You can now earn KrisFlyer miles with Atome

Singapore Airlines has launched a tie-up with BNPL provide Atome, which allows Atome+ points to be converted to KrisFlyer miles. 

While another double dipping opportunity is always welcome, I will say upfront that the transfer rate (even with the a 9% promotional launch discount) is nothing to get excited about. In most cases, you’d be much better off using your Atome+ points on the Atome platform itself.

That said, it’s never a bad thing to have more transfer options, and could prove useful if you’re just shy of a redemption. 

What is Atome?

Sign up and get 1,000 pts (S$10)

For the uninitiated, Atome is a BNPL provider with more than 2,000 online and offline retail partners including Agoda, Anytime Fitness, KrisShop and ZALORA. 

When paying via Atome, customers can split their transaction into three interest-free payments:

• 1/3 paid at the time of purchase
• 1/3 paid 30 days after purchase
• 1/3 paid 60 days after purchase

Atome+ points are awarded at a rate of S$1= 1 point, and expire after one year. They can be used to offset up to 30% off a future payment, with a minimum spend of S$5. 

If you miss a payment, a flat admin fee of S$15 will be charged, and your account suspended until the outstanding payment and admin fee have been cleared.

We can have endless debates about whether BNPL providers are beneficial innovations or predatory lenders, but my take is that it’s just like credit cards: great if you know how to use them, dangerous if not.

Atome is still at the stage where it’s splashing out VC money on customer acquisition and promotions, so there’s plenty of hay to be made- I recently used it for an easy S$15 off a KrisShop purchase. Moreover, there’s a very legitimate use case for miles chasers: managing your 4 mpd caps while maximising cashflow. 

Suppose you’re planning to buy a S$2,400 laptop. You want to pay with your DBS Woman’s World Card, but there’s a small hitch. The 4 mpd is capped at S$2,000 per calendar month, and if you charge the whole purchase, you’d earn S$2,000 * 4 mpd + S$400 * 0.4 mpd, or weighted average of 3.4 mpd. 

Atome and other BNPL providers split your payment into three interest-free instalments:

• Month 1 (upfront): S$800
• Month 2: S$800 
• Month 3: S$800

This allows you to earn 4 mpd on the full S$2,400, netting 9,600 miles. You also have the freedom to change the card used to pay for Month 2 and 3’s instalments, if you so wish. 

Factor in the cashflow benefits, and there’s no reason not to pick a BNPL provider should it be available (with the same caveat that you’re not stretching yourself beyond your means). 

KrisFlyer adds points transfers from Atome

Atome has added KrisFlyer as an Atome+ points transfer partner, with regular conversions at the following rates. 

However, to mark the launch of the partnership, Atome is offering a 9% discount off the usual points required, valid for transfers made from 18 August to 31 October 2022.

Redemptions can be made through the Atome app. Simply tap on your points balance on the home screen, then filter for travel. You’ll see the four different transfer blocks appear. 

The interface is still rather clunky at the moment; after redeeming your selected miles reward on the Atome app, you’ll receive a reference code which needs to manually entered into an online form (SurveyMonkey, no less!), together with your KrisFlyer membership number and registered account name. 

Miles must be credited to your own KrisFlyer account, and will take up to 14 working days upon submission of the form. I tested a small transfer, which took five calendar days to show up. 

Is it worth it?

While this partnership allows you to double dip on miles from your credit card and Atome, I’d strongly urge against converting Atome+ points to KrisFlyer miles. 

Atome+ points can normally be redeemed at a value of 1 cent apiece against Atome purchases, so by choosing to redeem them for KrisFlyer miles, you’re implicitly paying 2 cents per mile (2.2 cents after the launch promotion ends). 

100 Atome+ points (S$1) = 50 KrisFlyer miles

Needless to say, this is way too expensive. The recent Citi PayAll promotion allowed users to buy miles at 0.8 cents each, and even though that’s ended, you can still buy miles from 1.1-1.9 cents via bill payment platforms like CardUp and AXS Pay+Earn, UOB’s Payment Facility, and credit card annual fees.

The only scenario I could see this making sense is if you needed to top up a small amount of miles for a redemption, and even that is contingent on transfers being faster than the quoted 14 working days.

What card should I use for Atome transactions?

Atome transactions code as MCC 5999: Miscellaneous & Specialty Retail, regardless of who the underlying merchant is. 

This means you can use the following cards to earn up to 4 mpd. 

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd*	Max S$1K per statement month Review
DBS WWMC Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per calendar month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per calendar month Review
UOB Pref. Plat Visa Apply	4 mpd^	Max S$1,110 per calendar month Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap. Min. S$500 annual spend on SIA Group required Review
*While MCC 5999 is not on the Citi Reward’s list of exclusions, I’ve seen data points of 4 mpd not being awarded. Use at your own risk.  ^While MCC 5999 is explicitly included in the UOB PPV’s T&Cs, there are conflicting data points regarding 4 mpd. Use at your own risk.

For other BNPL providers, refer to the article below.

What’s the best credit card for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platforms?

Conclusion

Atome users can now transfer Atome+ points to KrisFlyer, although the conversion ratio is far from ideal. Even with the 9% discount, you’re still paying over the odds for miles, and I’d rather save my Atome+ points for purchases on the app.