Esso has the most aggressive co-branded card in SG petrol — the DBS Esso Card pays 24.2% combined savings (DBS rebate + Esso Smiles discount + manual fuel discount) at Esso stations. It's a niche card but if you fuel ≥1× a week at Esso it pays for itself many times over.
DBS
Esso max savings with S$160+/mo nett fuel spend (PHYSICAL CARD ONLY — mobile wallet excluded for the S$10 monthly bonus): 24.2% on Synergy / 26.2% on Synergy Supreme+. Includes 18-20% instant + S$10 monthly Additional Savings (~6% effective on first S$160) + 1.2% Smiles points value.
Citibank
8% on Petrol (Esso, Shell, Caltex, SPC, Sinopec — MCC 5541/5542). Requires S$800/mo Qualifying Spend; bonus capped at S$80/mo total across all bonus tiers (per-tier sub-caps not enforced separately). Effective 1 April 2024.
OCBC
Petrol (MCC 5541, 5542) on-counter; excludes fleet card top-ups (Esso Speedpass etc). Stacks with onsite station discount; Caltex up to ~22.92% effective.
These are the objective top picks. Perqa narrows them to the cards in your wallet and tracks your spend so you always use the right one.
Try Perqa — freeWorth it if Esso is your primary petrol station. 24.2% combined (DBS Esso card 5% + Esso Smiles + fuel discount) on regular fuel is the highest petrol rate in SG. Drawback: it pays base rate everywhere else — keep it as a single-purpose card.
Esso Smiles is a Mobil-Esso loyalty programme separate from payment. Tap your Smiles card or input the number at the pump first for the Smiles points, then pay with the credit card for cashback. Both stack — the DBS Esso card's 24.2% headline already includes the Smiles layer.
No. OTR purchases use MCC 5411 or 5499 (food stores), not the petrol MCC 5541. Petrol-category bonus cards only match the fuel portion of your visit. Use a grocery card for the OTR purchase if it's worth splitting.