Elevate Credit Card (Privilege)

A RAKBANK World Elite Mastercard with three tiers and no annual fee, only a monthly fee charged in a statement cycle you spend below the tier's threshold, earning 2, 3 or 4 RAKrewards per AED 1 on most spending outside the European Economic Area (about 1.6%, 2.4% or 3.2% when redeemed for flights and hotels) and 0.4 or 0.6 on supermarkets, insurance, petrol, bills and government.

No annual or joining fee. Instead each tier has a monthly fee, charged only in a statement cycle where you spend less than the tier's threshold: Prime AED 49 plus VAT below AED 5,000, Plus AED 99 plus VAT below AED 10,000, and Privilege AED 199 plus VAT below AED 20,000 (RAKBANK's price guide prints AED 299 for Privilege; Perkly has not settled which is right). Perkly's annual fee figures of AED 617.40 (Prime), AED 1,247.40 (Plus) and AED 2,507.40 (Privilege) are 12 months of that fee including VAT, which a holder meeting the threshold in every cycle never pays. Spend AED 200,000 or more in the year from card activation and you get Privilege tier benefits with no monthly fee for the following year.

On Prime and Plus, spending abroad costs about 3.72% all in: RAKBANK's 2.57% foreign currency fee plus the 1.15% Mastercard processing fee. On Privilege RAKBANK charges no foreign transaction fee, so only the 1.15% Mastercard processing fee applies, on primary and supplementary Privilege cards, for non-AED transactions in or outside the UAE, online and in store, where the local currency is selected. On every tier, spending in the European Economic Area earns only 0.5 RAKrewards per AED 1.

The monthly fee is charged in any statement cycle you spend below your tier's threshold: AED 49 plus VAT on Prime below AED 5,000, AED 99 plus VAT on Plus below AED 10,000, and AED 199 plus VAT on Privilege below AED 20,000 (the Key Facts Statement's figure; RAKBANK's price guide prints AED 299 for Privilege). Only Privilege removes RAKBANK's 2.57% foreign currency fee; Prime and Plus pay about 3.72% abroad. Supermarkets earn 0.6 and petrol, bills and government 0.4 RAKrewards per AED 1 on every tier, whatever the headline rate.