The Liv Cashback+ is the premium half of Liv’s two-card lineup — a Mastercard World product from Emirates NBD’s digital brand whose entire proposition rests on one mechanic: your cashback rate is a tier set by your total spend that month, applied to qualifying general retail rather than every transaction.
- Annual fee
- AED 735 incl. VAT
- Min salary
- AED 15,000/mo
Pros
- Published qualifying-retail tiers, with reduced categories and assigned-limit conditions
- Points convert to Emirates Skywards Miles (up to 10,000/month) — a rare miles exit from a cashback card
- issuer FX charges with VAT and separate Mastercard processing to check
- Strong perk stack for the fee — 800+ airport lounges, 3 VOX tickets/month with 25% off F&B, 1 Careem airport transfer/year, travel medical insurance to USD 500,000, Talabat and Global Blue perks
Cons
- The headline 4% needs AED 15,000+ of total spend that month — the base qualifying-retail rate is 1%
- Joining and annual fees apply; the joining-fee waiver requires a Liv Savings/Current Account with an ongoing Liv Max subscription before applying
- Cashback capped at AED 1,500/month and additionally bounded by a percentage of your credit limit
- Government, utilities and other low-margin categories earn 0.1% whatever tier you reach
- One card per customer — taking this card forecloses the free-for-life Liv Cashback
Earn rates
- Everything else
- Pending
Current source gives spend tiers, low-merchant reduction and assigned-credit-limit cashback cap. Stored universal base omits reduced categories and cannot calculate arbitrary spend safely.
The 1% in the table is the base tier on qualifying general retail — the rate you earn in a month where total spend stays under AED 7,000. The full tier ladder, per Liv’s feature terms:
Fee summary
Liv’s published foreign-currency transaction percentage is an issuer component, exclusive of applicable VAT and separate Mastercard processing. It must not be compared with another card’s all-in fee or used to promise a precise overseas net return. The base tier applies to qualifying retail, not every transaction; reduced categories and the assigned-credit-limit cap still apply.
Skywards conversion
Rewards accrue as points with two exits: cashback against the card, or Emirates Skywards Miles — up to 10,000 Miles a month on this card. Every redemption, either direction, needs a 500-point minimum. This is the feature that separates the Cashback+ from the rest of the UAE cashback field: an entry-tier product whose earnings can leave as airline miles through ENBD’s first-party Skywards relationship. If you value Skywards Miles above one fil each, run the conversion before taking the cash.
Key conditions to know
- Tier-by-total-spend
- The advertised 4% requires AED 15,000+ of total spend in the calendar month; 2% requires AED 7,000. The base qualifying-retail tier is 1%. The achieved tier applies to qualifying general retail, while reduced low-merchant rates remain applicable.
- Two caps, not one
- AED 1,500/month cashback cap, plus a bound tied to a percentage of your credit limit — Liv illustrates an AED 20,000 limit capping at AED 800/month. The lower of the two governs.
- Redemption
- 500-point minimum per redemption, as cashback or as Skywards Miles (up to 10,000 Miles/month on this card).
- One card per customer
- Liv issues either the Cashback+ or the Cashback to a given customer, never both. Applying for this card is choosing it over the free-for-life alternative.
- Eligibility
- The minimum salary above comes from Liv’s Key Facts Statement. It is separate from the cashback spend tiers. UAE residency is required; Liv assesses applications in the Liv X app.
Cashback+ vs Cashback
| Measure | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fees | ||
| Annual fee (year 2+) Annual fee year 2+ | AED 735 (incl. VAT) | Free ↗ |
| Joining fee (year 1) Joining fee year 1 | AED 735 (incl. VAT) | — |
| Eligibility | ||
| Minimum salary Min salary | AED 15,000/mo | AED 5,000/mo ↗ |
| Earn | ||
| Top earn rate Top earn rate | — | — |
| Benefits | ||
| Welcome bonus Welcome bonus | — | — |
| Lounge access Lounge access | Pending | Pending |
The comparison is really a bet on your own spend. The free Liv Cashback tops out at 2% (at AED 10,000+ of monthly spend) with an AED 750 cap; the Cashback+ has the annual fee shown above and tops out at 4% (at AED 15,000+) with an AED 1,500 cap plus the bigger perk stack. Their spend-tier thresholds differ; a single monthly spend figure does not place both cards on the same tier. Compare qualifying general retail, reduced categories, the assigned-credit-limit bound and fees before deciding whether the paid card offers more usable value.
Watch out for
- The floor, not the headline. Budget your expected cashback at 1% and treat the 2%/4% tiers as upside in months you genuinely clear them.
- The credit-limit bound. A modest credit limit can cap your cashback well below AED 1,500 regardless of spend.
- Low-margin categories. Government, utility and bill payments earn 0.1% and still count toward your tier — spend them here for the tier, but don’t expect earnings from them.
- The one-card rule. You cannot trial the free card first and upgrade later while holding both; it is one or the other.
Bottom line
Liv’s published foreign-currency transaction percentage is an issuer component, exclusive of applicable VAT and separate Mastercard processing. It must not be compared with another card’s all-in fee or used to promise a precise overseas net return. The base tier applies to qualifying retail, not every transaction; reduced categories and the assigned-credit-limit cap still apply.
