After the nerf: My new Instarem Amaze Card strategy

On 1 June, DBS became the first Singapore bank to nerf Amaze transactions completely.

It won’t be the last. 

In a way, this shouldn’t come as any big surprise. We all knew from Day 1 that Amaze was living on borrowed time, through the sheer good graces of the banks. After all, why should they indirectly subsidise Amaze via rewards, while Amaze eats their lunch on FCY fees? 

That doesn’t make the actual nerfing any less painful, mind you, because the DBS Woman’s World Card was my (and many people’s) first choice pairing with Amaze. It was a no-nonsense way of scooping up an extra 4 mpd on S$2,000 of spend per month, since all Amaze transactions coded as online. 

All the same, there’s no point crying over spilled milk. Opportunities come and go, and it’s now time to move on- starting with reformulating your Amaze strategy.

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💳 tl;dr: Amaze Card

Link up to five Mastercard credit/debit cards Overseas transactions are converted into SGD (no FCY fees, but subject to FX spread) and charged to the underlying credit/debit card Transaction MCC remains the same, offline transactions charged to Amaze become online transactions for the underlying credit/debit card Earn 1 InstaPoint per S$1 spent on FCY transactions of at least S$10 (except exclusion categories), capped at 500 InstaPoints per transaction Redeem InstaPoints for cashback in blocks of 2,000 InstaPoints= S$20

What card should I use with Amaze?

Here’s the main constraint: Amaze only supports Mastercard credit or debit cards.

This straight away rules out some great 4 mpd options like the HSBC Revolution and UOB Preferred Platinum Visa. It also eliminates AMEX cards, though I probably wouldn’t have used any of those in the first place.

So the question is: which Mastercards pair well with Amaze?

#1: Citi Rewards Card

Citi Rewards Card
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Earn Rate	4 mpd
Eligible Transactions	All online transactions except travel and mobile wallet
Capped at	S$1,000 per statement month

Without a doubt, the Citi Rewards Card should become your new default Amaze pairing. Since all Amaze transactions code as online, you’ll earn 4 mpd on the first S$1,000 per statement month, except on travel-related transactions.

In other words, avoid using your Amaze + Citi Rewards Card to:

• Buy flight tickets
• Pay for a hotel stay
• Pay a tour agency or activities provider 
• Buy train tickets
• Book a rental car
• Book a cruise

Despite these restrictions and the lower 4 mpd cap, some people might actually prefer pairing the Citi Rewards Card to Amaze over the DBS Woman’s World Card. That’s because Citibank offers the widest variety of transfer partners in Singapore, including several that DBS doesn’t have, such as:

• British Airways Executive Club
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• Flying Blue
• Qatar Privilege Club
• THAI Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Miles & Smiles
• IHG Rewards Club

#2: UOB Lady’s Card/ UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card

UOB Lady’s Cards
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Earn Rate	4 mpd
Eligible Transactions	Pick 1 (Lady’s) or 2 (Lady’s Solitaire) bonus categories from beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport, travel
Capped at	S$1,000 per calendar month (Lady’s) S$3,000 per calendar month (Lady’s Solitaire) [cap is shared across all bonus categories]

Assuming the Citi Reward Card’s 4 mpd cap has been exhausted, or you have a travel-related transaction to make, the UOB Lady’s Card or Lady’s Solitaire Card would be the next best option.

Cardholders can select one (Lady’s Card) or two (Lady’s Solitaire Card) bonus categories to earn 4 mpd, capped at S$1,000 (Lady’s Card) or S$3,000 (Lady’s Solitaire Card) per calendar month. Selections can be changed every quarter. 

Assuming you have two bonus categories to choose, I’d pick:

• Dining
• Travel

These are likely to be your largest overseas expense items, and even if you’re a shopaholic, you should use the OCBC Titanium Rewards to cover that instead. 

Do note that UOB does not specifically define “travel” bookings, other than mention major airlines or hotels. On its landing page, it specifically lists the following merchants:

This leads me to believe the relevant MCCs are:

• MCCs 3000-3299 (Airlines)
• MCCs 3500-3999 (Lodging)
• MCC 4411 (Cruise Lines)
• MCC 4722 (Travel Agencies and Tour Operators)
• MCC 7011 (Lodging- Hotels, Motels, Resorts not elsewhere classified)

Unlike the gender-egalitarian DBS Woman’s World Card, the UOB Lady’s Card/Lady’s Solitaire Card is strictly for females only. However, there’s nothing stopping you from getting your wife or girlfriend to apply for one, then pairing it with your Amaze Card.

#3: OCBC Titanium Rewards

OCBC Titanium Rewards
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Earn Rate	4 mpd
Eligible Transactions	Clothes, bags, shoes and other shopping
Capped at	S$13,335 per membership year (Blue and Pink cards have their own cap)

The OCBC Titanium Rewards earns 4 mpd on the first S$13,335 per membership year spent on:

• MCC 5311 (Department Stores)
• MCC 5611 (Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Accessories Stores)
• MCC 5621 (Women’s Ready to Wear Stores)
• MCC 5631 (Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores)
• MCC 5641 (Children’s and Infants’ Wear Stores)
• MCC 5651 (Family Clothing Stores)
• MCC 5661 (Shoe Stores)
• MCC 5691 (Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores)
• MCC 5045 (Computers, Peripherals and Software)
• MCC 5732 (Electronics Stores)
• MCC 5699 (Misc. Apparel and Accessory Shops)

Therefore, the ideal strategy would be to pair the OCBC Titanium Rewards with Amaze and use it for overseas shopping at factory outlets, malls and the like.

Remember, the Blue and Pink cards each have their own 4 mpd cap. If you’re a regular shopaholic, getting both wouldn’t be the worst idea.

#4: KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card

KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
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Earn Rate	3 mpd with min. S$500 spend on SIA Group merchants in a membership year
Eligible Transactions	Dining, food delivery, online shopping, travel and transport
Capped at	No cap

If you spend a minimum of S$500 on KrisShop, Singapore Airlines or Scoot transactions in a membership year, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card awards 3 mpd on dining, food delivery, online shopping and travel and transport spend. 

There’s no cap, but there is a catch: of the 3 mpd, 1.2 mpd will be awarded upfront. The remaining 1.8 mpd will be credited two months after the card membership year (you might get lucky, but there’s no basis for arguing if you don’t). 

If that’s not an issue for you, then this card could soak up most of your overseas spending needs: dining, food delivery, transport and travel (note that travel is limited to specific OTAs; obviously other airlines won’t earn any bonuses on a KrisFlyer cobrand card!).

#5: UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard

UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard
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Earn Rate	1.4 mpd
Eligible Transactions	All spend
Capped at	No cap

As a last resort, you can pair the Amaze with a general spending card, and the best of the bunch is the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard.

It’s important to remember that Amaze converts all transactions into SGD, therefore the applicable earn rate for the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard is 1.4 mpd, not 2.4 mpd. There is no cap on how many miles you can earn. 

Of course, you’re perfectly at liberty to use a different general spending Mastercard, like the Citi Prestige (1.3 mpd), Citi PremierMiles (1.2 mpd) or OCBC 90°N Mastercard (1.2 mpd).

Conclusion

DBS no longer awards points on Amaze transactions, and while that’s unfortunate, it’s not yet game over. There’s still a good number of cards you can pair with Amaze to enjoy 4 mpd, up to 1% cashback and zero FCY fees (albeit with some markup). 

No doubt we’ll see more banks cracking down in the months to come, now that DBS has set the precedent. It’s just a matter of making hay, and hoping that judgement day comes later rather than sooner. 

What’s your Amaze strategy going to be now?