Ever since the debut of SimplyGo in 2017 (then known as ABT, or Account-Based Ticketing), passengers have been able to pay for bus or MRT rides with a credit card, making it possible to earn rewards for the daily commute.
Public transport is unlikely to be a significant chunk of your monthly expenditure, but every little bit helps. A regular recurring expense, charged to the right credit card, can reap rewards over time.
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How are you paying for public transport?
There are three ways to go about using your credit card for public transport, but be warned: only one of them will earn rewards!
โ Top-up at General Ticketing Machines/ Add Value Machines
EZ-Link cards can be topped up with credit cards at General Ticketing Machines (GTMs) or Add Value Machines (AVMs) located inside MRT stations, ever since 2016. However, you will not earn any credit card points for transactions at these machines, so avoid them as much as possible.
โ Top-up via EZ-Link app
EZ-Link cards can also be topped up via the EZ-Link app, either on an ad-hoc basis or via Auto Top-Up.
Again, this isnโt the right path to take. While it was possible in the past to earn 2 mpd on Auto Top-Up (then called EZ-Reload) with the HSBC Revolution or up to 1.4 mpd with the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite, both have been nerfed.
โ Pay via SimplyGo
The only way to earn miles on your public transport rides is also the simplest. All you need to do is tap your credit card (or credit card linked to a mobile wallet) at the gantry.
All contactless-enabled credit cards can be used at bus and MRT gantries, with no need to register the card beforehand (although registration does allow you to track your fares and usage online or via the SimplyGo app).
What MCC do SimplyGo transactions code as?
SimplyGo transactions code as MCC 4111 Transportation- Suburban and Local Commuter Passenger, including Ferries, and will appear on your bank statement as BUS/MRT.
In case youโre uncertain about the MCC, there are three ways of looking it up before making a purchase:
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| โHeyMax | โโโ | โ |
| ๐ฑ Instarem app | โโ | โโ |
| ๐ค DBS digibot | โ |
โโโ |
| Note: โEase of useโ and โreliabilityโ are all relative. HeyMax already provides a solid baseline for reliability, and the DBS digibot is still simple enough to use, despite requiring more steps than the other two methods. | ||
What credit cards earn rewards for SimplyGo?
Hereโs a summary of which banks earn rewards on SimplyGo transactions.
| ๐ SimplyGo Transactions | |
| Bank | Awards Points? |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
 |
โ* |
 |
โ |
 |
โ |
| *For OCBC 90ยฐN and OCBC VOYAGE Cards. The OCBC Rewards Card will earn 0.4 mpd on SimplyGo (so thereโs really no reason to use it) | |
American Express has recently added support for SimplyGo, but itโs turned out to be a bit of a nothingburger because itโs also added these transactions to its rewards exclusion list. That said, you can still earn rewards with DBS or UOB-issued American Express cards.
With that in mind, you can use the following cards to earn the most miles on SimplyGo. For the avoidance of doubt, you will earn the same miles regardless of whether you tap the physical card to pay at the gantry, or use the digitised version on your mobile wallet.
| ๐ Best Cards For SimplyGo (Specialised Spending Cards) |
||
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 StanChart Smart CardApply |
Up to 9.28 mpd | Min. S$1.5K per s. month; 7.42 mpd with min. S$800 per s. month, 0.46 mpd otherwise |
 UOB Ladyโs SolitaireApply |
4 mpd | Max S$2K per c. month, choose Transport as bonus category |
 UOB Ladyโs CardApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month, choose Transport as bonus category |
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit CardApply |
3 mpd* | With min. S$800 SIA Group spend in m. year^ |
| *Reduced to 2.4 mpd from 1 June 25 ^Min. S$1,000 SIA Group spend for membership years ending 1 November 25 onwards |
||
The StanChart Smart Card offers an impressive earn rate of 9.28 mpd, without any cap, but the catch here is the minimum spend. Unless you can somehow spend at least S$1,500 in a month on fast food, streaming, public transport and EV charging, youโll have to make up the difference with non-bonus spend that is rewarded at a much lower rate of just 0.46 mpd.
A lower tier of 7.42 mpd is available with a minimum spend of S$800, but even that is a significant amount of spending to hit on bonus categories alone.
Otherwise, the UOB Ladyโs Cards offer 4 mpd, provided youโve chosen Transport as your quarterly bonus category. But Iโm of the opinion that Transport is a poor choice of categories, unless you also spend enough each month on taxis, ridehailing and petrol to max out the bonus cap โ all of which will divert spend from public transport anyway.
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is another good option with an uncapped 3 mpd on public transport, provided you spend at least S$800 in a membership year with Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop. Do note that this earn rate will be cut to 2.4 mpd from 1 June 2025, and the minimum spend hiked to S$1,000 for card membership years ending from November 2025 onwards.
If none of these work for you, then the remaining options are general spending cards with lower earn rates.
| ๐ Best Cards For SimplyGo (General Spending Cards) |
||
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 StanChart Beyond CardApply |
PB/PP: 2 mpd Regular: 1.5 mpd |
|
 Chocolate Visa CardApply |
2 mpd |
Max S$1K per c. month |
 DBS InsigniaApply |
1.6 mpd | |
 UOB ReserveApply |
1.6 mpd | |
 DBS Vantage CardApply |
1.5 mpd | |
 UOB PRVI Miles CardApply |
1.4 mpd | AMEX, Mastercard and Visa |
 UOB Visa Infinite Metal CardApply |
1.4 mpd | |
 StanChart Visa InfiniteApply |
1.4 mpd | Min. S$2K spend per s. month, otherwise 1 mpd |
 DBS Altitude CardApply |
1.3 mpd | AMEX and Visa |
 HSBC TravelOne CardApply |
1.2 mpd | |
 Maybank Visa InfiniteApply |
1.2 mpd | |
 StanChart Journey CardApply |
1.2 mpd | |
| Options earning less than 1.2 mpd are not shown |
||
A few important things to note:
- The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature will only earn 0.4 mpd on SimplyGo transactions, even though theyโre technically contactless
- The HSBC Revolution will only earn 0.4 mpd on SimplyGo, because MCC 4111 is not included under its Transport bonus category
- While the StanChart Journey Card awards 3 mpd for MCC 4111, these transactions must be made online, which SimplyGo is not
| โ ๏ธ What about UOBโs S$5 minimum spend? |
|
Because of UOBโs points rounding policy, you need to spend a minimum of S$5 to earn any miles on UOB cards- spend S$4.99 and you walk away empty-handed. Given that most people wonโt be spending that amount on public transport rides per transaction (or even per day), the question then becomes how you could possibly earn anything out of this. The answer lies in the fine print:
So except in extreme circumstances, youโll definitely earn some miles on your rides. |
Conclusion
While you wonโt be redeeming a First or Business Class ticket on MRT and bus rides alone, every mile counts. By choosing the right credit card (and payment method), you can turn an otherwise unrewarding expense into a steady trickle of miles or points over time.
Just remember: topping up your EZ-Link card wonโt earn rewards, but tapping your credit card or mobile wallet via SimplyGo will- provided you donโt use AMEX, Citi or OCBC cards.
Now that the UOB PRVI offer has lapsed, Iโm using the Zipster card for public transport. The transactions on this card code as online transactions, so I get 4 mpd on the WWMC or CRV
Thatโs interesting, but I canโt find any way to apply for the zipster card.
Interesting! Whatโs the MCC for Zipster postpaid payments?
If I opt for postpayment, they will collect the entire months worth and charge on one transaction, which may be more efficient than my current UOB Krisflyer $5 block miles earnings.
Itโs the same as 4111. But these are online transaction hence can earn 4mpd. MCC doesnโt really matter
Email them to buy the card..
May I know what card is good for ERP and carpark? Any ideas on how to earn miles? Appreciate if this topic can be covered too.
Thank you for this post! Wondering why you did not include the UOB PP Visa though?
Because the UOB PPV only earns 0.4mpd for SimplyGo
Is UNI$ award for public transport based on monthly spend? Else if it is per trip basis, I am wondering if it is possible for 4 mpd using lady card, as UNI$ is awarded based on $5 block and each trip on public transport is unlikely to be more than $5.
I am very sorry, you have actually answered and I have completely missed it. Please ignore my comments.
Hi Aaron, OCBC clarified that OCBC N90 does award base points.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/credit-cards-line-credit-facilities-243/ocbc-ocbc-90%B0n-card-8-miles-%24-6101219-26.html
MCC 4111 is not in their blacklist
interesting- i was told otherwise at first. iโll double check and update.
update: the post you linked to is dated 13 march 2020. the new t and c started from 1 june 2020, and 4111 is indeed blacklisted.
I see, thanks for the clarification! I do see MCC 4111 blacklisted in the Jun T&C:
https://www.ocbc.com/iwov-resources/sg/ocbc/personal/pdf/cards/tnc-ocbc-90n-card-programme.pdf
Ah! I had always thought Citi premier visa did
citi is sneaky about this. itโs not mentioned explicitly in their T&C, and is quite hard to find. however, navigate to this page (https://www.citibank.com.sg/citi-mastercard/index.html) and scroll to the bottom, where under the T&C (click to expand) youโll read
Please note that SimplyGo transactions on Citi Cards will not earn Citi ThankYouSM Points / Citi Miles / Cash Back / SMRT$ / Citi M1 Rebate / Cash Rebate. Click here for the Citi ThankYou Points / Citi Miles / Cash Back / SMRT$ / Citi M1 Rebate / Cash Rebate Issuance Exclusion Terms and Conditions.
How about the new HSBC Revo?
https://milelion.com/2020/07/01/awesome-hsbc-revolution-receiving-major-upgrade-from-1-august/
Do you see 4111 in the whitelist ? Read article please
thank you, i appreciate your input, but you really can use a better manner to tell me, why must be so challenging?
Why you expect to be spoonfed and still expect to be spoonfed politely. you emperor is it? all hail emperor karen!
Replying a comment from 11 months ago. Maybe you are the one that needs to read carefully.
Actually I am a blind man, so I really donโt โseeโ, but do you have to be so mean?
Iโm teaching you how to find answer instead of not reading article & waiting for spoon-feed answer.
Halo, you yourself never read article. People provided info and you blamed other people ?
alternatively, i will use dash for public transport thru apple pay, since it can be topped up via Singtel with up to $200/mo and the telco bill can be paid by WWMC/CRV/CRMC for 4mpd.
hi, does this still work?
what about HSBC revolution card? does it earn 4mpd for SimplyGo too?
Nope
While grab MC do not give points for top-up, you can use grab mc for simply-go as well. They will give points now (afaik, they stopped giving points for a while but now it is back again). However, the points will only be given about a week after the transaction so it is not easy to track.
That being said, 1.7% Cashback for top-up then grab point for transport
PS. I tried it after reading somewhere on forum that the point is back and tested. It was working as of jun 7.
yup, i remember that public transport used to be on the grabpay exclusion list, but when i checked it yesterday it had been removed.
Hi, just stumbled upon your article. Thanks for the summary. Just curious, does Citi SMRT Credit Card get points for SimplyGo?
5% rebate for total spend above 500
Tldr: revolut. Nothing beats revolut currently
Agreed. Getting 20% cashback takes some of the sting away from the bus fare hike.
What about the DBS credit card $5 rounding? Do they also accumulate on a monthly basis like UOB?
The policy applies across all banks. And btw Dbs minimum spend to earn miles isnโt $5, itโs something like $1.67 or so. Iโve covered why in a separate article: https://milelion.com/2019/08/16/how-do-banks-calculate-credit-card-points-general-spending/
Anyone might know what is the MCC for top-ups via EZ-Link App? I charged it DBS credit cards and it showed up as โTransportationโ using the DBS digibank chatbot.
Car sharing services like GetGo and BlueSG has MCC of 7512. Does this earn reward points?
Did a search myself. For Citi Rewards, its not eligible
If I use my Citi Rewards or UOB Ladyโs Card to top-up my Grab wallet, and use Grab card to tap through the gantries, will I still earn 4mpd PLUS Grab points? Thanks in advance!
Does DBS Altitude still award DBS points for public transportation? I donโt see the line under the promotion & benefits on their page anymore.
I just starting using UOB PRVI and each trip posts as an individual transaction of less than $5 with no uni$ earned. Has this changes since this article? I will try DBS Altitude next week and see if I get any miles that way.
Does vantage earn 1.5mpd for simplygo spending?
Hiโฆ ur posts are helpful โฆ Will there be a updated version ? Seems now Citi cards are earning rewards for simplygoโฆ can help to share comparison?
can i check why doesnt citibank award miles for transport? since it is not part of the exclusion list they stated.
https://www.citibank.com.sg/credit-cards/pdf/rewards-exclusion-list.pdf
You may wanna take a look at page 3 of the exclusion list, which states several merchant descriptions/keywords that exclude them from awarding points. I think that pretty much covered all public transportations.
is DBS altitude 1.3mpd now? Thank you
updated, thanks!
UOB One Card โ max 10% Cashback on SimplyGo transactions.
https://www.uob.com.sg/assets/pdfs/one_card_full_tnc.pdf
I thought SC Journey was 3mpd for SimplyGo instead of 1.2?
no. even though mcc 4111 is on the whitelist, you must transact online for it to be counted. bus and mrt rides are not considered online.
Hi Aaron, how about UOB visa signature? Does it earn 4mpd on simplygo since itโs counted as contactless
Hi Aaron, please add the UOB One credit card and review it if itโs a good credit card.
For DBS Altitude, there seems to be a min $5 spend to get any milesโฆ
Thanks for pointing out. I did not realise i was missing out until i saw your reply. Some days my transport only costs $1.50 because I walk instead, so I thought I was saving money โ but I didnโt realise I was actually losing out on earning miles.
https://milelion.com/2024/07/28/review-dbs-altitude-card/
โNotice how the transaction is not rounded down to the nearest S$5; instead, itโs divided by 5 straight away. This means the minimum spend to earn points is not S$5, but rather: SGD spend: S$1.54โ
โKrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, which earns an uncapped 3 mpd on public transport rides.โ We need to spend a minimum $5 to earn 3 mpd? A bus/mrt ride usually cost less than $5 per ride, do we still earn 3mpd for each ride?
I called UOB, they said that Simplygo transactions earn 1.2mpd not 3mpd. However, not sure if we need to spend minimum $5 spend to earn miles since we do not earn bonus miles on Simplygo transactions.