shopee vouchers on Suitesmile’s Telegram Channel.
