CardUp offering 1.8% fee for AMEX cards, buy miles from 1.36 cents

CardUp has launched a new promotion for American Express cards, which offers new and existing CardUp users a 1.8% and 1.9% admin fee respectively for payments scheduled by 11 February 2024. 

This is similar to the offer we saw in June this year, but with one key difference: the AMEX HighFlyer Card is excluded this time. This means the highest earn rate you can hope for is 1.3 mpd with the AMEX Solitaire PPS & PPS Cards, and the lowest possible cost per mile 1.36 cents (new) or 1.43 cents (existing).

CardUp offers for AMEX cards

This offer is valid for all CardUp payments, including rent, insurance premiums, income tax or education. Do note that due to compliance regulations imposed by American Express, AMEX cards are not supported for certain CardUp payments:

• Car loans
• Miscellaneous
• Renovation
• Mortgage
• Helper Salary
• Electricity

All AMEX cards issued in Singapore are eligible, with the exception of:

• AMEX True Cashback Card
• AMEX HighFlyer Card
• AMEX Corporate Cards
• AMEX cards issued by DBS and UOB

New CardUp Users (1.8%)

New CardUp users (defined as those who have yet to make a first payment on the platform) can use the code 18AMEX to enjoy a 1.8% admin fee on their first payment of any kind. 

The payment must be scheduled on CardUp between 13 November 2023 and 11 February 2024 before 6 p.m (SGT), with a due date between 13 November 2023 and 15 February 2024. 

No minimum payment is required, but there is a cap of S$5,000. Any amount exceeding S$5,000 will be subject to the prevailing 2.6% fee. For example, if you have a payment of S$6,000, S$5,000 will be charged 1.8%, and S$1,000 will be charged 2.6%. 

The code can be used either on a one-off payment, or the first payment of a recurring series, and a maximum of 200 redemptions are permitted (one redemption per user). You’ll be able to see if the promo code is still available before confirming your payment.

Existing CardUp Users (1.9%)

Existing CardUp users can use the code 19AMEX to enjoy a 1.9% admin fee on their first payment of any kind. 

The payment must be scheduled on CardUp between 13 November 2023 and 11 February 2024 before 6 p.m (SGT), with a due date between 13 November 2023 and 15 February 2024. 

No minimum payment is required, but there is a cap of S$5,000. Any amount exceeding S$5,000 will be subject to the prevailing 2.6% fee. For example, if you have a payment of S$6,000, S$5,000 will be charged 1.9%, and S$1,000 will be charged 2.6%. 

The code can be used either on a one-off payment, or the first payment of a recurring series, and a maximum of 200 redemptions are permitted (one redemption per user). You’ll be able to see if the promo code is still available before confirming your payment.

Terms & Conditions

The T&Cs for both the 18AMEX and 19AMEX codes can be found here.

What’s the cost per mile?

Here’s the cost per mile for various AMEX cards, given their earn rates and a 1.8/1.9% admin fee

Card	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile (1.8% fee)	Cost Per Mile (1.9% fee)
AMEX Solitaire Card	1.3	1.36¢	1.43¢
AMEX PPS Card	1.3	1.36¢	1.43¢
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	1.2	1.47¢	1.55¢
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card	1.1	1.61¢	1.70¢
AMEX Centurion	0.98	1.80¢	1.90¢
AMEX Platinum Charge	0.78	2.27¢	2.39¢
AMEX Platinum Credit Card	0.69	2.56¢	2.70¢
AMEX Platinum Reserve	0.69	2.56¢	2.70¢

The cost per mile starts from 1.36 cents apiece, and even though this isn’t as low as some of the rates you could get with Visa or Mastercards, it’s as good as things get for AMEX users.

Remember: both the amount due and the CardUp fee are eligible to earn miles.

CardUp transactions count towards minimum spend

CardUp transactions do count towards the minimum spend for AMEX welcome offers, so if you’ve recently signed up for an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend or AMEX Platinum Charge under one of the MileLion offers, this is something to take note of.

AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend welcome offer for existing customers: 15,800 bonus miles & S$150 eCapitaVouchers

AMEX Platinum Charge 132,500 MR points welcome offer: Now with lowest-ever minimum spend

That said, the cost per mile is still going to be on the high side, especially for the AMEX Platinum Charge. You may find it more worthwhile buying NTUC or Cold Storage grocery vouchers if you’re falling short of the minimum spend.

Stack with other CardUp offers

As a reminder, CardUp is also running another promotion called The More We Get Together, which offers both new and existing users a 1.55% to 1.65% promo code for a payment of up to S$10,000 in January 2024, based on the payments they make between now and 26 December 2023.

All CardUp users who make cumulative payments of at least S$10,000 during the promotion period will receive a promo code as follows:

The promo code can be used for a single domestic or international payment of up to S$10,000, with a due date between 11-31 January 2024. 

New users who make a first payment of at least S$2,000 will also receive a S$20 eCapitaVoucher.

For more details on this promotion, refer to the article below.

CardUp offering 1.55-1.65% fee for January, plus up to S$50 for new users

Conclusion

Save S$30 off the fees for your first-ever CardUp transaction with code MILELION, no minimum spend required. This code is valid for Visa and Mastercard payments only

CardUp is offering new and existing customers a discounted fee of 1.8 and 1.9% respectively when they make payment with an AMEX credit card. While the high-earning AMEX HighFlyer Card is excluded this time, it’s still the cheapest way of generating miles for bill payments with AMEX cards at the moment.

Remember that redemptions are capped at 200 per code, so act quickly if you want to participate.