Business Bank accounts

OCBC Business Debit Card: Fees, Features, and Alternatives

Sanjeed V K

14.02.25

Read time 4 minutes

OCBC is one of the biggest players in Singapore’s corporate financial services landscape, offering a broad range of account and card services, as well as loans, credit and other important products to businesses big and small.

If you have an OCBC Business Account you can order an OCBC Business Debit Card¹ to make spending and withdrawals easier. This guide looks at how the OCBC Business Debit card works, plus we’ll give you the lowdown on what types of business might benefit most from this debit card. To make sure you can weigh up all your options easily, we’ll also introduce an alternative non-bank corporate debit card option - the Wise Business card.

Table of contents
Overview of OCBC Business Debit Card Which Singapore businesses would benefit from the OCBC Business Debit Card? Wise Business Card Is the OCBC Business Debit Card a great option for Singapore SMEs?

Overview of OCBC Business Debit Card

Here’s an overview of the OCBC Business Debit Card, along with an alternative - the Wise Business Card - to give you an idea of how they compare - there’s more detail coming up later on each.

	Wise Business Card*	OCBC Business Debit Card²
Card order or replacement fee	Free for first card; 4 SGD for card replacement	20 SGD replacement for lost or stolen card
Annual fee	No fee	No fee
ATM fee	2 withdrawals to 350 SGD/month free, then 1.5 SGD + 1.75% per withdrawal	Shared ATMs: 3% + 0.3 SGD from the 3rd monthly withdrawal OCBC Malaysia & Bank NISP Indonesia ATMs: 2 SGD
Cashback on spending	Not applicable	0.2% - 1% depending on spend category
Foreign transaction fee	No foreign transaction fee - currency conversion from 0.26%	2% admin fee + cost of conversion

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

**Details correct at time of writing - 13th February 2025

How does a corporate debit card work?

A business debit card is linked to a business account provided by a bank or a digital specialist like Wise. You can use your business debit card to spend and withdraw on behalf of your business. And if you have a team, you may also be able to issue debit or expense cards to your employees to allow them to manage business spending and expenses more conveniently.

Generally business debit cards are cheaper to access and use compared to using a credit card for business. A credit card always has the risk of running up interest and penalty costs, and may also have additional fees like an annual charge and a cash advance fee when you use it in an ATM. Because of this, many Singapore businesses have a business debit card on hand for day to day transactions.

OCBC Business Debit Card

You can get an OCBC Business Debit Card if you have an OCBC Business Account.

OCBC Business cards offer some handy features and benefits, including:

1% cash back on digital marketing, online, software and travel spending
0.2% cash back on all other spending
Instant digital cards which can be added to mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
Access to over 1,200 ATMs in Singapore, and Mastercard and MEPS branded ATMs globally
Mastercard perks and benefits
Easy ways to manage your card and account with the OCBC Business Banking app or OCBC Velocity

👍 The advantages of the OCBC Business Debit Card include the cash back offer which runs to 1% on common business spend categories like travel and online purchases. It’s also very handy to have access to virtual cards and to be able to manage your account and card conveniently with the OCBC business app.

👎Downsides can include some of the fees associated with the OCBC Business Debit Card. While there’s no specific ongoing card fee, you’ll pay every time you use an ATM, with variable charges depending on the ATM network in question. Plus, there’s a 2% or more foreign transaction fee, which means that spending when you travel - or buying business supplies online from foreign retailers - may be more expensive than you expect.

How to apply for the OCBC Business Debit Card

You can get an OCBC Business Debit Card for free as long as you also have an eligible OCBC SGD Business Account, like the Business Growth Account³.

📝 It’s important to note that the underlying OCBC Business Account you have will have its own eligibility requirements and fees. For example, to open a Business Growth Account you must have a Singapore registered business, and pay a minimum opening deposit of 1,000 SGD. There’s a 10 SGD/month account fee, and fall below fees of 15 SGD apply if you don’t maintain your minimum balance⁴.

As long as you have an eligible OCBC SGD Business Account, getting a linked debit card should be fairly straightforward. You can apply by mail or in a branch, taking the following steps:

Download a debit card application form⁵
Complete the relevant information, including the OCBC account to link the card to, and the cardholder’s personal details
Apply in a branch or mail the form back to OCBC using their pre-paid envelope
Once your card is approved you can start to transact

Need to learn more about OCBC Business Banking Accounts?

➡️Check out: OCBC business banking: Review of business accounts offered for SMEs in Singapore

Which Singapore businesses would benefit from the OCBC Business Debit Card?

The OCBC Business Debit Card is a convenient option if you hold an OCBC Business account for your company, and need a way to spend, withdraw and transact conveniently.

In particular, the fact that you can get cash back on common business spending may make the OCBC Business Debit Card attractive to smaller and newer businesses looking to make the most of everyday spending, and keeping costs low.

However, if your business needs to process card payments in foreign currencies frequently - for example if you pay overseas suppliers by card - you may find this is not the best option for you, because of the 2% foreign transaction fee.

Wise Business Card

Illustration of Wise Business products

If you need to use your business debit card for foreign currency transactions regularly, check out the Wise Business card.

The Wise Business card is a debit card linked to a Wise Business account which can hold 40+ currencies, and receive payments with local and SWIFT account details in 8+ currencies. Once you have a balance in your account there’s no fee to spend any currency you hold with your Wise Business card - and if you need currency conversion you’ll get the mid-market rate and low conversion fees from 0.26%. That can mean you save on foreign exchange fees and avoid foreign transaction fees altogether.

Is the OCBC Business Debit Card a great option for Singapore SMEs?

OCBC offers a good range of business accounts which can be linked to this OCBC Business Debit Card, which offers nice perks for companies looking to earn cash back on common business spend. If you’ve got a newer business and need to make every dollar count, this card may appeal.

⭐ Before you start to transact overseas with your OCBC Business Debit Card, compare your options with the Wise Business card which lets you handle international payments with low conversion fees and transparent pricing. This avoids the 2% OCBC foreign transaction fee, and helps to ensure that you can handle cross-border transactions with no extra fees eating into your profits.

Get Started with Wise Business

Sources:

Sources checked on: 13th February 2025

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.