Best Rewards Credit Cards in the Philippines

Points cards compared on what matters — the earn rate, the real point value, the fee, and the income you need. Ordered by accessibility. Rates as of June 2026.

Note: links go to each provider's official site. We don't currently earn a commission from them, and rankings are ordered on the merits, not on payouts.

Rewards cards earn points whose value depends on how you redeem them. If you'd rather get a straightforward percentage back, see the best cashback cards instead.

How to choose a rewards card

• Match the bonus categories to your spending — HSBC Red rewards online/dining/overseas; Metrobank rewards dining/department/online; RCBC lets you pick your own.
• Know your point value. A high "points per peso" means little if each point is worth very little — check the redemption rate (shown above).
• Weigh the annual fee against how much you'll realistically earn.
• Pay in full every month. Card interest (~3%/month) dwarfs any rewards.

Why "points per peso" is the wrong number to compare

Earn rates here run from 1 point per ₱20 down to 1 point per ₱50 — so on identical spend the slowest card earns 2.5× fewer points, which makes it look far less generous. It isn't. What matters is points × what a point is worth, and those two figures move in opposite directions across issuers. Convert everything to a percentage of spend and the ranking changes:

Card	Earn	Point value	Base return	Bonus-category return
Metrobank Titanium Mastercard	1 pt / ₱20	~₱0.03 per point	0.15%	0.3%
HSBC Red Mastercard	1 pt / ₱20	~₱0.05 per point	0.25%	1%
RCBC Flex Visa Gold	1 pt / ₱50	~₱0.15 per point	0.3%	0.6%

On base spend, RCBC Flex Visa Gold leads at 0.3% despite the slowest-looking earn rate, because each of its points is worth several times more. On bonus categories the order flips again: HSBC Red Mastercard reaches 1%, the only figure in this table to hit a full percent. Note that its multiplier carries a cap, so the 1% applies to bonus spend only up to a limit set by the issuer — beyond that cap you drop back to 0.25%.

What that looks like in pesos

Take ₱30,000 a month on the card — ₱360,000 a year. Here is what each card returns if all of it earns the base rate, and what it would return in the implausible best case where every peso lands in a bonus category:

Card	Points earned	Value at base rate	Value if all bonus	Annual fee
Metrobank Titanium Mastercard	18,000	₱540.00	₱1,080.00	₱2,500.00
HSBC Red Mastercard	18,000	₱900.00	₱3,600.00	₱2,500.00
RCBC Flex Visa Gold	7,200	₱1,080.00	₱2,160.00	₱3,000.00

The uncomfortable conclusion: at ₱360,000 of annual spend, every one of these cards earns less at its base rate than it charges in annual fee. That is not a knock on the specific cards — it is what points economics looks like at ordinary Philippine spending levels. A rewards card only makes sense if the fee is waived, your spend is much higher, or a large share of it genuinely lands in the bonus categories.

The annual fee break-even

A cleaner way to ask the question: how much would you have to put through the card in a year before the rewards cover the fee?

Card	Annual fee	Break-even at base rate	Break-even at bonus rate	Bonus spend per month
Metrobank Titanium Mastercard	₱2,500/yr (first year often waived)	₱1,666,667	₱833,333	₱69,444
HSBC Red Mastercard	₱2,500/yr, waived the first year	₱1,000,000	₱250,000	₱20,833
RCBC Flex Visa Gold	₱3,000/yr	₱1,000,000	₱500,000	₱41,667

Read the last column as the test. HSBC Red Mastercard needs about ₱20,833 a month of bonus-category spend to justify its fee — plausible for someone who books flights and shops online. Metrobank Titanium Mastercard needs ₱69,444 a month in its bonus categories, which is a much taller order.

Two adjustments to make before you accept these numbers. First, both Mastercards here waive the fee in the first year (Metrobank's is described as "often waived", HSBC's as waived), so year one is free money and the break-even only bites from year two. Second, a fee is a term like any other: before you accept one, ask the issuer what it would take to have it waived, and check whether the waiver is conditional on a spend threshold.

Points value is an estimate, cashback is a fact

This is the honest difference between this page and the cashback comparison, and it is worth being blunt about. A cashback card's rate is contractual: spend ₱1,000, receive a stated percentage as a statement credit. The percentages on this page are estimates of redemption value — every one of them depends on what the issuer's rewards catalogue offers when you go to redeem, and issuers change catalogues, add expiry rules, and adjust conversion ratios without much notice.

The value also varies by redemption within the same card. Points converted to airline miles are often worth more per point than the same points taken as a statement credit or a voucher — but only if you actually fly, and only if you can find seats. Points redeemed for merchandise are usually worth the least. Treat the figures here as a reasonable middle case, not a promise: our data notes explicitly flag that "points value depends on redemption", which is why the underlying dataset is marked for quarterly re-verification.

A practical rule: if you would not bother to compare redemption options, or if you know you will let points sit unredeemed, the expected value of a points card is lower than the table suggests — and a flat cashback card is almost certainly the better choice.

The income requirement, and what it means

All three cards state a minimum annual income. Converted to a monthly figure, which is easier to compare against a payslip:

Card	Annual income required	Monthly equivalent	Best for
Metrobank Titanium Mastercard	₱350,000/yr	₱29,167	Lowest income bar — everyday dining/department/online spenders
HSBC Red Mastercard	₱400,000/yr	₱33,333	Online, dining and overseas spenders who want the highest points multiplier
RCBC Flex Visa Gold	~₱500,000/yr	₱41,667	Those who want to choose their own 2× categories

Metrobank Titanium Mastercard has the lowest bar at ₱29,167 a month, which is why it leads our ordering. Bear in mind that a stated minimum is a floor, not an approval — issuers also look at employment tenure, existing card history, and total exposure across your other cards. Check the monthly figure against your own take-home pay: the requirement is stated on gross income, so your net will be noticeably lower than the number in the middle column.

Common mistakes

Choosing on the multiplier. "4× points" and "2× points" are marketing figures that mean nothing until multiplied by the point's value. Two of the cards here have identical earn rates and very different returns.

Carrying a balance to earn points. Card interest of roughly 3% a month on a balance you carry costs several times more than the rewards that spending earns — the returns in the table above top out around 1% of spend, and most sit well below that. Rewards are only worth anything if you clear the statement balance in full every month.

Assuming all spend earns the bonus rate. Bonus categories are narrow, sometimes capped, and often exclude the largest items on a household budget — utilities, government payments, insurance premiums, and tuition. Model with your realistic category mix, not the best case.

Letting points expire. Unredeemed points are worth exactly nothing, and expiry rules are set by the issuer. If you have not redeemed in a year, you are earning 0%.

Holding several fee-paying cards for their bonus categories. Each fee has to be earned back independently. Two cards at ₱2,500 and ₱3,000 means you need to clear both break-evens, not one.

Frequently asked questions

Which of these cards is easiest to get?
Metrobank Titanium Mastercard, at ₱350,000/yr — about ₱29,167 a month gross. That is why the comparison above is ordered by income requirement rather than by return: the highest-earning card you cannot qualify for is worth 0%.

What is a point actually worth?
On these cards, between 0.15% and 0.3% of what you spend at base rates, rising to as much as 1% in bonus categories. Those are estimates of redemption value, not guaranteed rates.

Is the annual fee worth paying?
Only if your bonus-category spend clears the break-even in the table above. If the fee is waived in the first year, you get a free trial — track what you actually earned over those 12 months and decide before the second-year fee posts.

How is this different from your cashback page?
The cashback cards pay a stated percentage in cash or statement credit, which is predictable and needs no redemption decisions. The cards here pay points whose value depends on how you redeem them. Same spending, different certainty.

Can I hold both a rewards card and a cashback card?
Yes, and it is a common setup: the rewards card for its bonus categories, the cashback card for everything else. Just make sure the combined annual fees are beaten by the combined return, and that you can clear both balances in full.

Are these rates current?
Figures are as of June 2026 and re-verified quarterly, but issuers change earn rates, fees, caps, and redemption catalogues at will. Confirm the current terms with the issuer before you apply.

Prefer guaranteed cash back? See the best cashback credit cards. Budgeting your spend? Start from your take-home pay. Carrying a balance you want gone? Compare fixed-rate options in best personal loans and price them with the personal loan calculator.

Rates as of June 2026. Page last updated: 2026-07-08. Card terms and point values change — confirm with the issuer before applying. Researched and cross-checked; informational only, not financial advice.