Last month, Citibank launched a fantastic deal for Citi PayAll which offers 2.5 mpd on up to S$120,000 of payments made by 31 August 2021. This reduces the effective cost per mile to 0.8 cents each, making it hands down the best option to use for income tax payments (or any kind of payment, really).
Now, they’ve sweetened the deal even further by launching a S$100 cashback offer for recurring payments, valid up till 30 September 2021. No registration is required, and I’ve confirmed with Citibank’s PR team that the offer (1) is open to all and (2) stacks with the 2.5 mpd promotion.
This is basically an opportunity to generate free miles, and you should absolutely take it up.
Get S$100 cashback on Citi PayAll recurring payments
From 1 June to 30 September 2021, Citi PayAll customers who schedule recurring payments of at least six consecutive months and a minimum of S$500 per month will receive S$100 cashback. The first charge date must fall within the promotion period, but the subsequent five can come after 30 September 2021 if you wish.
The following cards are eligible for this offer:
- Citi ULTIMA
- Citi Prestige
- Citi PremierMiles Card
- Citi Cash Back+ Card
- Citi Cash Back Card
- Citi Rewards
Eligible customers will receive S$100 in the form of a statement credit within 10 weeks of completing the third payment (don’t try and be clever by cancelling the rest; I’m sure they’ll claw it back if that happens).
To illustrate, consider the following payment schedule:
| Month | Payment | Fee @ 2% |
| Jun 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| Jul 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| Aug 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| S$100 credited within 10 weeks from Aug 2021 payment | ||
| Sep 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| Oct 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| Nov 2021 | S$1,000 | S$20 |
| Total | S$6,000 | S$120 |
| Rebate | (S$100) | |
| Net Fee | S$20 | |
In this example, you’re paying a S$20 fee on S$6,000 worth of payments- just 0.33%! Naturally, the effective fee will rise the larger your payment, since the S$100 cashback is fixed. But if your monthly payment ranges S$500 to S$833, then the miles are absolutely free.
The T&C of the offer can be found here.
What kind of recurring payments can I make?
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to pay income tax with this offer, because Citi PayAll does not support recurring payments to IRAS. You can of course make ad-hoc payments to IRAS to take advantage of the 2.5 mpd offer, but ad-hoc payments won’t qualify for the S$100 cashback offer.
Citi PayAll supports the following recurring payments:
- Education expenses
- Insurance premiums
- Membership
- Misc. payments (e.g parking, storage, utilities, wedding expenses)
- Rent
It should be fairly easy to find some kind of payment to make, especially since “misc. payments” is such a broad category. Heck, there’s even a category called “travel expenses”, which lets you transfer money into someone’s personal bank account. The only caveat I’d mention is that there may be income tax implications for the receiving party, depending on the nature of the payment- but in any case, IRAS doesn’t tax annual income that falls below the S$20,000 mark.
Remember, the recurring payment must be at least S$500 per month for six months.
Stacking with the 2.5 mpd Citi PayAll offer
As mentioned earlier, the S$100 cashback offer can be stacked with the ongoing 2.5 mpd offer that Citibank is running on Citi PayAll.
Here’s the cost per mile with a 2.5 mpd rate and a 2% fee.
| Card | Earn Rate | Cost Per Mile @ 2% |
 Citi ULTIMA |
2.5 mpd |
0.8 cents |
 Citi Prestige |
2.5 mpd |
0.8 cents |
 Citi PremierMiles |
2.5 mpd |
0.8 cents |
 Citi Rewards |
2.5 mpd |
0.8 cents |
Once you factor in the S$100 cashback, things get even sweeter. Here’s the example from above, with the 2.5 mpd rate factored in (remember, the rate only applies till 31 August 2021).
| Illustration with Citi PremierMiles Card |
|||
| Month | Payment | Miles | Fee @ 2% |
| Jun 2021 | S$1,000 | 2,500 | S$20 |
| Jul 2021 | S$1,000 | 2,500 | S$20 |
| Aug 2021 | S$1,000 | 2,500 | S$20 |
| S$100 credited within 10 weeks from Aug 2021 payment 2.5 mpd offer ends 31 Aug 2021 |
|||
| Sep 2021 | S$1,000 | 1,200 | S$20 |
| Oct 2021 | S$1,000 | 1,200 | S$20 |
| Nov 2021 | S$1,000 | 1,200 | S$20 |
| Total | S$6,000 | 11,100 | S$120 |
| Rebate |
(S$100) | ||
| Net Fee |
S$20 | ||
| Cost Per Mile |
0.18 cents | ||
In this scenario, you’re paying just 0.18 cents per miles- a sensational price. Again, if your monthly payment is between S$500-833, you’re getting free miles.
How many free miles? Assuming you schedule your first payment in June, you’d earn up to:
- Citi PremierMiles: 9,801 free miles
- Citi Prestige: 10,066 free miles
- Citi ULTIMA: 10,861 free miles
| Working: Pay S$833 per month for 6 months with 2% fee, first 3 months @ 2.5 mpd, next 3 months @ 1.2 mpd (Citi PremierMiles), 1.3 mpd (Citi Prestige) or 1.6 mpd (Citi ULTIMA) |
Even if you don’t fancy paying for miles, at a bare minimum, everyone should be walking away with this.
As if all that wasn’t enough, first-time Citi PayAll customers will get a further S$50 cashback when they make a minimum of one transaction by 31 August 2021. This is on top of the 2.5 mpd earn rate. My goodness, they’re really throwing those fat stacks around.
I would highly advise you to schedule your first recurring payment in June, so you can maximize both promotions. For example, if you wait till July, you’ll only enjoy 2.5 mpd on two sets of payments (July and August).
The T&C of the 2.5 mpd and S$50 cashback offer can be found here.
Is it worth it?
You’d be mad not to take it up.
Remember, you’re not just buying KrisFlyer miles; Citibank points can be transferred to 11 different frequent flyer programs, including some with great sweet spots like Etihad Guest, British Airways Executive Club, and Turkish Miles&Smiles. Even the newly-revitalised Qatar Privilege Club might be a good bet.
| 💳 Citibank Transfer Partners | |
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| For a full list of transfer partners, refer to this article | |
Assuming you opt for plain vanilla KrisFlyer miles, here’s the range of value that you get when redeeming them:
| Options for Spending KrisFlyer Miles | ||
| Redemption Option | Value per mile | |
| ✈️ | Award flights | 2-6 cents |
| 🏨 | Shangri-La Golden Circle conversion | 1.4 cents* |
| ✈️ | Pay for flights with miles | 1.02 cents |
| 🚘 | KrisFlyer vRooms | 0.8 cents |
| 🛍️ | KrisShop | 0.8 cents |
| 🏬 | CapitaStar conversion | 0.7 cents |
| 📱 | Kris+ | 0.67 cents |
| 🎡 | Pelago | 0.67 cents |
| ⛽ | Esso Smiles conversion | 0.33- 0.67 cents |
| *Assumes you have GC Jade/Diamond status and use points for F&B at 10 GC points= US$1.25. If you’re a regular member, 10 GC points= US$1, i.e 1.1 cents/mile | ||
When your miles are coming so cheap (or even free), it’s impossible to lose. You could even spend them on Kris+ and I wouldn’t complain 😉.
Conclusion
This is a fantastic promotion, no two ways about it. Find something, anything to charge to PayAll, and if your monthly recurring payment is S$500 to S$833, you’re printing free miles.
Citibank is putting some serious money behind its Citi PayAll service, not just in Singapore but worldwide (no fees in Australia and Philippines). I don’t know where the funds are coming from, but then again, this is the bank that could offer an uncapped 8 mpd on Apple Pay, and you shouldn’t look a gift horse in any orifice.
More of the same, please.
Have not received the 1% rebate for the payall promotion that ended in Feb 2021. Obviously something very wrong with their system.
I got the rebate last month. You may want to check with them
Yeah, me too. Credited on the 5th May which was the same day I complained.
Will we get 2.5 miles if payment is scheduled via Citi rewards visa? Thanks
does it need to be 1 recurring payment or i can have multiple recurring payments as long as i meet the minimum criteria of $500?
it must be a series of 6 recurring monthly payments, each of which is min $500
thanks aaron. I think my question is whether i need to create only 1 recurring payment of min. 500 for 6 mths or i can create 2 or more recurring payments combined to a sum of min. 500 for 6 mths?
you cannot combine 2 payments. must be min $500 in one payment
Does the $100 cash back stack with the $50 first time pay all users cash back as well? Or are you only eligible for one or the other?
it stacks. that’s why this is so incredible.
Does anyone know if paying bank loan installments is eligible?
they don’t have this feature yet, sadly. i’ve also realised the condo MCST list isn’t very extensive- mine isn’t on it, and hasn’t been for more than a year
Thanks for the reply Aaron.
My mcst isn’t as well but I managed to do so via the misc category as long u have the account number; it’s not like they charge a diff fee according to the types of payments either
Hence the thoughts of repaying bank loans instead of by giro
why on earth didn’t I think about that! I think i’ll give it a shot.
the thing with bank loans, as I’m sure you know, is that you aren’t making a payment to a personal/business bank account as such; it’s the bank withdrawing money from a designated account. I think that’s what makes it trickier.
Yeah give it a try. Gotta check though, citi’s system not as autonomous as I expected, they didn’t charge me the service fee for last year’s prestige spend promo till I asked which meant the promo miles weren’t credited; likewise the earlier comments on the promotion rebates
Will check and update on the bank loan one.
Repaying bank loan won’t work
Got tax and Insurance to pay, also new to CitiAll:
> Can i pay my tax using the new to CitAll offer to get $the 50 offer?
> and then pay my insurance split over 6 months to get the $100 offer?
Is it still worth it if we are using citi rewards card?
Why go for 0.4mpd when you can get 1.2mpd and 2.5mpd promo rate for 3 months”
Hey Aaron, should I use charge date or payment date when scheduling these payments? For instance, if I schedule a payment of rent on July 1, I believe it’s going to be charged on the card some where around June 29. Is this a July or June transaction?
that would be a july transaction.
Thanks for the clarification!
Hi Aaron, can i clarify:
1. Previously i have moved my insurance premiums from Citi to Maybank VI as citi no longer award miles for insurance. Are we now saying that payment of insurance premiums via CitiPayall will yield miles?
2. For AIA, my issue is they only accept mastercard for recurring credit card payments. Will i get miles if i were to pay via CitiPayal?
Thanks in advance
If i recallcorrectly, AIA do incur additional charge if you are paying by CC monthly compared to pay yearly
(1) citi payall confirm gives miles for insurance. the qn is: are you ok to pay the fee
(2) payment via citi payall will give miles. that’s the whole point of its existence.
If you have multiple citibank credit cards, does the above apply on a per card basis?
Read the T&C
g. “Gift/Cash Back” refers to the S$100 in Cash Back that an Eligible Cardmember can earn upon meeting the relevant Promotion Qualifying Conditions. Each Eligible Cardmember is only entitled to 1 Gift.
Aaron, I know this is sacrilege for a miles website. BUT, if I were to use the citibank cashback+ card, would I get 1.6% back on the recurring amount? Hence reducing the fee to 0.4% and maximizing my S$100+S$50 (less 0.4% fees of S$12) free money? I’m just going to go for S$500 per month for 6 months.
you would get 1.6% cashback, yes. it’s a matter of personal preference, really.
Nice! You really must consider a financelion, moneysaverlion or dare I say cashbacklion as a companion to this website 🙂
There is some good coverage of cashback alternatives here, there isn’t much to write about cashback as its fairly straightforward.
On a more personal note, it also isn’t as exciting. free $50 / month doesn’t quite get people out of bed.
hmmm… my MCST fees is charged quarterly. So, I would break the amount payable in 3 monthly payments…. haha… would this work?
I’ve asked my MCST, just pre-pay as much as you can within the bonus amount and they’ll be smart enough to reconcile.
same. MCST welcomes your working capital contribution.
I use the misc option to pay maintenance fees for condo under my Citi premiermiles card …. I did 2 recurring of $500 each for 6 months. But the summary shows I will earn only 1200 miles per month. Did I do something wrong?
no, just that citi’s app is not intelligent enough to reflect the bonus. you have to take it on faith the bonus will appear later
Hi, I would like to share some information about citi payall. Apparently I was told by their CSO that there is a monthly cap for each category. For example, miscellaneous payment category is capped at $30k a month. My usage experience also suggests that there is a cap on the number of transactions each month. It’s almost citi doesn’t want its customers to spend more. For example, I tried to make a $85,000 car payment (thought I could finally hit the $120k target) which was rejected despite having a much higher credit limit on my cards. I tried adjusting it… Read more »