With several banks offering cashback cards in their portfolio of credit cards, it was about time BPI stepped up their credit card game by launching 2 cashback cards just before we say goodbye to this heartbreaking year.
Now BPI didn't actually add new cards to their credit card portfolio. Instead they revamped their old Ayala Amore cards and added cashback to them. If you look at the design both have a nice, simple and more professional look than the old Amore cards, but let's get to the good stuff and find out if it's worth grabbing.
The BPI Amore Cashback and BPI Amore Platinum Cashback cards have some distinct similarities so let's go through them first and compare as we move along.
Similarities
Unlimited access to Ayala Mall's customer and family lounges
Up to 36 months installment terms
Low foreign exchange conversion rate of 1.85%
Earned cashback are redeemable in increments of ₱500
Cashback capped at ₱15,000 per calendar year
Minimum spend of ₱1,000 to be eligible for cashback
Differences
BPI Amore Cashback
Annual fee of ₱2,050 (Free for the first year)
4% cashback on supermarkets
1% cashback on drug stores and utilities
0.3% cashback on everything else
Cash advance of up to 30% of available credit limit
BPI Amore Platinum Cashback
Annual fee of ₱5,000 (Free for the first year)
4% cashback on restaurants (including bars and fast food) and convenience stores
1% cashback on supermarkets, department stores and other shopping stores
0.3% cashback on everything else
6 complimentary parking tickets at select Ayala Malls for new cardholders
5% discount on Ayala cinema movie tickets
Cash advance of up to 100% of available credit limit
Okay where do I begin? Let's start with why their cashback categories are different and what makes the Amore Platinum better in terms of cashback.
If you notice the Amore Platinum has the primary cashback on restaurant at 4% and secondary cashback on supermarkets and shopping at 1%. This is because people will generally go to a restaurant more often (hopefully more in the coming months as Covid cases go down) compared to the supermarket.
A normal middle class household would only need to go to the grocery store probably once or twice a month. This means reaching the cap of ₱15,000 during the calendar year can be a little tough if you aren't a big spender. While we're at it let me just say I hate that all cashback credit cards here in the Philippines have a cap.
Next the annual fees. The Amore Platinum's annual fee of ₱5,000 is huge considering the cap for cashback is ₱15,000. Meaning the most you could save on the cashback is really just ₱10,000 a year, which is less than a thousand a month and thats if you really max the card out and reach the ₱15,000 cap. The regular Amore card has a more reasonable annual fee with the same cap on cashback.
The main downside of the cards though is the minimum spend of requirement of ₱1,000 to be able to qualify for a cashback. So any transaction below a thousand doesn't get a cashback at all making it very difficult to accumulate cashback by the end of the year.
The low foreign conversion fee of 1.85% is nice perk to have though when purchasing in Dollar or when you're traveling abroad compared to other cards at 3.5%.
I'm not even gonna go into the cash advance because you should NEVER use your credit card for cash advances.
Is it worth getting?
The regular BPI Amore is an "OK" cashback card. Low annual fee and forex conversion fee along with unlimited lounge access in Ayala Malls. I've only been to one of their lounges and it was just some couches and a comfort room? Thats why I prefer the SM Prestige lounge since you get unlimited coffee, tea, and iced tea with wifi while bringing along 2 guests. They had me at unlimited coffee ngl.
If you do a lot of grocery shopping and if maybe you buy a lot of vitamins or medicine since its still Covid season then the card might be a good pick up.
For the Amore Platinum I just can't get around the hefty annual fee. The other benefits don't seem to justify the ₱5,000 annual fee in my opinion. Might as well get the HSBC Visa Cashback card that offers 5% cashback on dining ₱2,500 annual fee and a ₱1,200 cashback cap per month.
In the end using a credit card will almost always be better than using cash or debit cards so its really up to you!
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