Update, 14 September 2026. ADCB has cut the figure again. The product page now advertises up to AED 250, read directly from the page on 13 September 2026. The 350-to-300 cut below stands as reported; the review and card data carry AED 250 from today. Our product-page monitor did not flag this second move — the scraper did.
ADCB has cut the welcome cashback on its Essential Cashback Credit Card. The product page now advertises up to AED 300 for new-customer activation on select digital channels, down from AED 350. Our fee/product-page monitor caught the change in a 30 August 2026 check of ADCB’s own page; nothing else on the card moved with it.
What’s the same
- 1% flat cashback on everyday spend, gated by AED 1,000 of monthly card use.
- AED 70/month online-cinema cashback, gated by a separate AED 1,500 of monthly spend.
- AED 0 annual fee in year one; ADCB’s standard Schedule of Fees from year two.
- AED 5,000 minimum salary, with salary transfer to ADCB required for issuance.
Only the one-off welcome figure changed. The spend trigger and the list of qualifying digital channels are still not published on the public page — as before, get both in writing at application.
Why it matters
The Essential Cashback is ADCB’s entry-tier card for the AED 5,000–8,000 salary bracket, positioned below the 365 Cashback for spenders who don’t reliably clear AED 5,000 a month. The welcome credit was never the card’s main draw — the flat 1% rate and the low spend gate are — but it does lower the year-one arithmetic: a routine user hitting the cinema bonus and the welcome cashback netted roughly AED 1,460 in year one against the AED 0 fee, AED 50 less than before the cut — and roughly AED 1,410 at the AED 250 figure now on the page.
Our full review is updated to the new figure throughout. This is ADCB adjusting its own offer, not a correction on our side, so it is not in the corrections log — the editorial policy explains the distinction.
Verified against adcb.com via our fee/product-page monitor’s capture of 30 August 2026, and re-read directly on 13 September 2026 for the AED 250 update.
