Fuel is where UAE card earn tables are least generous. Many banks class petrol with government payments, utilities and telecom as a low-margin category and pay a fraction of their base rate on it: 0.15% on the Mashreq Cashback, 0.2% on most Emirates NBD Plus Points cards. A handful of cards go the other way and pay 4–5% at the pump, but almost all of them cap the fuel bonus and ask for a minimum monthly spend first.
This guide sets out which cards pay on fuel, how much at two monthly fuel bills, and where each card’s fuel cap lands. 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… | Take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want the best fuel rate on a card that can be free | HSBC Live+ | 5% on fuel up to AED 200 a month; fee waived from year two above AED 12,000 of annual spend |
| Spend AED 5,000+ a month and pay Salik | ADCB 365 Cashback | 5% on fuel and Salik, plus 6% dining and 3% groceries |
| Want no monthly spend floor | ADIB Cashback Visa | 4% on fuel up to AED 300 a month, AED 103.95 fee, Sharia-compliant |
| Shop at LuLu as well | Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Platinum | 4% on fuel as LuLu Points, 7% at LuLu |
| Want a free card that pays something | ADCB LuLu Titanium Gold or Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium | 2% on fuel as LuLu Points, free for life, AED 5,000 minimum salary |
Two fuel bills, worked
What each card returns on fuel alone, for a year, at AED 500 and AED 1,000 of fuel a month. Caps are applied. The fee is listed separately because it also pays for the rest of what the card does.
| Card | Fuel rate | Fuel cap | AED 500 a month | AED 1,000 a month | Monthly spend floor | Year-two fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSBC Live+ | 5% cashback | AED 200 a month (AED 4,000 of fuel) | AED 300 | AED 600 | AED 3,000 | Waived above AED 12,000/yr |
| ADCB 365 Cashback | 5% cashback, fuel and Salik | AED 1,000 a month across all categories | AED 300 | AED 600 | AED 5,000 | AED 383.25 |
| ADIB Cashback Visa | 4% cashback | AED 300 a month (AED 7,500 of fuel) | AED 240 | AED 480 | None | AED 103.95 |
| Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Platinum | 4% as LuLu Points | None in our data | AED 240 | AED 480 | None | AED 262.50 (AED 525 joining fee) |
| DIB Consumer Cashback | 3% cashback | AED 100 a month (about AED 3,333 of fuel) | AED 180 | AED 360 | AED 3,000 | AED 210 |
| ADCB LuLu Titanium Gold | 2 LuLu Points per AED 1 (2%) | None in our data | AED 120 | AED 240 | None | Free |
| ADCB LuLu Credit Card | 2 LuLu Points per AED 1 (2%) | None in our data | AED 120 | AED 240 | None | Free |
| Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium | 2% as LuLu Points | None in our data | AED 120 | AED 240 | None | Free |
| Citi Cash Back | 1% cashback | Uncapped | AED 60 | AED 120 | None | Waived above AED 9,000/yr |
| Mashreq Cashback | 0.15% cashback | — | AED 9 | AED 18 | None | Free |
The arithmetic is the rate times the monthly fuel bill, times twelve. For HSBC Live+ at AED 1,000 a month: AED 1,000 × 5% = AED 50 a month, well inside the AED 200 cap, so AED 600 a year. For DIB at AED 1,000: AED 1,000 × 3% = AED 30, inside its AED 100 cap, so AED 360 a year. LuLu Points are valued at their published face value of AED 0.01 a point and redeem only at LuLu stores.
The spend floor is measured on total card spend, not fuel. A fuel bill on its own will not clear HSBC’s AED 3,000 or ADCB 365’s AED 5,000, so these cards pay their fuel rate only if they are also your main card. In a month under the floor, neither pays any cashback at all.
Best fuel rate: HSBC Live+
HSBC Live+ pays 5% on fuel, capped at AED 200 of cashback a month, so the bonus runs to AED 4,000 of fuel a month, more than almost any household spends. It also pays 6% on dining and 2% on groceries and entertainment, each under its own AED 200 cap, and 0.5% on everything else.
The AED 313.95 fee is waived from year two if you spend AED 12,000 a year on the card. The AED 3,000 monthly spend floor is the real condition: in a month you spend less, the whole card earns 0.5%. The minimum salary is AED 5,000 for employees of HSBC-approved companies and AED 12,500 for everyone else, per our data.
Best with Salik: ADCB 365 Cashback
ADCB 365 Cashback also pays 5%, on fuel and Salik toll top-ups, the only card in our data that names Salik in a 5% category. Its other rates are the broadest on this list: 6% dining, 5% on digital subscriptions, 3% groceries and 1% elsewhere, within an AED 1,000 monthly cashback cap.
The cost is a stricter floor and a fee with no waiver. It pays nothing in a month you spend under AED 5,000, and the AED 383.25 fee applies from year two whatever you spend. Take it if you reliably clear AED 5,000 a month and fuel and tolls are a large part of it.
Best with no spend floor: ADIB Cashback Visa
The ADIB Cashback Visa Covered Card pays 4% on fuel and automobile spend with no monthly minimum, capped at AED 300 a month (AED 7,500 of fuel). At AED 1,000 a month it returns AED 480 a year, AED 376.05 after its AED 103.95 fee, on fuel alone. Our data also records free roadside assistance once a year.
It pays 4% on groceries, dining, school fees and utilities too, but nothing on any other spend, including abroad. It is Sharia-compliant.
Best for LuLu households: Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Platinum
The LuLu 247 Platinum pays 4% on fuel as LuLu Points, alongside 7% at LuLu and 2% on utilities. Our data records no fuel cap and no spend floor. It costs AED 525 to join and AED 262.50 a year, with no waiver published, and needs an AED 12,000 salary.
On fuel alone the fee is hard to justify: AED 1,000 a month of fuel returns AED 480 a year in LuLu Points, AED 217.50 after the fee. The card works when the LuLu shop is large too; our grocery-cards guide covers that side. Remember the points spend only at LuLu.
Free cards that pay on fuel
Three free-for-life cards pay 2% on fuel in LuLu Points: the ADCB LuLu Titanium Gold and Emirates NBD LuLu 247 Titanium, both from an AED 5,000 salary, and the ADCB LuLu Credit Card from AED 8,000. At AED 500 a month that is AED 120 a year of LuLu credit. Small, but on a card that costs nothing.
The ADCB TouchPoints Platinum earns 2 TouchPoints per AED 1 on fuel. ADCB does not publish an AED value for TouchPoints, so we cannot put a dirham figure on it.
Cards that pay almost nothing on fuel
Worth knowing before you put petrol on your everyday card:
- Mashreq Cashback: 0.15% on fuel, part of a government, utilities and telecom bundle, since 13 June 2026.
- Emirates NBD Plus Points cards (Visa Platinum, Visa Flexi, Mastercard Platinum, Visa Infinite): 0.2%.
- SHARE Visa Signature 0.1% and SHARE Visa Infinite 0.15%.
- Liv Cashback and Liv Cashback+ pay 0.1% on “government, utility and other low-margin merchant categories”. Our data does not say whether fuel is one of them, so we do not rank either card here.
- FAB Cashback pays 1% on most spend but excludes “select categories” at 0.15%. Our data does not say whether fuel is among them.
Strong numbers, held out of the ranking
- Emirates Islamic Switch Cashback — 8% on domestic fuel in its Lifestyle mode, the highest fuel rate in our data, but capped at AED 100 a month, so the bonus stops at AED 1,250 of fuel. At AED 500 a month that is AED 40 a month, AED 480 a year; at AED 1,000, AED 80 a month, AED 960 a year. You earn the Lifestyle rates only in months you choose Lifestyle mode, and only once you spend AED 2,500 that month. AED 313.95 fee, waived above AED 30,000 of annual spend. Held because its eligibility data is under re-verification.
- Emirates NBD Duo — 5% as Plus Points on fuel in months you spend AED 5,000, capped at 500 Plus Points a statement. No fee under the current promotion; the standard renewal is AED 840. Abu Dhabi residents only, so listed rather than ranked.
Before you apply
- Price your real fuel bill. At AED 500 a month, the gap between a 5% card and a 2% card is AED 180 a year. A card fee can easily erase that.
- Check the floor. HSBC, ADCB 365 and DIB pay their fuel rate only if total card spend clears a monthly minimum.
- Find the cap. Divide the fuel cap by the rate: DIB stops paying 3% at about AED 3,333 of fuel a month, Emirates Islamic stops paying 8% at AED 1,250.
- Fuel bundles change. Mashreq cut fuel from 0.33% to 0.15% on 13 June 2026. Recheck your card’s rate after any terms update.
Bottom line
For most drivers the best fuel card is one that is also a good everyday card: HSBC Live+ pays 5% at the pump and can cost nothing from year two, and ADCB 365 Cashback adds Salik for households spending AED 5,000 a month. If your spend is uneven, ADIB’s 4% has no floor. If you want a free card, the LuLu cards’ 2% in LuLu Points is the most any free-for-life card in our data pays on fuel.
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 are valued at the face value our reviews record. No figure in this guide comes from outside those records.
