Credit cards are quite a useful tool to optimise cash flow and earn great rewards from the issuers in the forms of cash back, travel miles or other rewards. However, what’s the better cash back credit card option for someone who wants to maximise every dollar they spend? This will be the focus of today’s Sunday Finance story.

Cash back rewards doesn’t necessarily involve receiving physical cash back in hand or in your bank account, but a rebate to the current balance on your credit card. So, if you have a current balance of $100 and you receive a cash back of $50, your current balance is reduced to $50. That means you will have less to pay back the bank on your next credit card statement.

However, not all cash back rewards are made equal in Jamaica. Cash back rewards are generally given to users as a function of the value spent on the credit card. In Jamaica, this means that either you receive a percentage of a transaction’s value, or you get a point for every US$1 spent relative to that transaction’s value. So, if you spend $1,000 with a 1 per cent cash back, you get back $10 worth of value. However, if you have a credit card with the alternative scheme, you get 6.25 points if you assume 1USD = 160 JMD.

There are four credit cards in the market that give a cash back scheme based on a percentage basis and directly benefit the cardholder. The Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited’s (BNSJ) Mastercard Gold card, Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited’s (SBJ) Visa PriceSmart card and National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ)’s Visa Classic and Visa Platinum credit cards.

BNSJ’s gold card gives four per cent cash back on groceries (supermarket) and gas station visits, 2 per cent back at pharmacies and 1 per cent everywhere else. The points are equal to $1 and are updated at the end of each billing cycle. This cash back reward is applied or paid at the start of every November billing cycle as a rebate to these users. As a result, some persons cash back exceeds their annual credit card fee of $7,403.44 and the insurance component if they include it as well. BNSJ even has a promotion with Rubis and Fontana which allows for you to get five per cent back on purchases using your Mastercard credit or debit card. So, more rebates for the user.

Sagicor Bank’s PriceSmart Visa Gold card gives four per cent cash back on every $100 spent at PriceSmart Jamaica locations. So, you’d receive four reward points for spending $100 which is equivalent to $4 on redemption. However, the maximum number of points you can earn is 75,000 points for every 12-month period or $1.875 million in transactions at PriceSmart Jamaica. All other purchases made on this credit card outside of PriceSmart Jamaica locations give the user one per cent cash back on every $100 spent with there being no limit on these transactions. Unlike other programmes, which automatically apply your cash back reward at a specific period, you have to make the request to redeem your cash back on Sagicor Bank’s website and must redeem a minimum of 3,000 points or $3,000 for any redemption. Also, if you don’t make at least one redemption for these reward points in a 36-month period, these points will expire. The annual fee for this card is $3,500.

NCBJ’s Visa Classic card gives 0.25 per cent cash back on all purchases and is available for persons who have a minimum gross monthly income of $50,000. This cash back reward is paid or applied annually at the start of the new year. The annual fee on this card is $4,300.

According to the new terms of NCBJ’s Visa Platinum card as of July 2024, persons will earn four per cent cash back on the first $500,000 of net purchases made annually at gas stations, grocery stores and utility companies. Any transactions above that $500,000 threshold will accumulate rewards at one per cent along with all other eligible net purchases made on the card. Transactions at government departments and agencies like Jamaica Customs and the Island Revenue Department will earn one per cent cash back up to a maximum of $150,000 per annum. This is in contrast to the previous structure, which gave three per cent cash back on gas, groceries and utilities and 1.25 per cent cash back on all personal and household expenses. The cash back reward is applied quarterly in January, April, July and October. This card has an annual fee of $8,300 and someone needs to have a minimum gross monthly income of $208,334 to qualify for it.

First Global Bank Limited (FGB) offers a Visa affinity card which allows cardholders to donate to their alma matter or past high school. There are nine listed high schools and one per cent cash back on each eligible transaction is donated to the selected high school. The card also allows entry into GK’s Value Rewards programme and has an annual fee of $3,700.

Almost all other cash back credit cards in the market are calculated based on one reward point for every US$1 spent. CIBC Caribbean Bank (Jamaica) Limited My Rewards programme is done under the Miles platform which allows for users to spend their points as they please such as booking a hotel, flight or cars. This is done through a virtual card which can be spent anywhere like Amazon, eBay or Netflix.

VM Building Society launched its Visa Gold credit card two years ago and offers the ability to earn one point for every US$1 spent. The Visa Gold card applies the cash back or rebate automatically every quarter with a minimum of 2,500 redeemable points and a maximum of 8,000 points. This card has an annual fee of $6,000.

BNSJ’s aero platinum credit card offers the ability for its users to convert their accumulated points into a cash back rebate. This is done under a scheme of one point = $1.48 with a minimum of 500 points needing to be redeemed to access this feature. However, the cash back reward in this instance is subject to a 15 per cent tax.

Sagicor Bank’s other credit cards have an option for cardholders to redeem a cash back rebate, with a minimum of 2,776 points being required to access this option. FGB’s other credit cards accrue one point for every $100 spent and can be used in FGB’s Rewards Your Way Programme. JN Bank Limited’s credit card mentions discounts to its 200 JN partner merchants, 10 per cent discount on JAA membership for being a cardholder, and gives JN Rewards points for transactions made on the card.