Groceries are the one spend almost every UAE household has every week, and the cards that pay most on them split into two kinds. Store cards pay a high rate at one chain, in points you can only spend at that chain. Cashback cards pay a lower rate at any supermarket, in money. Which kind wins depends on where you shop, not on the headline rate.
This guide runs both kinds through two monthly grocery budgets and shows the arithmetic. Every rate, cap, spend floor and fee comes from our card database as verified on the dates shown on each linked review. Annual fees are AED inclusive of 5% VAT.
The short answer
| If you shop… | Take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly at LuLu | ADCB LuLu Credit Card | 8% back as LuLu Points at LuLu, no annual fee, AED 8,000 minimum salary |
| At LuLu, on a salary under AED 8,000 | Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium | 3.5% back as LuLu Points at LuLu, free for life, AED 5,000 minimum salary |
| Mostly at Carrefour | Emirates NBD SHARE Visa Signature | 6% back as SHARE Points at Carrefour and other Majid Al Futtaim stores, free for life |
| At any supermarket, up to AED 3,000 a month | FAB Cashback | 5% cashback at all supermarkets, capped at AED 150 a month |
| At any supermarket, with no monthly spend floor | ADIB Cashback Visa | 4% cashback up to AED 300 a month, AED 103.95 fee, Sharia-compliant |
| Anywhere, and you want no cap at all | Citi Cash Back | 2% on groceries, uncapped, fee waived above AED 9,000 of annual spend |
Store points against cashback
Three of the best rates in this guide pay in a currency that only works in one place:
- LuLu Points redeem only at LuLu Hypermarket, LuLu Express and luluhypermarket.com. Our reviews value them at their published face value, 1 point = AED 0.01 (ADCB states it as 5,000 points = AED 50).
- SHARE Points redeem inside the Majid Al Futtaim network (Carrefour, City Centre malls, VOX). 10 points = AED 1.
- noon Credits, from the Noon One, are not counted here: that card’s accelerated rates apply on noon’s own platforms (10% on NowNow, per our review), not at supermarket tills.
Store points are worth their face value only if you keep shopping at that chain. If you would shop there anyway, the rate is the rate. If you split the weekly shop between LuLu, Carrefour, Spinneys and the local Union Coop, a cashback card that pays at all of them is usually worth more than a high rate that applies to a third of your bill.
No card in our database publishes a Spinneys or Union Coop rate of its own. At those chains you earn whatever the card pays on supermarkets in general.
Two grocery budgets, worked
The table shows what each card returns on groceries alone, at AED 1,500 and AED 3,000 of supermarket spend a month, for a full year. The store cards assume all of that spend is at their chain. Caps are applied; the annual fee is listed separately, because it also pays for everything else the card does.
| Card | Rate on groceries | AED 1,500 a month | AED 3,000 a month | Year-two fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADCB LuLu Credit Card | 8% as LuLu Points, at LuLu only | AED 1,440 | AED 2,880 | Free |
| Emirates NBD SHARE Visa Infinite | 8% as SHARE Points, at Carrefour and MAF only | AED 1,440 | AED 2,880 | AED 1,575 |
| Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Platinum | 7% as LuLu Points, at LuLu only | AED 1,260 | AED 2,520 | AED 262.50 (AED 525 joining fee) |
| Emirates NBD SHARE Visa Signature | 6% as SHARE Points, at Carrefour and MAF only | AED 1,080 | AED 2,160 | Free |
| FAB Cashback | 5% cashback, any supermarket, AED 150 a month cap | AED 900 | AED 1,800 | AED 315 |
| ADIB Cashback Visa | 4% cashback, any supermarket, AED 300 a month cap | AED 720 | AED 1,440 | AED 103.95 |
| Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium | 3.5% as LuLu Points, at LuLu only | AED 630 | AED 1,260 | Free |
| ADCB 365 Cashback | 3% cashback, any supermarket | AED 540 | AED 1,080 | AED 383.25 |
| DIB Consumer Cashback | 3% cashback, AED 200 a month cap | AED 540 | AED 1,080 | AED 210 |
| HSBC Live+ | 2% cashback, AED 200 a month cap shared with entertainment | AED 360 | AED 720 | Waived above AED 12,000/yr |
| Citi Cash Back | 2% cashback, uncapped | AED 360 | AED 720 | Waived above AED 9,000/yr |
The arithmetic is the rate times the monthly spend, times twelve. For the ADCB LuLu card at AED 3,000 a month: AED 3,000 × 8% = AED 240 of LuLu Points a month, AED 2,880 a year. For FAB at AED 3,000: AED 3,000 × 5% = AED 150 a month, exactly at its AED 150 category cap, so AED 1,800 a year. Any FAB supermarket spend above AED 3,000 a month earns the 1% base rate, per our review.
Four of these cards pay nothing at all in a month you miss their spend floor, measured on total card spend, not just groceries: ADCB 365 Cashback needs AED 5,000 a month, HSBC Live+ and DIB Consumer Cashback AED 3,000, and FAB Cashback AED 3,000 in the previous month. The LuLu cards, the SHARE cards, ADIB and Citi have no floor in our data.
Best for LuLu shoppers: ADCB LuLu Credit Card
The ADCB LuLu Credit Card pays 8% back as LuLu Points on LuLu purchases, with no minimum spend and no annual fee. ADCB’s own wording, recorded in our data, is that “purchases at LuLu are not subject to the reduced earn rates applicable to the supermarket category.” Points redeem at any LuLu till in 5,000-point blocks worth AED 50. Fuel earns 2 points per AED 1 and everything else 1 point. The minimum salary is AED 8,000. Our data records no monthly cap on the LuLu rate.
It beats the Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Platinum on our numbers. The Platinum pays 7% at LuLu, needs an AED 12,000 salary, and costs AED 525 to join and AED 262.50 a year, with no waiver published. At AED 3,000 a month at LuLu, the ADCB card returns AED 2,880 a year against the Platinum’s AED 2,520, and the Platinum’s fee takes that down to AED 2,257.50. The Platinum’s case is the rest of its earn table, 4% on fuel and 2% on utilities, and worldwide lounge access through Mastercard Travel Pass.
Earning under AED 8,000 a month? The Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium pays 3.5% as LuLu Points at LuLu, free for life, from an AED 5,000 salary. At AED 1,500 a month that is AED 52.50 a month, AED 630 a year. ADCB’s own entry card, the LuLu Titanium Gold, has no accelerated LuLu rate: our review records 1 point per AED 1 at LuLu, the same as everywhere else.
Best for Carrefour shoppers: Emirates NBD SHARE Visa Signature
The SHARE Visa Signature pays 6% back as SHARE Points at Carrefour, in store and online, and at the other Majid Al Futtaim stores: City Centre malls, Mall of the Emirates, VOX Cinemas, Magic Planet and Ski Dubai. It is free for life and needs an AED 12,000 salary. At AED 1,500 a month at Carrefour that is AED 90 a month, AED 1,080 a year.
The catch is at other supermarkets: groceries outside Carrefour earn 0.25%, and fuel and utilities 0.1%. Treat it as a Carrefour card, not a grocery card.
The SHARE Visa Infinite pays 8% at the same stores, but its AED 1,575 annual fee only pays for itself on Carrefour spend above about AED 1,640 a month (AED 1,575 ÷ 12 ÷ 8%). It also charges an AED 1,500 joining fee, refunded if you spend AED 40,000 in the first three months, and needs an AED 30,000 salary. It earns its place for a household whose mall spend, not just its grocery spend, sits inside MAF.
Best at any supermarket: FAB Cashback
For a household that shops at more than one chain, FAB Cashback pays 5% at all supermarkets, in cashback rather than store points (paid as FAB Rewards and redeemed in the FAB app). The 5% is capped at AED 150 of cashback a month, which is AED 3,000 of grocery spend. It also pays 5% on dining and fashion, under separate AED 150 caps, within an AED 1,000 monthly total.
Net of its AED 315 fee, FAB returns AED 585 a year at AED 1,500 a month and AED 1,485 at AED 3,000. Our review records a further AED 40 off a Carrefour online order once a month on a spend of AED 250 or more. FAB’s first-year fee waiver ran with a welcome cycle that closed on 31 May 2026, and FAB publishes no spend-based waiver, so assume the fee posts in full. The minimum salary is AED 5,000.
Best with no spend floor: ADIB Cashback Visa
The ADIB Cashback Visa Covered Card pays 4% at supermarkets with no monthly spend minimum, capped at AED 300 of cashback a month, which is AED 7,500 of grocery spend. Its fee is AED 103.95. Net of the fee it returns AED 616.05 a year at AED 1,500 a month and AED 1,336.05 at AED 3,000.
It is Sharia-compliant and also pays 4% on fuel, dining, school fees and utilities, but nothing on anything else, including all international spend. If your grocery bill swings from month to month, or your other spend is small, this is the safer cashback card than FAB.
Best uncapped: Citi Cash Back
Citi Cash Back pays 2% on groceries with no cap and no spend floor, and 1% on everything else. The AED 315 fee is waived from year two if you spend AED 9,000 a year, which AED 750 a month of groceries alone clears. It is the card for a very large grocery bill: above AED 7,500 a month, ADIB’s cap binds and Citi’s 2% keeps paying. The minimum salary is AED 8,000.
Strong numbers, held out of the ranking
As in our cashback roundup, we do not rank a card while a field that decides the ranking is under re-verification.
- RAKBANK World — 10% on supermarkets, capped at AED 300 a month, but only in months you spend AED 10,000 or more on the card. At AED 3,000 of groceries that is the full AED 300 a month. AED 997.50 fee, waived above AED 100,000 of annual spend; AED 20,000 minimum salary. Held because our review has flagged the earn grid for re-verification.
- Emirates Islamic Switch Cashback — 4% on supermarkets in its Lifestyle mode, capped at AED 200 a month, with an AED 2,500 monthly spend floor. Held because its eligibility data is under re-verification.
- Emirates NBD Duo — 5% as Plus Points on groceries in months you spend AED 5,000, capped at 500 Plus Points a statement. Abu Dhabi residents only, so it is listed here rather than ranked.
Before you apply
- Add up where you actually shop. Look at three months of statements and split the grocery spend by chain. A store card’s rate applies only to its share.
- Check the cap against your bill. Divide the monthly cap by the rate: FAB stops paying 5% at AED 3,000 of groceries, DIB at about AED 6,667, ADIB at AED 7,500.
- Check the floor against your worst month. A cashback card with a floor pays nothing in a month you miss it.
- Know what counts as a supermarket. Banks classify merchants by the category the card network assigns them; ADCB’s LuLu terms, for one, say so explicitly. If a store matters to you, check how it posts on your statement before counting on the bonus rate.
Bottom line
If you shop mostly at LuLu, take the ADCB LuLu Credit Card: 8% at no fee, paid in LuLu Points. If you shop mostly at Carrefour, the free SHARE Visa Signature pays 6% in SHARE Points. If you spread the shop across chains, FAB Cashback’s 5% in cash is the best rate up to AED 3,000 a month, ADIB’s 4% is the safest with no spend floor, and Citi’s uncapped 2% is the backstop for a large bill.
Sources
All rates, caps, spend floors, fees and salary minimums are from our card database as it stood on 20 October 2026, and the linked card reviews. Each review lists the issuer pages, Key Facts Statements and schedules of charges behind its figures, with the date each was last verified. LuLu Points and SHARE Points are valued at the face value our reviews record. No figure in this guide comes from outside those records.
