Right now, it seems that a lot of banks in Singapore are cutting card benefits as it relates to earning air miles. And DBS, Singapore’s biggest bank, is the latest to get in on the act.

It recently announced that it would be slashing the 4 miles per dollar (mpd) online spending cap of its iconic DBS Woman’s World Mastercard.

Remember, this card earns you 4mpd on all online spending, up to S$1,500 per calendar month. However, from 1 August 2025, that monthly cap is going to get cut to S$1,000 – so a 33% slashing of the benefit.

It means miles aficionados in Singapore might have to shift some of their online spending to other cards. My top choices? There’s the obvious; like the Citi Rewards Mastercard – this gives you 4mpd on all online spend (excluding travel).

Then there’s the less obvious; people often forget that the UOB Lady’s/Lady’s Solitaire Cards actually give you 4mpd on your bonus categories – regardless of whether that spend is online or offline.

There’s also the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, which is know for contactless spending but that also gives you 4mpd on online shopping and entertainment – so think online spend at Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, Cold Storage Online, NTUC FairPrice Online, and even food delivery services such as FoodPanda and GrabFood.

For a more detailed breakdown of the latest DBS nerf, check out my latest TikTok post here.

Confused about how to get started in the miles game? I’ve written a comprehensive e-book – Chasing Miles – that covers everything you should know to start earning miles. Faster. Check it out here.  

When you just start investing, deciding where brokerage to go with is always a tough choice. That’s because the buying and selling of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stocks has become super easy and convenient.

What’s more, there are a multitude of choices for investors that weren’t available to us a decade ago. There has been a proliferation of newer brokers in the past five or six years but what’s my own choice for making investments?

I personally use Interactive Brokers (IBKR), a leading digital brokerage that many institutions, mutual funds, and hedge funds use to execute trades – you can learn more about them here.

Retail isn’t a huge part of their business and actually their client base is skewed more towards institutional clients. But that’s no bad thing given how much institutions need reliability, speed and volume.

That makes IBKR a rather unique player in the brokerage space. Why are they so popular with institutions then? It’s mainly down to market access and, as retail investors in Singapore, we also benefit.

IBKR gives investors access to a multitude of global stock markets, with European exchanges being an important one for those of us who like to utilise UCITS ETFs – which should be most of us (if we’re non-US citizens) given their tax-efficient structure.

Surprisingly, providing access to European stock markets is not that common for brokers in Singapore.

Beyond that, commissions and FX rates when converting currencies on IBKR are competitive while there’s also fractional share trading in both the US and on European exchanges.

Finally, they also offer recurring investment plans, meaning we can automate our investing.

While the user interface isn’t exactly the most “retail-friendly”, it’s something most people can adapt to. Indeed, once you do, you’re unlikely to use any other broker.

For a more detailed breakdown of why I choose to use Interactive Brokers, check out my latest TikTok video here.

Coffee giant Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) has had a lot of buyer interest for a stake in its China business, according to the chain’s CEO Brian Niccol.

In comments to the Financial Times, he said that many partners were excited to figure out how to grow the coffee giant’s store footprint in the world’s second-largest economy.

Tim’s Take: When it comes to coffee, Starbucks has fallen far, far down the pecking order for most coffee purists. Unless you enjoy a shot of coffee alongside your “diabetes in a cup”, Starbucks isn’t the go-to option for your morning brew anymore.

In addition to the many more issues it has, Starbucks has found that competition in China’s coffee market is intense. And the firm has suffered as the likes of Luckin Coffee have taken significant market share.

That’s perhaps one reason why Starbucks is on the lookout for a partner in the country, to purchase a stake in the business to help it restore growth.

Revenue from its China business has declined from US$3.7 billion in 2021 to US$3 billion in 2024 – even amid a buildout that has seen Starbucks add hundreds of stores over that period.

Niccol admitted in the FT interview that he wanted Starbucks to be “more competitive” in China and it needs to fix its “pricing architecture” there, particularly for non-coffee beverages.

For investors, more patience will be required to see whether Niccol – who oversaw a golden period of growth at Chipotle – will be able to repeat the trick at the much-troubled coffee brand.