About
Ziling Liu is ShopBack's Personal Finance Editor, covering credit card comparisons, sale-event playbooks, and retail chain comparisons across Australia, Singapore, and the United States.
Personal Finance Editor at ShopBack, covering the cashback and rewards side of everyday shopping across the Australia, Singapore, and United States markets. Ziling's work sits at the "which card, which sale, which retailer" decision, before a purchase is made.
The reporting draws on issuer terms and conditions, official reward structure tables, retailer sale-history archives, and ShopBack's internal merchant pricing data. Cashback and rewards math is shown transparently on every claim.
Areas of focus
Credit card comparisons by use-case. Best rewards cards for grocery and gas, dining, online shopping, travel, and everyday flat-rate spend, per market. Chase versus Amex versus Capital One in the United States. Westpac versus CBA versus ANZ versus NAB in Australia. DBS versus Citi versus UOB versus OCBC in Singapore. Each comparison run by the specific spending pattern, not by the marketing category the card sits in.
Sale-event playbooks. US Black Friday and Cyber Monday. AU EOFY and Boxing Day. SG 9.9, 10.10, 11.11, and 12.12. Prime Day across all three. Which categories genuinely mark down during each event, which are theatre, and which cashback layers stack with what on which platform.
Retail chain comparisons. Costco versus Sam's Club versus BJ's in the US. Kmart versus Target Australia versus Big W. NTUC FairPrice versus Sheng Siong versus Cold Storage. Whole Foods versus Trader Joe's versus Aldi versus Sprouts. Same basket priced across the field, plus the membership and cashback layer.
Credit card issuer comparisons. How Chase's Ultimate Rewards ecosystem stacks against Amex's Membership Rewards. How Westpac's Altitude program compares with ANZ Travel Rewards. How Singapore's DBS Points system compares against Citi Rewards. Covered from the cashback and everyday-rewards lens, distinct from the miles-optimisation angle.
Cashback stacking mechanics. How cashback layers with credit-card rewards, store loyalty, and platform-specific coupons. The rules and stacking permutations differ meaningfully across the three markets, and coverage is written region by region rather than one size fits all.
Editorial standards
Every rewards rate, cashback percentage, or issuer term in a Ziling article cites the issuer's own published terms and conditions or reward structure page as of the article's date. Card comparison charts are built from primary-source data, not from third-party card-aggregator sites. Credit-card sign-up bonuses, category earning rates, and cap conditions are read from the issuer's terms directly.
Sale-event coverage cites the retailer's official promotion page and observed in-cart pricing during the event window. Retailer sale histories are cross-referenced against the retailer's own archived pages where available, and against ShopBack's internal merchant pricing data.
Rewards math is shown transparently: earning rate, category cap, redemption value, and the specific spending pattern the recommendation assumes. "Best card for X" is stated for a shopper with a stated monthly spend and category mix, with trade-offs at the top so readers can self-select. Because issuer terms change frequently, the date_modified field records the last re-verification, which happens at minimum every quarter and immediately after any known material change to a card under coverage.
ShopBack receives a commission when readers apply for credit cards or complete purchases through a cashback link. This commission does not vary by editorial coverage, and issuers or retailers cannot pay for inclusion, ranking, or favourable language. Where a card pays a notably higher commission than a comparable peer, the conflict is disclosed inline.
Get in touch
Tips, corrections, or issuer term changes worth looking at: ziling.liu@shopback.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ziling-liu-46171718a
Corrections are logged in-article with the date and what changed.
Editorial team
Ziling covers personal finance from the cashback and rewards lens. The miles-optimisation angle on credit cards, and the loyalty programs that overlap with travel, are covered by:
- Aryan Gaekwad, Points and Loyalty Editor: airline programs, hotel loyalty, and credit-card travel-points overlap
Editorial oversight for the ShopBack blog sits with Jia, Editor-in-Chief.
Brands, work with us: garry@shopback.com.
Articles by Ziling Liu
Chase Freedom Flex vs Amex Blue Cash Preferred vs Citi Double Cash 2026: Which Cashback Card Fits Your Spending
Chase Freedom Flex earns 5 percent on rotating quarterly categories with a $1,500 quarterly cap, plus 3 percent on dining and drugstores, and 1 percent on everything else. Amex Blue Cash Preferred earns 6 percent on US supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year), 6 percent on select US streaming, 3 percent on transit and US gas, and 1 percent on everything else, with a $95 annual fee. Citi Double Cash earns a flat 2 percent (1 percent when you buy, 1 percent when you pay) with no annual fee. Choosing the wrong card for your household spending profile costs the average US household roughly $340 per year in foregone cashback.
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Labor Day 2026: What Actually Discounts (Mattress, Furniture, Outdoor)
Labor Day 2026 (Monday September 7) is one of the year's three biggest mattress windows and the deepest outdoor-furniture clearance moment. It is not the strongest appliance window (July 4 usually wins) and it is not close to Black Friday depth on TVs, laptops, or electronics.
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College Tuition Payment 2026: Which US Credit Card Cashback Strategy Actually Beats the Fee
Paying US college tuition on a credit card typically costs a 2.5% to 2.95% processing fee at most schools. That means a 2% cashback card loses money; only sign-up bonuses, 3%+ category cards on adjacent spend, or Plastiq-style workarounds can beat the fee. Here is the math and which cards win for the 2026-2027 school year.
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Back-to-School Budget 2026: Monthly Plan for a US Family With 3 Kids
A month-by-month back-to-school budget for a US family with three kids across elementary, middle, and high school. Category allocations, cashback stacking, and where to trim without losing essentials.
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Best Back-to-School Credit Cards 2026: Category Multipliers That Beat Flat Cashback
Which US credit cards multiply on back-to-school spend across supplies, apparel, groceries, and gas. Blue Cash Everyday, Blue Cash Preferred, Chase Freedom Flex, Discover it, Citi Custom Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, and Capital One Savor compared on BTS-category math.
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BNPL vs Credit Card for US Holiday Shopping 2026: The Stacking Math, the Traps, and Where Cashback Fits
BNPL adoption is surging into US holiday 2026 (18% of shoppers, 35% Gen Z per NerdWallet). Here is the total-cost math against a rewards credit card, the credit-score and late-fee traps, and how a cashback rebate stacks on top of either payment route at the biggest US holiday retailers.
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iHerb vs Amazon vs Costco: The Vitamin Price Gap That's 5 to 12% Wider in 2026
For most US vitamin buyers, iHerb wins on cost-per-dose for essentials thanks to its house brands and Trial Prices. Amazon Subscribe & Save wins for delivery speed and convenience. Costco wins for high-throughput households buying mainstream brands in bulk.
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US Cyber Monday 2026 Strategy: What to Buy, When to Buy It, and How to Stack Cashback
Cyber Monday 2026 falls on November 30. Which categories genuinely peak on Cyber Monday over Black Friday, how BNPL is reshaping holiday checkouts (18% of shoppers, 35% Gen Z per NerdWallet), and how to stack cashback across the top US retailers.
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Food Inflation Cooled to 2 to 3% in 2026: Where Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, and Aldi Actually Stack Up
For a 2026 US suburban family of four running one weekly shop, Aldi wins on raw basket cost, Trader Joe's wins on snack and frozen value per dollar, Sprouts wins on produce and bulk, and Whole Foods only wins when you stack the Prime 10% yellow-tag discount on quality proteins and specialty items. The cheapest premium basket is almost always a Two-Store Stack: Aldi for staples plus Trader Joe's or Sprouts for the rest.
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Best US Credit Cards for Travel Rewards and Cashback in 2026
The best US credit card for 2026 depends on how you spend, Chase Sapphire Preferred wins for travel beginners, Amex Platinum (now $895/year) for international flyers with lounge needs, Citi Double Cash for flat cashback, and Capital One Venture X for travel value at a lower fee. A two-card layered setup beats a single 'do-it-all' card for most households.
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