Back in March, American Express excluded GrabPay top-ups from earning rewards on all cards except the AMEX True Cashback Card. This, coupled with Visa and Mastercard’s MCC reclassifications, spelled the end of rewards for GrabPay top-ups on virtually every card out there.
But here comes a plot twist: From now till 10 May 2021, American Express cardholders can once again earn points and miles on this most elusive of transactions. And no, it’s not a loophole or workaround; it’s an official AMEX Offer.
| ❓ What are AMEX Offers? |
AMEX Offers are opportunities to earn bonus miles or Membership Rewards points, or discounts in the form of statement credits. These are available to Platinum, True Cashback, and KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders, and can be found in the “Offers” section of the AMEX app or web portal.
Registration is required, and some offers may be targeted. These are not applicable to DBS/Citi/UOB AMEX cardholders. |
Earn up to 1 mpd on GrabPay top-ups with American Express credit cards
From 10 November 2020 to 10 May 2021, American Express cardholders can register their card in the AMEX app or online banking and earn points/miles on GrabPay top-ups.
Miles or points should appear in your account within 5 business days from qualifying spend.
AMEX KrisFlyer Cards: 1 mile per S$1
American Express Singapore Airlines credit cards will earn a flat 1 KrisFlyer mile per S$1, capped at 5,000 miles throughout the entire period.
There is an overall cap of 25,000 registered American Express Singapore Airlines credit cards.
| Earn Rate | Cap | |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend | 1 mpd | 5,000 miles |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card | 1 mpd | 5,000 miles |
 AMEX KrisFlyer PPS Card | 1 mpd | 5,000 miles |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Solitaire PPS Card | 1 mpd | 5,000 miles |
AMEX Membership Rewards Cards: 1 MR point per S$1
American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points will earn a flat 1 Membership Rewards point per S$1, capped at 5,000 points throughout the entire period.
There is an overall cap of 15,000 registered cards.
| Earn Rate | Cap | |
 AMEX Centurion | 0.63 mpd | 3,125 miles |
 AMEX Platinum Charge | 0.63 mpd | 3,125 miles |
 AMEX Platinum Reserve | 0.56 mpd | 2,778 miles |
 AMEX Platinum Credit Card | 0.56 mpd | 2,778 miles |
 AMEX Rewards Card | 0.56 mpd | 2,778 miles |
AMEX CapitaCards: 5 STAR$ per S$1
American Express CapitaCards will earn 5 STAR$ per S$1, capped at 25,000 STAR$ throughout the entire period.
There is a cap of 15,000 registered American Express CapitaCards.
| Earn Rate | Cap | |
 AMEX CapitaCard | 5 STAR$ per S$1 | 25,000 STAR$ |
What should you use GrabPay for?
Now that rewards are back in the picture, the utility of GrabPay increases significantly. In this particular case, it’s a good way to circumvent restrictions on AMEX acceptance- simply top-up your GrabPay balance, then use the GrabPay Mastercard to make payment.
This is an easy way to earn points on tricky categories such as:
Conclusion
Once you’ve topped up your GrabPay balance, be careful how you use it! Don’t waste it on merchants where you could just as well earn 4 mpd with other credit cards. Conserve it for situations where earning points with regular credit cards is impossible.
A S$5,000 GrabPay balance should cover most of your insurance premium payments till May, as well as any education/government transactions you might have.
Make the most of it!
Are you sure the correct interpretation is 1 mile per $1? The message says “Spend S$1 or more, get 1 Krisflyer miles (sic)” – either the promo is badly worded or I’m made to understand that you get 1 mile (only!) per transaction, regardless of whether you spend $1 or $5,000. And the minimum amount to topup Grabpay wallet is $10.
pretty sure amex wont just give you 1 mile for a $5000 topup. t&c says “up to 5,000 krisflyer miles”
if this keeps you up at night, the best solution is to register, do a $10 top up and see what happens. but realistically speaking there’s no way it’s just 1 mile/1 MR point per top up.
Looks like the EDM is a tad clearer: “From 10 November 2020 – 10 May 2021, receive 1 bonus KrisFlyer mile for every S$1 you top up on your GrabPay Wallet, capped at a maximum of 5,000 bonus KrisFlyer miles per registered Card.”
Though still unsure if this translates to 1 MPD only, or bonus 1MPD + regular MPD depending on the type of card.
Try it out and you won’t lose any money
take some English lessons and learn to read and understand.
Is it worth using the top up amount for grab rides and grab food deliveries or are there better ways of earning miles with these 2 activities?
For grab rides and grabfood, why would you actually pay directly? You’d buy vouchers from Shopee first no? Even if you did pay directly, many other cards give you more miles such as WWMC and CRV.
Hi Aaron
I am not quite sure on that part they mentioned , “Available online only” is it only for online purchase ?
Thanks for your time .
How do you top up GrabPay offline?
Thank you 🙏 I got it .
Are other Amex cards eg DBS Altitude, UOB PRVI included in this promotion?
Pretty sure AMEX Offers only apply to AMEX-issued credit cards as shown in the list above. So the bank-issued AMEX cards are not eligible.
On the issue of eligible minimum spend to get sign-up bonuses… after reading through all the T&C links, I am under the impression that that GrabPay top-ups will STILL not be considered eligible spend, to meet the minimum spend criteria, right? So be careful when you top up GrabPay and count that as spend towards your meeting minimum spend criteria. Would be a waste if you forget and count this, then miss out on the more lucrative signup offers
correct. it will not count towards min spend for sign up bonuses.
Hmm for my upcoming payment of appox 3k it’s either:
1) 3k miles from this promo
2) $90 cashback from you know what
Think I’ll stick to the cashback
Is this targetted? Don’t see it…
does it mean if i dont see offer means i am not targeted ?
Doesn’t AMEX offer 3mpd on grab rides? Why top up Grab pay for just 1mpd?
Isn’t this blog meant to help noobs handle their credit cards better? Yet when a noob asks noob questions he doesn’t get a reply. Sigh.
Like he mentioned in the post, don’t use it for grab rides, but rather use this grab pay money for those where you can’t earn any miles.