PSA: GrabPay adds government services to rewards exclusion list

No more GrabRewards points for season parking, passport renewals, road tax or other government transactions, from 25 Feb onwards.

I’m a bit slow to learn about this, but by way of a PSA: GrabPay has added government services to its ever-growing exclusions list since 25 February 2022. 

This means you’ll no longer earn GrabRewards points for things like renewing passports, paying for HDB season parking, or road tax. It’s a bummer, because GrabPay was one of the only options left on the market for earning rewards on these transactions

No more GrabRewards points for government services

No more GrabRewards points for season parking

From 25 February 2022, Grab has added the following MCCs to its exclusion list:

  • MCC 9399 – Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
  • MCC 9402 – Postal Services-Government Only
  • MCC 9405 – Intra-Government Purchases-Government Only

This covers pretty much every government agency you can think of: HDB, ICA, NEA, URA etc. SingPost will also fall within the ambit. 

With the latest changes, here’s the full list of GrabRewards exclusions. 

❌ GrabPay Rewards Exclusions
  • Bank or third-party mobile/payment wallets, including but not limited to FavePay, PayLah!, PayPal, Singtel Dash, ShopeePay, Lazada Wallet, Boku, Coda Payments
  • Multi-currency wallets, including but not limited to YouTrip, Revolut and TransferWise
  • Buy-Now-Pay-Later service providers, including but not limited to Atome, Hoolah, Pace, Rely, LatitudePay, Zip
  • Investment or brokerage platforms
  • Cryptocurrency platforms
  • Remittance service providers
  • Bill payment service providers or aggregators, including but not limited to AXS
  • Virtual or gaming credits service providers, including but not limited to Razer Gold
  • EZ-Link card/app top-up
  • MCC 5960 – Direct Marketing Insurance Services
  • MCC 6011 – Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements
  • MCC 6012 – Financial Services
  • MCC 6300 – Insurance Sales, Underwriting and Premiums
  • MCC 6513 – Real Estate Agents and Managers – Rentals
  • MCC 6536 – Money Send Intracountry
  • MCC 6537 – Money Send Intercountry
  • MCC 6540 – POI Funding Transactions
  • MCC 7299 – Miscellaneous Personal Services
  • MCC 7399 – Business Services Not Elsewhere Classified
  • MCC 8062 – Hospitals
  • MCC 8211 – Elementary and Secondary Schools
  • MCC 8220 – Colleges, Junior Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
  • MCC 8241 – Correspondence Schools
  • MCC 8244 – Business and Secretarial Schools
  • MCC 8249 – Vocational Schools and Trade Schools
  • MCC 8299 – Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
  • MCC 8398 – Charities
  • MCC 8611 – Religious Organizations
  • MCC 9211 – Court Costs, including Alimony and Child Support
  • MCC 9222 – Fines
  • MCC 9223 – Bail and Bond Payments
  • MCC 9311 – Tax Payments
  • MCC 9399 – Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
  • MCC 9402 – Postal Services-Government Only
  • MCC 9405 – Intra-Government Purchases-Government Only

You can still earn up to 3% cashback

Top up GrabPay and pay via AXS to earn rebates on government services

Even though you’ll no longer earn GrabRewards points for government services, GrabPay can still help you earn up to 3% cashback. 

All you need to do is use one of the credit cards below to top-up your GrabPay balance, then pay with the GrabPay Mastercard or GrabPay via AXS (if you’re using AXS, remember to select credit card rather than debit card when paying, notwithstanding the fact the GrabPay Mastercard is a debit card). 

💳 Cards for GrabPay Top-Ups
CardEarn RateRemarks
AMEX SIA Business Card
Apply
1.8 mpdOnly for owners of SMEs
AMEX True Cashback Card
Apply
3% cashback (capped at S$5K spend in first 6 months)
1.5% otherwise
No cap
UOB Absolute Cashback Card
Apply
1.7% cashbackNo cap

New AMEX customers who apply for an American Express True Cashback Card can choose one of the following gifts with S$500 spend in the first month of approval:

  • ErgoTune Classic (worth S$399)
  • Apple AirPods Pro (worth S$379)
  • S$160 cash
💳 Definition: New AMEX Customer
Those who do not hold an existing personal American Express card, and have not cancelled any American Express card in the last 12 months. Corporate cards and AMEX cards issued by DBS, Citibank and UOB do not count.

Alternatively, new UOB customers who apply for a UOB Absolute Cashback Card will get S$30 cash via PayNow upon approval, with no minimum spend required. 

💳 Definition: New UOB Customer
Those who do not hold an existing principal UOB card, and have not cancelled any UOB cards in the last 6 months.

Conclusion

GrabPay has added government services to its rewards exclusion list, which means you won’t be able to double dip on GrabRewards and credit card points/rebates when making such transactions.

On the bright side, it’s still possible to earn up to 3% cashback on these bills when using the right credit card to top up GrabPay.

(HT: Sethisfy)

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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WWW

What about CPF top ups or IRAS bill via QR?

Jack

Grab does not allow you to pay Government Service with QR code. So IRAS/CPF is not possible.

Scam

Wah got scammed by you. I applied the amex cards coz you kept saying top up grab then top up cpf…

Scam

Your cpf top up article is still up and being recommended with the misleading headline on many posts including this one

Benjamin

And if u bothered to read the article you’d see right at the top it’s no longer possible. Learn to read, noob

Scam

Do you always go back and read articles that you have already read? You must have a lot of free time. In the first place the entire article should have been deleted because the entire premise is invalid. And failing which he should have at least updated the title.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that if the headline didn’t change the premise is still valid.

Last edited 2 years ago by Scam
Jasmine

The level of entitlement…. LOL!

Scam

Aaron isn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He gets very real benefits from someone using his link. It’s slightly immoral to keep something that’s no longer valid up just to continue to benefit from the referrals.

scambro

@scam no worries bro! you give me your number next time any change i call you asap! full 24/7 service for u!

Lavender89

Your argument doesn’t even make sense. If you only read the headline, how would you know the Amex true CB card is involved? You’d have to click into the article to find that out, and the first thing you’d see is that it no longer works.

You failed to do your due diligence. Don’t blame others.

Scam

Did you even read what I wrote? I read the article when he first posted it. How am I supposed to know he updated the contents without updating the title?

Barryallen

@ scam the first thing anyone who clicks on the article will see is that the trick no longer works.

It’s amazing the mental gymnastics people will go through to blame anyone but themselves.

You are lucky Aaron doesn’t consider legal action against you.

NotNoob

noob

ABC

Absolute joke of a comment. Your lack of intelligence is showing. So what were you “scammed” of? 5 minutes of your precious time?

Mike

So you wasted some time applying for AMEX cards. Big deal!!

What about how much you saved and gained extra from Aaron’s tips and guides. Don’t be entitled.

Scam

I applied the AMEX card to top up CPF. Without the CPF top up option I can’t hit the required spending bobo

Tim Lee

Just spend more on other things or channel all spending to the AMEX card

anon

That’s more of a “you” problem.

Ortloc

You can still pay to IRAS with GrabPay via AXS, albeit in multiples of $500 as that’s the maximum AXS will accept. A small inconvenience in return for the cashback, especially if you’re paying a lot of taxes.

Lee

Oh TIL, thanks for the tip. Did you mean the AXS machine or the app though? Have never used it before.

Ortloc

Either is fine. If you want to pay the entire sum at once, it’s best to do it at home on the PC or mobile app. Don’t want to hold up the queue if there are multiple $500 transactions to be done 😅.

Otherwise you can pay off month by month before the Giro deduction date. Just make sure you pay off the full amount in a year!

Newton

AXS has been accepting transactions above $500 for a long time already.

Amos

Encountered this before the PSA when I renewed my season parking. Ah well, it was great while it lasted. Fingers crossed that they don’t exclude utilities and telcos next.

Last edited 2 years ago by Amos
cheesecake

So are Amex cards now the next best thing for government services? Notice it’s an option for ICA, etc.

MINGZ

Recently made a big payment (near $5K) via Grabpay to a wedding venue for the final payment of my wedding package. Didn’t get a single reward point because they say this is under PERSONAL SERVICES. Next day, paid for a personal grooming service ($250) with the same card – got rewards points. Just incredible – the lack of transparency

JT Lim

that’s how grab make money

Anthony Tan

so sad

Last edited 1 year ago by Anthony Tan

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