It seems like all the headlines about Amaze these days are bad news, whether itโs adding a 1% fee to all SGD transactions, the nuking of its InstaPoints rewards programme, or getting nuked by banks which just donโt want to fund Amazeโs customer acquisition anymore.
But despite the doom and gloom, the party isnโt over just yet. If youโre travelling overseas and looking to earn credit card miles, then Amaze still offers a more cost-effective option than what most banks provide.
In this post, weโll explore the few remaining credit cards that are still worth pairing with Amazeโfor now!
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| ๐ณ tl;dr: Amaze Card |
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| ๐ณ Whatโs the Best Card forโฆ | ||
| โ Overall Guide |
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| โ๏ธ Air Tickets |
๐ Amaze | ๐ฐ CardUp |
| ๐ Car Rental | ๐ Charity |
๐ฝ๏ธ Dining |
| ๐ซ Education | โก EV Charging | ๐ฅก Food Delivery |
| ๐จ Hotels | โ๏ธ Insurance | ๐ฑ Kris+ |
| โ๏ธ Medical | ๐๏ธ Overseas | ๐ Pharmacies |
| โฝ Petrol | ๐ Public Transport | ๐ Supermarkets |
| ๐ฐ Utilities | ๐ Weddings | |
What card should I pair with Amaze?
First, a brief reminder of the ground rules regarding Amaze:
- Amaze transactions code as online
- Amaze transactions will be billed in SGD
- Amaze transactions retain the original MCC of the underlying merchant
- Amaze transaction descriptions are changed to AMAZE*merchant name
- Amaze can be paired with Mastercard cards only
- DBS, POSB and UOB cards no longer award points for Amaze transactions
- Citi excludes certain Amaze transactions related to AXS and transit ((i.e. bus/MRT/EZ-Link), but otherwise awards points
The spread that Amaze charges (compared to the Mastercard rate) is usually ~2%, though I should emphasise there can be situations where youโll pay more than this. It depends on what currency youโre charging, and whether thereโs any volatility at the time. Some have noted that Amaze is quick to adjust rates upwards when there is a negative movement, but slower to adjust them downwards when there is a favourable movement.
In my recent experience (with USD-denominated transactions), the spread over Mastercard has been 2.1% at most. YMMV.
There are two main cards that Iโd recommend for pairing with Amaze.
| ๐ณ Recommended Amaze Pairings |
||
| Card | Earn Rate | Cap |
 Citi Rewards CardApply |
4 mpd1 | S$1K per s. month |
 OCBC Rewards CardApply |
4 mpd2 | S$1.1K per c. month |
| 1. All online transactions except travel (airlines, hotels, rental cars, tour agency, cruises etc.) and in-app mobile wallet (T&Cs) 2. Clothes, bags, shoes and shopping (T&Cs) |
||
#1: Citi Rewards Card
 Citi Rewards Card |
|
| Apply | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd |
| Eligible Transactions | All online transactions except Travel and in-app mobile wallet (though pairing with Amaze circumvents the latter restriction) |
| Capped at | S$1,000 per statement month |
The Citi Rewards Card earns 4 mpd on all online transactions, capped at S$1,000 per statement month. And since Amaze converts all transactions into online spending, pairing the two together is a simple way of earning 4 mpd almost everywhere.
The only exclusion (aside from general exclusion categories like insurance and donations) are travel-related transactions, which Citi defines as the following:
| โ Travel-Related Blacklist | |
| MCC | Description |
| MCC 3000 to 3350 MCC 4511 | Airlines |
| MCC 3351 to 3500 MCC 7512 | Car Rental Agencies |
| MCC 3501 to 3999 MCC 7011 | Lodging- Hotels Motels, Resorts |
| MCC 4111 MCC 4112* MCC 4789* | Passenger Transport and Railways |
| MCC 4411 | Cruise Lines |
| MCC 4722 MCC 4723* | Travel Agencies and Tour Operators |
| MCC 5962 | Direct Marketing- Travel Related Arrangement Services |
| MCC 7012 | Timeshares |
In other words, donโt use your Amaze x Citi Rewards to pay for:
- Flight tickets
- Hotel stays
- Tour agencies or activities providers
- Train tickets
- Rental cars
- Cruises
Fortunately, thereโs still many other categories where you could slot this in, like dining, groceries, shopping and transport (e.g. taxis and ride-hailing).
Another use case for pairing Amaze with Citi Rewards is to circumvent Citiโs restriction on in-app mobile wallet payments. As a reminder, if you add the Citi Rewards Card to Apple or Google Pay, and use Apple or Google Pay to make an in-app transaction with an app like Deliveroo or Kris+, you will only earn 0.4 mpd instead of 4 mpd.
You can solve this problem by:
- Pairing the Citi Rewards Card with Amaze
- Adding Amaze to Google Pay
- Paying in-app with Google Pay using Amaze
Thereโs really no need to do this with Deliveroo, since the app accepts naked cards, but Kris+ requires you to pay with Apple or Google Pay.
However, itโs important to highlight that Amaze now imposes a 1% fee for all SGD-denominated transactions, with a minimum fee of S$0.50. This doesnโt completely rule out using it for local spend, but youโll need to do the sums and see if itโs worth it. Iโve covered this more in the post below.
#2: OCBC Rewards Card
| OCBC Rewards Card |
|
| Apply | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd |
| Eligible Transactions | Clothes, bags, shoes and other shopping |
| Capped at | S$1,110 per c. month |
| If you have the legacy OCBC Titanium Rewards Blue and Pink cards, each of them has their own 4 mpd cap | |
The OCBC Rewards Card earns 4 mpd on the first S$1,110 per calendar month spent on shopping, which is defined as the following MCCs.
| ๐๏ธ Shopping Transactions | |
| MCC | Examples (non-exhaustive) |
| MCC 5309 Duty-Free Shops |
Lotte Duty Free, King Power Duty Free, The Shilla Duty Free |
| MCC 5311 Departmental Stores |
Takashimaya, TANGS, Isetan, OG, Metro, BHG, Marks & Spencer |
| MCC 5611 Menโs and Boysโ Clothing and Accessories Stores |
Benjamin Barker, Timberland, Edit Suits, Berluti |
| MCC 5621 Womenโs Ready to Wear Stores |
Zara, H&M, Mothercare |
| MCC 5631 Womenโs Accessory and Speciality Stores |
Tory Burch, Love Bonito, Pandora |
| MCC 5641 Childrenโs and Infantsโ Wear Stores |
Kiddy Palace, Mummys Market, Pupsik, Motherswork |
| MCC 5651 Family Clothing Stores |
Uniqlo, ASOS, Club 21, Burberry, Yoox |
| MCC 5655 Sports and Riding Apparel |
Nike, Lululemon, Adidas |
| MCC 5661 Shoe Stores |
Skechers, Charles & Keith, Bata, Foot Locker, Pazzion |
| MCC 5691 Menโs and Womenโs Clothing Stores |
Ezbuy, Zalora, Fartech |
| MCC 5699 Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessory Shops |
Cotton On, Reebonz |
| MCC 5941 Sporting Goods Stores |
Decathlon, Fila, New Balance |
| MCC 5948 Luggage or Leather Goods Stores |
Louis Vuitton, Coach, Rimowa |
Unfortunately, this is nowhere as broad as the Citi Rewards Cardโs scope, so the main scenario for pairing Amaze would be for overseas shopping at factory outlets, department stores and duty-free outlets.
OCBC also has a specific list of bonus merchants like Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon and Taobao, but pairing Amaze would not work in this case because bonuses are awarded based on transaction descriptions, as opposed to MCCs. Amaze modifies the transaction description, so bonus miles will not be awarded.
What about general spending cards?
In addition to the Citi Rewards Card and OCBC Rewards Card, it is possible to pair general spending Mastercards with Amaze.
There is a trade-off involved, however. Amaze will have a lower FCY fee than the bank (~2% vs 3.25%), but since transactions are converted into SGD, youโll be earning at the local general spending rate instead.
The workings are summarised in the table below, where Earn Rate and Cost Per Mile are shown for the different options.
| Card | With Amaze (~2% FCY fee) |
Without Amaze (3.25% FCY fee) |
 Citi ULTIMA CardApply |
1.6 mpd 1.25ยข |
2 mpd 1.63ยข |
 Citi Prestige CardApply |
1.3 mpd 1.54ยข |
2 mpd 1.63ยข |
 OCBC 90ยฐN MastercardApply |
1.3 mpd 1.54ยข |
2.1 mpd 1.55ยข |
 Citi PremierMiles CardApply |
1.2 mpd 1.67ยข |
2.2 mpd 1.47ยข |
 HSBC TravelOne CardApply |
1.2 mpd 1.67ยข |
2.4 mpd 1.35ยข |
It clearly wouldnโt make sense to pair the Citi PremierMiles Card or HSBC TravelOne Card with Amaze, because your cost per mile without Amaze would be lower.
But even where the rest are concerned, you could derive a lower cost per mile by using a non-Amaze option, such as the cards listed below.
| Card | Without Amaze (3.25% FCY fee) |
Remarks |
 DBS Womanโs World CardApply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Online only. Cap S$1.5K per c. month |
 HSBC RevolutionApply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Online only. Cap S$1K per c. month |
 UOB Ladyโs CardApply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Cap S$1K per c. month on bonus category |
 UOB Ladyโs SolitaireApply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Cap S$2K per c. month on bonus category |
 UOB Pref. Plat. VisaApply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Mobile contactless only. Cap S$1.1K per c. month |
 UOB Visa Signature Apply |
4 mpd 0.81ยข |
Min. S$1K cap S$2K per s. month |
 Maybank World MCApply |
3.2 mpd 1.02ยข |
Min. S$4K per c. month |
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit CardApply |
3 mpd 1.08ยข |
Selected MCCs only |
 Maybank Horizon VisaApply |
2.8 mpd 1.16ยข |
Min. S$800 per c. month |
The only catch is that minimum spends and caps apply to some of the cards above, so if youโre spending very little (or a whole lot), then certain Amaze x general spending cards may make sense.
Conclusion
As things stand, the only decent Amaze pairing left is really the Citi Rewards Card. The OCBC Rewards Card can also be used in certain circumstances, but is hamstrung by its relatively limited MCC list.
Once the Citi Rewards Cardโs cap is exhausted, Iโd be more inclined to look at non-Amaze options like the UOB Ladyโs Card or Maybank World Mastercard, as the cost per mile is still acceptable in my book- and lower than if I were to pair Amaze with a general spending card.
Any idea what is current spread FCY ? Seems to be getting less competitive in recent times
https://milelion.com/2023/03/19/what-is-amazes-real-foreign-currency-transaction-fee/
The UOB Krisflyer card cannot be linked to Amaze.
I managed to link mine
The terms and conditions of the travel category for uob ladyโs card seems to suggest only that very few airlines listed on top of via uob travel portal. Surprising that list didnโt even include Singapore airlines.
Last saw today April 17.
https://milelion.com/2023/03/20/explained-which-mccs-are-included-in-the-uob-ladys-card-travel-category/
Thanks Aaron!
Hi there anybody else facing issues with Amaze paired with OCBC titanium? Over the last 3 weeks my transactions have been blocked. Amaze has confirmed its at OCBC end. OCBC CRM says its the vendor itself.
Hi all๏ผ
anyone can help to explain further? I still donโt see the benefit of pairing amaze card to OCBC titanium, it also gain the same 4mpd and also is limited to the same list of MCC and worst still pairing to amaze card those selected merchant with transaction description will not earn 4mpdโฆ.so what is the benefits of amaze pairing to OCBC titanium card?? Can help to explain?
Thanks
4 mpd with lower FCY fees than using TR directly.
Paired Amazed with Citi rewards. Paid my PUB bill but wasnt given the 10x reward. Do i still have to abide by citibank MCC classification?
if i linked amaze card with citirewards & use for general spendings by paywave in restaurant/supermarket does it still gives me 4mpd?
With the current offer from Citi offering 3.25% cash rebate on FCY spending, if I want to purchase an item from a luxury boutique overseas (>S$1K), which is the better option: OCBC TR + Amaze or Citi Rewards alone?
Also, if going with the former, is there a risk of the transaction not being recognized and thence no bonus points?
Is there a benefit to link a Citi Premiermiles card to Amaze? I get 2 mpd for foreign currency spend but Iโll get 1.2 mpd with Amaze so the math doesnโt really check out.
$1000 spot foreign currency spend at 3.25% FCY = 1032.5 SGD = 2064 miles
$1000 spot foreign currency spend at 1.3% FCY (1.8% โ rebate of 0.5%) = 1013 SGD = 1215 miles
your math is fine, but youโre missing the last step:
difference in miles= 2064-1215= 849
difference in fees= 1032.5-1013= $19.5
cost per mile= 19.50/849= 2.3 cents each
most people would argue thatโs way too much to pay per mile
Hi, can I pair my Amaze card with my HSBC Revolution card? It is 4 miles per dollar for contactless and online transactionsโฆ.
cannot because it is visa
Just made a large US Amazon marketplace transaction via Amaze, and later on I saw the category was Education. Anyone knows why of all categories itโll be under Education? Now Iโm panicking!
Does anyone know if paying for non-SGD SIA transactions using the UOB Krisflyer card counts for 3mpd as well as the min spend required to unlock the bonus 1.8mpd for the yearโs spend?
if you canโt change your UOB Lady card category into travel, what card will you pair with your amaze card for any travel related oeverseas expenss?
For online travel transactions in SGD, would it still be ok to use Instarem paired with UOB lady / solitaire versus the UOB lady / solitaire direct? I assume going through Instarem we would earn some Instarem points as a bonus while earning the 6 miles per dollar still?
thanks!
Read the article โ no uob.
If I pair the UOB Lady Card (with selected category as Dining) with the Amaze Card, will I still earn Bonus Uni$? Since itโs marked as a โlocal transactionโ and with MCC dining.
Is it correct never to use Amaze with UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard for overseas spending because the cost per mile without Amaze is lower, if you include the forex charge when using Amaze in the computation?
Amaze forex charges have gone up since this article was first written.
Why do i need to pair amaze card with UOB ladyโs card when I can just use the card directly? Is it for overseas spend?
Does Amaze + general spend card still have a worthwhile cpm?
Iโve just had a Courtyard Marriott hotel stay code as โHousingโ instead of โTravelโ when I paid with my Amazed paired with UOB Ladyโs Card. Does that mean Iโm not going to be eligible for my bonus points??!!!
Waiting for the updated article after the Amaze nerf today.
My understanding is that MCC of Taobao (mobile app purchase) is 5311 Department stores. Is this correct and in this case, does that mean I could still be able to pair Amaze with OCBC Rewards Card on Taobao app purchase to enjoy both lower FCY conversion fees and 6mpd promotion this quarter right?
Hi, can amaze actually unlock the online spending for citi smrt card if i purchase appliances overseas?
If youโre thinking of pairing the Citi SMRT card, the Amaze card canโt be used with Visa cards, unfortunately.
If I am pairing the Amaze with Citi Rewards, does insurance spend counted as part of the $1k spending for 4mpd?
No.
all the special category are excluded as per all other cards. insurance, donation, heathcare,edu
Once Citi go down the route of DBS and UOB (which is surely just a matter of time), this card will be DEAD. There will be no competitive advantage left. Will it also usher in the demise of Instarem? Really canโt see how they will survive.
Can still use it to check MCCs. Itโs the gold standard for that!
101% agree
As we speak, im already applying and receiving some of my other options (if and when Citi nerfs Amaze)
ofcourse if citi does do that, it also means a huge dropoff in user base
The issue with me using Amaze card is that the amount of added fee on top of the MC Forex Rate is not iron clad. Floor rate is like 2 percent but I have experienced more than that. This concern makes me use the Trustbank Cashback Card as it does not charge me 3.25% plus 1 percent rebate making it 4.25%. As I travel a lot, I generally do not have issue hitting the 2K per month tier for each quarter so I generally max out on the 250 dollar additional travel rebates. Not a huge plus but really thereโฆ Read more ยป
Why not with MBB FnF and Citi CashBack?
Cos you are in Milelion?
And not CashbackLion?
Hello can you elaborate on this?
bonuses are awarded based on transaction descriptions, as opposed to MCCs. Amaze modifies the transaction description, so bonuses will not be awarded.
Does that mean I canโt pair amaze with OCBC rewards to purchase from shopee?
Hi! Just to check, should we pair amaze card with UOB visa signature, or just use tap with phone to pay?
Likewise for UOB PP and UOB Ladyโs card as well. Thanks!
goodness me.
already 3 years into this and still questions like this.
Stick the card on your forehead and tap your head at the payment machine. That works for 98mpd.
How do you calculate 1.63ยข for Citi Prestige card without Amaze?
Appreciate if someone can show the calculations behind.