Titanium Credit Card

A free-for-life Islamic Mawarid Finance Titanium card that pays 10% cashback as Falak Tayyeb Reward Points (worth 10% at Perkly's valuation of AED 1 a point) on groceries, dine-in and fuel, up to AED 100 of cashback each per cashback period, and 2% in points (worth 2% at Perkly's valuation) on other eligible retail spending, within an AED 1,500 total per period; utility bills, telecom, government payments and rent earn nothing.

No annual fee and no joining fee; Mawarid's schedule of tariffs and product page both call it free for life. Mawarid's Murabaha profit rate on the card is 3.10% a month (an annualised rate of 37.72%).

Spending abroad costs about 4.15% all in: Mawarid's 3.00% foreign currency transaction fee, which Perkly reads as already including VAT, plus 1.15% for Mastercard, which is Perkly's standard estimate because Mawarid's schedule of tariffs does not itemise a scheme charge; whether VAT is added to the 3.00% is not settled, and if it were, the total would be about 4.30%. International retail spending outside the 10% categories earns 2% cashback in points (worth 2% at Perkly's valuation).

The 10% stops once you earn AED 100 of cashback on groceries, AED 100 on dine-in or AED 100 on fuel in a cashback period, which is AED 1,000, AED 1,000 and AED 1,000 of spending; Perkly has no record of what spending above a cap earns. Lounge access is only a flight delay benefit: under Mastercard's terms, a 24-hour pass after a delay of 1 hour or more on a flight registered in the Mastercard Travel Pass app at least 24 hours ahead, for the cardholder alone. Utility bills, telecom, government payments, rent, insurance, parking, app stores and money transfers earn no cashback at all.