Picture this: you decide to throw a huge blowout party, the likes of which the world has never seen. You spare no expense, and everyone says it’s the best party they’ve ever attended.
But as the night goes on, the budget starts to run dry, and to keep the festivities going, you have to make changes. So you swap the champagne with prosecco. You impose a “one per attendee” limit on the goodie bags. You replace DJ Marshmello with DJ Dee Kosh. In the end everyone hates you for it, and you feel rather aggrieved. After all, no one’s talking about how great the first few hours were!
That’s kind of the situation that Instarem finds itself in right now with Amaze. Once upon a time, Amaze was truly amazing: Excellent exchange rates, 1% cashback on virtually anything, and regular credit card rewards. Demand was so off the charts that Instarem had trouble shipping out physical cards in time for year-end VTL travel in 2021.
Since then, however, a whole lot has happened.
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| 💳 Amaze: A timeline of nerfs |
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Such a lengthy list of nerfs would torpedo any other product, but it speaks volumes about how good Amaze used to be that even after all this, it’s still my default choice for overseas spending (and sometimes local too, for reasons we’ll cover later).
And yet, the fact that I need to publish an updated review less than a year after the previous one suggests how fast things are changing. The music’s still going, but Marshmello’s got one eye on the exit.
Overview: Amaze Card
 | ||
| Apply here | ||
| T&Cs | ||
| Use code 7HK2A2 for 225 bonus InstaPoints | ||
| 💳 tl;dr: Amaze Card | ||
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The Amaze Card is available to anyone with an Instarem account, and has no minimum income requirement nor annual fee.
Applications can be made through the Instarem app (Android | iOS), and you’ll receive a virtual card immediately upon approval.
Physical cards take a bit longer to arrive; it was as much as a month during the early days, but should be within a week now.
If you’re waiting for the physical card but want to spend in-store, you can do so by adding the virtual card to your mobile wallet. Both Apple and Google Pay are supported.
How does Amaze work?
The Amaze Card is a debit card, which funds transactions from one of two sources:
- Amaze Wallet
- Debit or Credit Card
 | ||
| Amaze Wallet | Debit or Credit Card | |
| Conversion rate | More favourable | Less favourable |
| Lock in rate for future spend? | Yes | No |
| Earn credit card rewards? | No | Yes |
Do note that you cannot combine the two sources in a single transaction. For example, if your payment source is the Amaze Wallet, and the balance is insufficient to cover the cost of a given transaction, the transaction will be declined.
Amaze Wallet
The Amaze Wallet is conceptually very similar to Revolut or YouTrip, allowing you to lock in a favourable rate today for spending in the future.
The following currencies are currently supported:
| 👛 Amaze Wallet: Supported Currencies | |
| 🇦🇺 | Australian Dollar (AUD) |
| 🇨🇦 | Canadian Dollar (CAD) |
| 🇨🇭 | Swiss Francs (CHF) |
| 🇪🇺 | Euros (EUR) |
| 🇬🇧 | British Pounds (GBP) |
| 🇯🇵 | Japanese Yen (JPY) |
| 🇳🇿 | New Zealand Dollar (NZD) |
| 🇸🇬 | Singapore Dollar (SGD) |
| 🇹🇭 | Thai Baht (THB) |
| 🇺🇸 | United States Dollars (USD) |
A few points to note:
- Amaze Wallet top-ups code as MCC 6540 (POI Funding Transactions), so just like Revolut or YouTrip, you won’t earn any credit card rewards for top-ups
- A 1.5% fee applies to any Amaze Wallet top-ups using a Visa card
- All Amaze Wallet top-ups must be at least S$20; however, there are no fixed intervals beyond that; e.g. you could top-up S$20.76 or S$43.25
- The maximum amount that can be stored in the Amaze Wallet at any time is S$5,000, and the maximum amount transacted through the Amaze Wallet is S$30,000 per calendar year. These are hard limits set by MAS
You do not need to pre-select a currency before spending; Amaze will automatically deduct the relevant currency, and make instant conversions from your other Wallet balances to top-up the difference if needed.
Any balance you hold in the relevant transaction currency will automatically be debited first, to minimise your conversion costs (e.g., if you are making a payment in Europe, your EUR balance will be debited by default). If you do not hold any balance in the relevant transaction currency, or the balance you hold in the relevant currency is insufficient, your balance held in other currencies will be debited, starting from your SGD balance, followed by EUR, USD, JPY, THB, GBP, AUD, CHF, NZD, and CAD, in this order. If the transaction currency is a currency other than SGD, EUR, USD, JPY, THB, GBP, AUD, CHF, NZD, and CAD, your SGD balance will be used to make the payment. If your SGD balance is insufficient, your balance held in other currencies will be converted to SGD to make the payment, in the following order: EUR, USD, JPY, THB, GBP, AUD, CHF, NZD, and CAD. -Instarem FAQs |
For example, if I have S$100 and 1,000 JPY in my Amaze Wallet, and I make a transaction that costs 1,500 JPY:
- 1,000 JPY will first be deducted from my JPY balance
- The equivalent of 500 JPY will be converted from my SGD balance and immediately deducted
For what it’s worth, the exchange rate used for transactions funded by the Amaze Wallet is better than that for debit/credit card-funded transactions.
Here’s an example of two transactions, made minutes apart. The one on the left is with a linked credit card, the one on the right is with the Amaze Wallet. Notice how the Amaze Wallet rate (98.8811 JPY) is 2.37% better than the card rate (96.5857 JPY).
Amaze Wallet balances cannot be withdrawn to a bank account. If you wish to cash them out, one option is to use the Amaze Card (with the Amaze Wallet selected as the funding source) to top-up an e-wallet such as GrabPay, then transfer the GrabPay balance to your bank account.
However, do note that ever since 5 July 2023, Amaze charges a 2% fee (min. S$0.50) for all GrabPay/e-wallet top-ups, which means this isn’t an entirely frictionless affair.
Credit Card
Amaze Cardholders can link up to five Singapore-issued Mastercard debit or credit cards, and designate a default card to be charged during a transaction.
Every time a transaction is charged to the Amaze Card linked to a debit or credit card, two things happen:
- Amaze converts any foreign currency (FCY) amounts into Singapore dollars based on its internal exchange rate
- Amaze then charges the Singapore dollar amount to the linked debit or credit card
In that sense, transactions are a two-step process, with Amaze working like a passthrough. At the end of each month, there’s no Amaze bill to pay; instead, you settle any outstanding amounts on the credit card you linked to Amaze.
Transactions processed through Amaze:
(1) Code as online spend
All Amaze transactions code as online spend, which means they will be eligible for the online spending bonus with the Citi Rewards Card.
(2) Are charged in SGD
Amaze will convert all FCY transactions into SGD before charging them to the linked card.
Therefore, you will earn rewards according to the local spend rate, for cards which offer overseas spending bonuses.
(3) Retain the same MCC as the original merchant
Amaze does not modify the MCC of a transaction. If you use the Amaze Card at a restaurant, the MCC will code as a restaurant. If you use the Amaze Card at a hotel, the MCC will code as a hotel.
(4) Have an AMAZE* prefix
What Amaze does modify is the transaction description.
For example, here’s how a Lazada transaction looks like when paid with Amaze. Notice how the MCC remains the same, but AMAZE* is added to the transaction description.
This means that if your credit card awards bonuses based on transaction description, pairing it with Amaze will lead to forfeiture of those bonuses. Fortunately, such cards are the minority; most cards award bonuses based on MCC.
On the flip side, if your credit card excludes merchants based on transaction description, pairing it with Amaze will lead to earning of those bonuses. The best example I can think of are UOB$ merchants. If you pair the Amaze with the UOB Lady’s Card and spend at Cold Storage, you’ll earn the full 6 mpd (subject to you choosing Family as your bonus category), because Amaze helps circumvent the UOB$ restriction.
Earning rewards with Amaze
Every time you swipe your Amaze card, you can earn two different types of rewards:
- Credit card rewards (assuming you choose a linked card as your payment method)
- InstaPoints (assuming transaction is in FCY)
Credit card rewards
Amaze transactions are eligible to earn credit card rewards with all banks, except DBS/POSB which excluded them in June 2022.
These are subject to the standard exclusion clauses, of course. For example, insurance premiums are an excluded category for Citibank, so pairing the Citi Rewards Card with Amaze does not magically enable you to earn points on insurance payments (remember, the MCC remains the same).
| ❓ What about Citi and UOB? |
Both Citi and UOB have clauses in their T&Cs which exclude AMAZE*TRANSIT from earning rewards. This does not mean that all Amaze transactions are excluded. Rather it just means you can’t use Amaze as a conduit to earn rewards on public transport-related transactions. |
So which credit card should you pair with Amaze for the most miles?
| 💳 Recommended Amaze Pairings | ||
| Card | Earn Rate | Cap |
 UOB Lady’s CardApply | 6 mpd1 | S$1K per c. month |
 UOB Lady’s SolitaireApply | 6 mpd2 | S$3K per c. month |
 Citi RewardsApply | 4 mpd3 | S$1K per s. month |
 OCBC RewardsApply | 4 mpd4 | S$1.1K per c. month |
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit CardApply | 3 mpd5 | None |
| 1. Pick 1: Beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport, travel. Reduced to 4 mpd from 1 Apr 24 (T&Cs) 2. Pick 2: Beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport, travel. Reduced to 4 mpd from 1 Apr 24 (T&Cs) 3. All transactions except travel (airlines, hotels, rental cars, tour agency, cruises etc.) (T&Cs) 4. Clothes, bags, shoes and shopping (T&Cs) 5. Dining, shopping, travel, transport. Must spend at least S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a membership year (T&Cs) | ||
Please make a point of reading the footnotes, because certain cards will only award bonus miles on specific MCCs. For additional information on how this works, I highly recommend reading the post below.
InstaPoints
Amaze offers its own rewards programme called InstaPoints, which can be earned on top of credit card rewards. This was launched in July 2022 as a replacement for the previous cashback system.
| Transaction Currency | Amaze Wallet | Debit & Credit Card |
| SGD | N/A | |
| FCY | 1 InstaPoint per S$1 | 0.5 InstaPoints per S$1 |
InstaPoints will only be awarded on FCY transactions of at least S$10, and a maximum of 500 InstaPoints can be earned on a single transaction.
This cap means that once you spend beyond S$500 (S$1,000 for linked debit & credit cards from 1 Aug 23), your effective rebate will decline for every incremental dollar you spend. In an ideal world, you’d just break up your transactions into S$500 blocks, but that won’t always be feasible.
InstaPoints are officially awarded within 3 business days of a transaction (but are typically credited much faster.
Redeeming InstaPoints
InstaPoints can be converted into cash rebates in the following denominations:
| InstaPoints | Cashback |
| 2,000 | S$20 |
| 10,000 | S$100 |
| 50,000 | S$500 |
| A 400 InstaPoints = S$5 option exists, but that’s not cashback. Instead, it’s a discount voucher for your next Instarem FX transfer | |
1 InstaPoint is therefore worth 1 cent, which means the Amaze Card offers a up to 1% rebate on FCY spending (up to 0.5% for linked debit & credit cards come 1 August). However, because of the minimum block size, anything less than 2,000 InstaPoints becomes an orphan balance.
Any cashback from InstaPoints redemptions will be credited immediately to the Amaze Wallet.
InstaPoints expiry
InstaPoints earned before 1 October 2022 expire six months after date of crediting.
InstaPoints earned from 1 October 2022 expire 12 months after date of crediting.
Ineligible transactions
The following transactions do not earn InstaPoints:
- Any transaction in SGD
- Any foreign currency transaction smaller than S$10
- Any transaction with the following MCCs:
| MCC | Description |
| 4111 | Railroads, Transportation Services |
| 4784 | Tolls and Bridge Fees |
| 4900 | Utilities: Electric, Gas, Water, and Sanitary |
| 5047 | Medical, Dental, Ophthalmic and Hospital Equipment and Supplies |
| 5199 | Nondurable Goods (Not elsewhere classified) |
| 5960 | Direct Marketing: Insurance Services |
| 5993 | Cigar Stores and Stands |
| 6012 | Financial Institutions: Merchandise, Services, and debt Repayment |
| 6211 | Security Brokers/Dealers |
| 6300 | Insurance Sales, Underwritting, and Premiums |
| 6513 | Real Estate Agents and Managers: Rentals |
| 6540 | Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
| 7299 | Other Services (Not elsewhere classified) |
| 7349 | Cleaning, Maintenance and Janitorial Services |
| 7523 | Parking Lots, Parking Meters and Garages |
| 8062 | Hospitals |
| 8211 | Elementary and Secondary Schools |
| 8220 | Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools, and Junior Colleges |
| 8241 | Correspondence Schools |
| 8244 | Business and Secretarial Schools |
| 8249 | Vocational and Trade Schools |
| 8299 | Schools and Educational Services |
| 8398 | Charitable Social Service Organisations |
| 8661 | Religious Organisations |
| 8675 | Automobile Associations |
| 8699 | Membership Organisations |
| 9211 | Court Costs, including Alimony and Child Support |
| 9222 | Fines |
| 9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
| 9311 | Tax Payments |
| 9399 | Government Services |
| 9402 | Postal Services |
The exclusions list more or less matches the ones published by banks, with education, insurance, government payments and hospitals all ineligible.
This means you won’t earn any InstaPoints should you use the Amaze to pay for overseas school fees, visa applications or medical treatment.
What exchange rates does Amaze offer?
Whenever you make a foreign currency transaction on a credit card, you normally incur two kinds of fees:
- An implicit fee arising from the spread between the spot rate and the actual rate used by the card network (e.g. Visa, Mastercard)
- An FCY transaction fee of ~3.25%, imposed by the bank
Amaze does not impose (2), which means the only “fee” you need to be concerned about comes from (1).
First things first: you should not be comparing Amaze rates to spot, unless your alternative was to visit a money changer or use a Revolut/YouTrip type product. If you want to earn miles on your overseas transactions, then the right rate to compare Amaze to is Mastercard, because that’s what you’d have incurred had you used the credit card directly.
Once upon a time, Amaze rates were almost indistinguishable from Mastercard’s. But at some point in May 2022, those started diverging, and the spread is currently ~1.8%, depending on day and currency. Amaze rates for card spending, unfortunately, are opaque- you won’t know what rate you get until the transaction is completed.
However, it should be clear that so long as you can earn equivalent rewards on Amaze + credit card versus credit card directly, Amaze still makes sense so long as the following equation holds:
Amaze spread vs. Mastercard (A) – InstaPoint rebates (B) < Bank FCY fee (C)
(A) is currently 1.8%, (B) is up to 0.5%, and that’s less than (C)’s value of 3.25%.
To illustrate, suppose you have an online transaction at Amazon USA, for which you could earn:
- 4 mpd with Citi Rewards Card, with 3.25% fee
- 4 mpd with Amaze + Citi Rewards Card, with 1.3% fee (1.8% spread – 0.5% rebate)
Amaze is obviously the better solution, and will be until the spread with Mastercard approaches 3% or more.
Put it another way: if you were OK with paying a 3.25% fee to earn 4 mpd prior to Amaze, there’s no reason for you to not use Amaze, since the rewards are the same and the net fees lower.
Conclusion
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| Apply here | ||
| T&Cs | ||
| Use code 7HK2A2 for 225 bonus InstaPoints |
While the Amaze party is starting to wind down, there’s still some punch in the punchbowl, if you follow my drift.
The way I see it, Amaze has three main use cases:
- It turns offline transactions into online ones, making it easy to earn 4 mpd with the Citi Rewards Card
- It allows UOB cardholders to earn UNI$ at UOB$ merchants
- It’s still cheaper than using a credit card overseas, because of identical rewards, smaller spreads and InstaPoint rebates
Of course, this won’t last forever. DBS was the first bank to exclude Amaze transactions, but it certainly won’t be the last. Sooner or later, banks will start to question why they’re letting Amaze eat their FCY fees while subsidising its operations via rewards. And when they pull the plug, Amaze basically becomes another Revolut or YouTrip.
So my advice from day one still stands: make hay while the sun shines. Every month that you can earn 4-6 mpd for less than the banks charge is a good month, and when the party finally ends, at least we’ll always have the memories.
I’d hope this card could be the morning call for banks who charge 3+% for foreign currency transaction to finally wake up
Just wondering if this would work out for OCBC TR card as well (for all the incl categories):
Local spend: 4mpd + 1%
FCY spend: 4mpd + 1% – FCY Fees
In theory it should but only for the whitelisted MCC, as you mentioned.
Banks are gonna exclude AMAZE* from earning points real soon like they did YOUTRIP*.
So does this works for example topping up my crypto account using this method to save on the transaction fee?
I attempted to top up into binance. It was rejected
Does it convert the insurance premiums into miles earned if i link up the miles card to the AMAZE?
I am wondering the same for my uob one card cashback as well
You can’t even link Visa cards to it now.
Afaik from hwz forum, no. The cc receives the same MCC as though U used it directly to pay so they will get the insurance MCC, thus no rewards. But I guess U get the 1% cashback…?
Does it converts my insurance premiums to be eligible for uob one 5% cashback + amaze 1% cashback?
people need to learn to read the article better. if the mcc is passed through, then it will still code as insurance. does insurance earn cashback with uob one?
SCB Unlimited ==> Amaze ==> AXS. Wonder will get 1.5% + 1%? Or at least 1%?
AXS doesn’t take Amaze.
Hi! Burning qns before I sign up using your code: does AMAZE card earn us 1% cashback for charges made on AXS mobile stations? (I.e Using Amaze card to pay insurance premiums on AXS mobile)
It’s answered above – AXS doesn’t take Amaze. But you can use UOB Absolute to top up GPMC and pay via AXS to earn 1.7%.
WWMC ==> Amaze ==> online spend. Does it earn 4mpd on WWMC?
For now maybe yes… so try it yourself.
Till Banks decided to exclude the transactions start with AMAZE*
Use cases are pretty limited. Only Mastercard can be linked. MCC exclusions still apply. Forex rates are pretty good compared to banks but Instarem’s rates for normal transfers are worse than Transferwise. How long until banks nerf this? Hopefully get a few months but it’s not earth shattering.
i’d say the ability to stack 1% cashback on top of 4 mpd is a good enough perk for me- not to mention the possibility of turning offline into online spend
I hope it lives longer than GrabPay top-ups since this time we won’t have people calling up Citi or DBS asking if GrabPay top-ups qualify for 4mpd.
Worse? Instarem has better rates than Transferwise from SGD to MYR for starters.
I’m waiting for amaze to accept amex so I can pay insurance with amaze + UOB Absolute Cashback
Sign up process doesn’t work (to be precise the ID verification), both manual verification and via Singapass, tried on 3 devices and on 2 internet connections. Never managed to get through it due to (varying) error messages appearing at some point. Basically impossible to become a customer. Lousy.
Even if the ability to earn rewards via bank cards get nerfed, I’ll still prefer this card over something like YouTrip since there will be no orphan values left behind in the card. Although I might still hold on to my Revolut for the ability to withdraw cash overseas.
this is a good point- the orphan value bit. i still have $50 sitting in my revolut which i haven’t got around to utilizing
You can withdraw Revolut value free of charge to a Singapore bank account. Done it many times.
Bear is correct. Just link your Singapore bank account to Revolut. You can then transfer to and from your Revolut wallet FOC. Also, your Revolut card can be used for public transport so there are ways to use up that money without travelling.
Thank you! Was under the impression that since I topped up with a credit card I wouldn’t be able to withdraw in cash
I think if you make a habit of doing credit card topups and then withdrawals to your local bank account you’ll have problems – but the occasional withdrawal of small amounts left over from credit card topups seems to be ok.
Can use amaze to pay cardup/ ipaymy?
You really need to learn to read the article again, it’s written in plain and simple English after all.
This is a blog, we only read the title and the details we ask questions and spoonfed. what wrong?
There’s actually a reason why Aaron didn’t answer your question……. Perhaps some reflections.
I think you didn’t know how a blog works.
also, you know everything? never need to ask?
so you can read? you said you read the title? why dont you continue to read the article? if you used the time spent on the comments section on the main article instead, you could have finished the article and gotten you answer.
LOL
LOL
i love it when keyboard warriors try and act smart and be so proud of knowing everything
“couldnt care less” but you replied!
LOL
called you out and WON
keyboard warrior 1, can care more 0!
Aaron… when you did the Amazon transaction with Amaze, did it require individual OTP to be inputted, or was it only required when you first linked the card?
Only when first linking
It sounds awesome, but after three tries via SingPass, each of which getting me only a “Something went wrong – Got it” message, maybe I won’t link my payment methods with these people.
applied and waiting for the card to be delivered.
i dont have any useful mastercard on hand so have to add the posb everyday card first and tried to add ICBC global travel card afterwards, but fails every time (even swith from iphone to android) at the 3D verification stage (icbc’s problem).
The Instarem app doesn’t like rooted phones 🙁
Same goes to fintech/banking apps.
I am not from the credit card industry, but I would be curious about the security implications of routing transactions via the Amaze card. Card issuers have certain safeguards against credit card fraud by blocking suspicious transactions or sending alerts, for example. It’s not clear to me if any of these safeguards would be compromised by making the payment using the Amaze card. Would it be harder to dispute Amaze transactions with your issuing bank? Would the responsibility of blocking suspicious transactions now fall on Amaze (just like with PayPal)? How well will Amaze handle disputes or complaints about fraudulent… Read more »
is like using paypal. same concept.
As per DBS CSO, its highly likely that Amaze transaction may not earn bonus points with WWMC because there was no OTP 🙁
However CSO did mention to hold on till next month till bonus points are out.
I have remained discreet and ambiguous about Amaze- so just mentioned made an online payment through a different way.
@aaron any ideas?
It does earn 10x with citi rewards, which also requires transactions to be online. So I don’t think it will be a problem…
Hi Aaron
Ok. Managed to sign up using your referral code.
I’ve spent like $3000+ via instarem and referred one person, but i haven’t been credited any points yet – anyone got any points yet?
it’s been over a week.
actually, you’re not alone. i don’t see a single point in my account either, and i’ve certainly got at least one referral by now.
hi guys, i think its credited quarterly?
cashback is, but referrals should be instant (?)
anyway just checked my account again and I do see a few have credited, with dates from late july. maybe needs a few days
Deleted and started a new comment instead
Hi Aaron, do you know if cards from the other multi-currency accounts like TransferWise/Revolut can be linked to the Amaze card?
If it works for say Revolut, you could stack 1% + 1% cashback on transactions (Revolut Metal provides 1% cashback)
Hi aaron,
You mentioned that this card is considered a debit card but i wonder if it can work with merchants that accept NETS only ?
I.e. we plug this into their nets machine, key in the pin and charge it to our credit card.
If yes, i think there might be some use case for it too
no, the card does not support nets
Nets has nothing to do with it
I think HSBC already closed this loophole starting 2 Aug by introducing Everyday+ program of additional 1% cashback which excludes PayPal-like transactions.
They have very bad tech implementation. They will send you the email that you transaction was declined because of system error but balance already deducted from your cc and if you reach them then they will say oh sorry balance was already approved from our backend. We send you wrong email. Can you please check with the merchant.. so they expect customer to do here and there because of their errors. They will hold your money for 14days even though trx was declined and reverted. Maybe try to order and cancel any order from your cc you’ll see your amount… Read more »
I’ll suggest to not to use Amaze for any big transactions or for the merchant where you can’t contact to get refund because Amaze can approve the trx which was declined at merchant. So, if you can’t go to the merchant place again then maybe you’ll not able to settle your amount. For 1% of cashback maybe you’ll lose the whole principal amount 😟 I’ve faced this incident and decided to close my amaze account. If you add your cc then they will not allow to delete it even though there is an option but it will gives you error.… Read more »
oh dear thats scary!
Been using it for big transactions and haven’t faced that issue. That said in the event of disputes you can actually file for a claim with Mastercard’s liability protection under those circumstances.
https://www.mastercard.com.sg/en-sg/personal/get-support/safety-and-security/liability-protection.html
Yeah all these fintech deals feel like picking up pennies in front of a steam roller. Risk/reward isn’t great and people get blaise until they lose all their money and find out they are actually unsecured creditors with zero protection.
anyone get referral points or cashback yet? over a month wait for me – nothing
Is it possible to add GPMC into Amaze as one of the 5 cards, and earn GrabRewards that way?
Tried, it doesnt work with GPMC
Linked the physical Amaze card to DBS Womens World but transactions do not qualify for 10x points
Darned
I have 800 plus points now on my instarem. What do I do with it?
Just saw this in my email :(.
As of April 1, 2022, amaze cashback on SGD currency purchases will be updated to 0.5% while the cashback on non-SGD currency purchases will remain 1%.
hi Aaron
how did you get details on merchant category for your transactions? if already mentioned elsewhere, appreciate if you can direct me there
https://milelion.com/2019/04/18/dbs-virtual-assistant-now-provides-mccs-and-rewards-points-per-transaction/
If paired with UOB PRVI Miles, do you think we can get the ongoing 4.4 miles per dollar promotion for overseas charges? I think it can be a good use of Amaze if that’s possible.
No. Two things. The Amaze txn is coded as online which is excluded by UOB. The Amaze txn is charged in SGD which is excluded by UOB. You have to physically use the UOB PRVI card at overseas payment terminals and not use DCC.
Then how come the article asks to pair Amaze with UOB Lady’s Card? I assume this is also excluded by UOB. And it would have convert the spend to an online transaction which will not earn 4mpd if that is the case.
FX rates aren’t as good as before! Yep, you can say that again. I am in New Zealand at the moment and the FX rate seems to be 3% now, no different to any other card. With the SGD/NZD rate at around 0.844 right now, and a transaction going through at 0.8701, I have stopped using the card in NZ.
FX fees for Amaze are closer to 2% now, as of Sep 2022
i just did some USD transactions and it was closer to 0.5% over the MC rate.
As a DP, just used in Melbourne today and Amaze charged 2.51%
when you say 2.51%, are you comparing to spot rate or mastercard rate? that’s the key question. the correct rate should be mastercard.
I just charged 15 mins ago for 2 Australia visa fees of AUD 20. First was using Amaze paired with Citi Rewards. It translated to S$18.26. This is 4% fx charge over google rate 17.56. Then for the 2nd visa fee, I charged directly to Citi rewards, the pending transaction shows $18.08, though not final until posted, but it does show much lower than Amaze.
Looks enticing enough still. But I’m still unclear how using Amaze will earn the 4 mpd. I’m using Maybank PremierWorld MasterCard
https://www.uob.com.sg/assets/pdfs/kf_credit_card_full_tnc.pdf
section 1.11
UOB KF nerfed amaze ?
I see on the uob ladies card that no points are awarded for transactions with AMAZE*TRANSIT. Does this exclude all amaze transactions or is this only for transit/transport related transactions using amaze?
Just the transit-related ones.
Hi MileLion and guys, just wanted to check, if I link 2 different cards to my Amaze and I transact overseas, and I wish to claim VAT refund back to credit card, will the VAT refunds go back to my respective credit cards linked to my Amaze card?
Cheeers!
Hi, if I pair Citi rewards to amaze card. Will I get 4 mpd for overseas expenditure? Is this considered travel related expenditure since amaze convert it to online transaction?
Hi everyone – sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but if I use the Amaze card on Singapore public transport paired with the Citibank rewards card, would I still get 4mpd from Citibank (as it is “online” spend) or would this be excluded? Thanks in advance!
I just used it in Europe (France and Italy). Amaze charged rates which were all more than 2% away from the market rate. There is no point using it overseas any more.
Hi – for overseas remittance (i.e. sending money to a personal bank account outside of Singapore), can I a.) remit using my Amaze credit card (paired with CitiRewards) and b.) will it give me points for Citi? Thanks in advance!
Will we get 4mpd for paying condo MCST via AXS?
Not sure if it’s just me, but the spread that I was just charged was around 1.2% over the Mastercard rate. (USD to SGD)
Anyone with similar experience?
Just returned from Malaysia, the exchange rate almost the same as the Mastercard rate, with the DBS already excluded amaze for the reward points, it is silly to link the card.
I spent about 5500 RM for the hotel, and got 500 instarem point. (no DBS points), It would be better paying direct with the DBS Master card
Tell me one good reason to use the card if anyone has 🙂
Hi, i am unable to add this card into apple pay. anyone have the same issue?
Me too
Does this mean that for dental, i will still get 4mpd with Citi Rewards? Am confused with the instapoints paragraph
Amaze has changed, I have been charged more than 2% off Mastercard rates recently. And when I inform instaram of this they simply shrug it off and say they are offering competitive rates.
it’s a scam so pls be careful