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Known as one of the best entry-level miles credit cards in Singapore, the DBS Altitude American Express (AMEX) Card offers an attractive miles earning potential of up to 4.3 miles per dollar spent, coupled with a range of perks including 1 year annual fee waiver, up to 35,000 air miles when you pay for your annual fee (and hit a minimum spend within the specified period, promotion valid till 30 September 2024).
Before you hit the “Apply Now” button, let's assess if this card aligns with your lifestyle by examining its eligibility, benefits, and potential drawbacks.
Besides the DBS Altitude AMEX Card, others like the HSBC TravelOne Card and Citi PremierMiles Card are among the many air miles credit card options you would have seen on MoneySmart’s online credit card comparison wizard. In this comparison, we’ll be highlighting the key factors including the air miles benefits, interest rates, annual fees and minimum annual income requirements.
When it comes to welcome bonus miles/sign-up bonus miles, the DBS Altitude AMEX Card seems to offer the most generous amount of up to 35,000 for new-to-DBS cardholders (information is accurate at the time of writing, last updated on 13 August 2024), but the Citi PremierMiles Card has the best miles earn rate than the DBS Altitude AMEX Card. At the moment, both DBS Altitude AMEX Card and CitiPremierMiles Card offer the benefit of earned miles with no expiry.
In terms of interest rates, the Citi PremierMiles Card used to offer the same interest rate as the HSBC TravelOne Card, but has since revised their interest rate in 2024 to be slightly higher at 27.90%, which is the highest among the 3 cards.
As for the annual fees, the minimum income requirement is the same for all these 3 cards if you’re a Singaporean/PR, however, foreigners may find the minimum income requirement of the DBS Altitude AMEX Card to be a little steeper than the other 2 cards. Considering all these factors, the DBS Altitude AMEX Card seems to be a good entry-level air miles card with a great range of benefits (keeping in mind the minimum spend requirements) as compared to the other 2 cards.
Interest rate: 27.80%
Annual fee: $196.20 (first year waiver available)
Minimum annual income:
Interest rate: 26.90%
Annual fee: $196.20 for Year 1 (second year waiver available only upon minimum annual spending of S$25,000)
Minimum annual income:
Interest rate: 27.90%
Annual fee: $196.20 (waiver upon request for existing cardholders, first-year fee waiver available for new cardholders with a minimum spend of S$800)
Minimum annual income:
Here are 3 simple steps to apply for the DBS Altitude AMEX Card
You may begin your application by clicking on our DBS Altitude AMEX card application link.
When you choose to apply online via SingPass MyInfo, DBS will pull your identity and income data from SingPass (which is already verified), thus cutting short the processing time. The approval-in-principle page will appear within minutes of submitting your MyInfo.
You’ll need to provide all the necessary documentation in order for DBS to approve your credit card application. This list of documents include:
You’ll be able to activate your DBS Altitude AMEX Card through the DBS digibank mobile app, and enter a One-Time Password (OTP) after keying in your 6-digit Online Banking PIN to secure all your credit card transactions. Thereafter, it’s ready for you to use on any of your purchases and you can track your cashback rewards and credit card statements with your DBS digibank app!