Best rewards credit cards in the UAE

Rewards cards earn the bank's own points currency (TouchPoints, Exceed Rewards and their cousins), redeemable against statement credit, utility bills, vouchers, flights or a transfer into airline miles. The only number that lets you compare them is dirhams back per dirham spent: take the points earned per AED, multiply by the published dirham value of a point, and you have an effective percentage you can hold against any cashback card. Two cards with identical-sounding earn rates can differ several-fold once the point value is priced in.

Watch the shape of the earn table as much as its peak. Most programmes pay a lower rate on a long list of everyday categories (supermarkets, fuel, education, government services, utilities), which is precisely where much of a household's spending sits, and some award monthly bonus points only above a spend threshold. Check redemption friction too: whether points expire, whether redemption needs a minimum balance, and what the airline-transfer ratio is if miles are your endgame.

The category is compact and accessible: published minimum salaries run from AED 5,000 to about AED 10,000, 5 of the 14 cards publish an AED 0 annual fee, and 8 are Sharia-compliant. Flexibility is what you are buying relative to cashback; pay for it only if you will actually use the redemption options.

• Convert every card to an effective return: points per AED × dirham value per point. Compare that number, not the earn rate alone.
• Check the reduced-rate category list against your own spending; everyday essentials often earn a fraction of the headline rate.
• Look for monthly bonus-point thresholds and decide whether your normal spend clears them without stretching.
• Confirm redemption mechanics: expiry dates, minimum balances, and the transfer ratio into miles if that is how you plan to redeem.
• If you always redeem for statement credit anyway, compare directly with the cashback category; a plain cashback card may pay more with less friction.