Citi PayAll has been on the market for about 9 months now, but it’s never made sense to use it with a Citi Rewards card.
That’s because you earn a meager 1 ThankYou point per S$1 charged, or an equivalent rate of 0.4 mpd. Factor in the 2% admin fee, and you’re paying 5 cents per mile- an insane figure, given the prices you can buy them elsewhere.
Well, Citi is running a limited-time promo that fixes that problem, albeit temporarily. From now till 31 January 2020, Citi Rewards Visa or Citi Rewards Mastercard cardholders will earn 3X points, or 1.2 mpd, on PayAll transactions.
This means the cost per mile drops to 1.67 cents, on par with using the Citi PremierMiles Visa. It’s a decent price, and can be a good way for a Citi Rewards cardholder to top off their account (remember that Citi points do not pool across cards).
| MPD | Cost Per Mile @ 2% Fee | |
 Citi Rewards Visa/ Citi Rewards Mastercard |
The full T&C of this promotion can be found here. Do note the error in Clause 6- the end date should be January 31, 2020, instead of 2019. See, even faceless conglomerates can make typos!
Although the T&C don’t indicate that this is a targeted promotion, you may still want to double-confirm your eligibility by calling up customer service, as the Citi app still shows the regular 1X earn rate.
Be careful if you’re scheduling a recurring payment like rent, education expenses or a condo MCST fee, because after 31 January 2020, the earn rate reverts to 0.4 mpd. Even one accidental payment at the regular rate could wreck your weighted average cents per mile price, so remember to change your payment method in time.
Conclusion
This promotion makes the Citi Rewards card a viable option for PayAll, although you obviously won’t want to consider it after January 2020.
As a reminder, Citi PayAll can currently be used to pay taxes, rent, education, condo management fees and electricity bills. The recipient does not need to be registered with PayAll, nor be a Citi customer.
If you’re looking to pay rent in particular, you can achieve a lower cost per mile by using RentHero’s 1.85% promotional rate, which is valid for 12 months after you sign up. Paired with a 1.2 mpd card, your effective cost per mile is 1.51 cents.
(HT: Melvin)
