Standard Chartered has announced an update to its list of exclusions for 360ยฐ Rewards Points, which take effect from 3 September 2024.
Unfortunately, this will add almost one dozen MCCs to the exclusion list, including hospitals and utilities bills. This is particularly sad as StanChart was one of the last few banks to offer rewards for these categories, and unlike Citi, OCBC or UOB, which carved out exceptions for their premium cards when they excluded hospitals, this change affects all StanChart credit cards.
StanChart’s new rewards exclusion list
From 3 September 2024, the following MCCs will no longer earn points or cashback across all StanChart credit cards.
| MCCS | Description |
| 4900 | Utilities โ Electric, Gas, Water, and Sanitary |
| 5047 | Medical, Dental, Ophthalmic and Hospital Equipment and Supplies |
| 5199 | Nondurable Goods |
| 6050 | Quasi Cash โ Financial institutions, Merchandise, Services |
| 6529 | Quasi Cash โ Remote Stored Value Load โ Financial Institute |
| 6530 | Quasi Cash โ Remote Stored Value Load โ Merchant |
| 6534 | Quasi Cash โ Money Transfer โ Member Financial Institution |
| 7299 | Miscellaneous Personal Services |
| 7511 | Quasi Cash โ Truck Stop Transactions |
| 8062 | Hospitals |
| 8999 | Professional Services |
These transactions will continue to earn rewards for transactions posted by 2 September 2024 (anyone want to give those quasi cash merchants a try?), but anything after that will be ineligible.
Utilities
With MCC 4900 now on the exclusions list, you’ll no longer be able to earn rewards on your electricity or water bills to SP Services, as well as OEM retailers like Geneco, PacificLight, Tuas Power etc.ย
This leaves Maybank cards and the UOB Reserve Card as the only remaining options for earning rewards on utilities, unless you’re willing to pay an admin fee for a service like CardUpย (which does not support SP Group) or Citi PayAll.
For more on this topic, refer to the article below.ย
2024 Edition: Best Credit Cards for Electricity & Utilities Bills
Hospitals
With MCC 8062 now on the exclusions list, you’ll no longer be able to earn rewards on both private and public hospital bills.
However, it’s important to note that this isย notย a blanket exclusion on healthcare in general. There are a wide range of MCCs that such transactions can code under:ย
| ๐จโโ๏ธ Healthcare-related MCCs | ||
| MCC | Description | Examples |
| 8011 | Doctors- Not Elsewhere Classified | Healthway Medical, Q&M Medical, Raffles Medical |
| 8021 | Dentists and Orthodontists | Elements Dental, Parkway Dental, Unity Denticare |
| 8031 | Osteopathic Physicians | City Osteopathy Physiotherapy, The Osteopathic Centre |
| 8041 | Chiropractors | Chiropractic First, Spinal Rehab Centre |
| 8042 | Optometrists and Ophthalmologists | Asia Retina, Tsecc |
| 8043 | Opticians, Optical Goods and Eyeglasses | KJ Optometrists, Northern Optician, New China Opticians |
| 8044 | Optical Goods and Eyeglasses | Nanyang Optical, Paris Miki, W Optics |
| 8049 | Chiropodists, Podiatrists | Footworks Podiatry Clinic, East Coast Podiatry |
| 8050 | Nursing and Personal Care Facilities | Charis Manor Nursing Home, LC Nursing Home, Orange Valleyย |
| 8062 | Hospitals | Raffles Hospital, SGH, all Polyclinics |
| 8071 | Dental and Medical Labs | NewPath Diagnostics Lab |
| 8099 | Health Practitioners, Medical Services Not Elsewhere Classified | Doctor Anywhere, Eu Yan Sang TCM Clinic, HealthHub |
Hospitals are just one of many possible healthcare-related MCCs, so if you’re visiting a clinic within a hospital or just your neighbourhood GP, you should still be able to earn rewards with StanChart cards.ย
It’s also worth remembering that paying your bills via HealthHub or HealthBuddyย will code as MCC 8099, which will still earn points with StanChart cards even after the nerf.
In case you’re uncertain about the MCC, there’s three ways of looking it up before making a purchase:
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| โHeyMax | โโโ | โ |
| ๐ฑย Instarem app | โโ | โโ |
| ๐คย DBS digibot | โ |
โโโ |
For what it’s worth, you can still earn rewards for hospital bills with AMEX cards (private only), Citi ULTIMA, Maybank cards, OCBC VOYAGE & Premier Visa Infinite (private only) and the UOB Visa Infinite Metal/ Reserve Card. Refer to the article below for more details.
Other changes
Of the remaining MCCs, here’s the main ones to take note of:
- MCC 7299: ShopBack vouchers
- MCC 8999: Flexiroam, RentalCover, Thaiticketmajor
I wouldn’t worry about MCC 5047, as this refers to dental and medical equipment- more of a B2B category than anything you’re likely to encounter as a consumer. As mentioned previously, dentists and dental clinics usually code under MCC 8021.
Conclusion
From 3 September 2024, Standard Chartered will be adding 11 more MCCs to its rewards exclusion list, which kills off points earning for hospitals and utilities.ย
Fortunately, not every medical situation ends up in a trip to the hospital, and you’ll still be able to earn points for a wide range of private clinics including dentists and health screenings.ย
If you’ve just signed up for a StanChart Journey Card to take advantage of its excellent welcome offer, there’s still time. You can continue to meet the minimum spend of S$3,000 with hospital and utility bills up till 2 September 2024, so I’d get cracking if I were you.ย
“So Iโd get cracking if I were you.” – don’t force us visit a doctor leh
Did you miss out UOB VI for hospital bills or has that been nerfed too?
i never intended for it to be a comprehensive list (that can be found in the article about best cards for hospitals), but since so many people are asking about it i’ve added it in.
Those MCCs are the only reason I continue to use this card. Oh well time to round up to the nearest 10,000 miles and cash out. Any idea which companies use those quasi cash MCCs? Sounds like a way to MS.
Ok. No more for utilities. Have a nice Journey ahead! Bye!
I’ve been actively spending using this card, but was told no annual fee waiver. Now with this, I’m 100% sure to cancel it.
yes, there has recently been a lot of complains on SCB Cards. They are screwing all their long term loyal customers. No waiver, no interest fee waivers etc. I even came across customers trying to cancel their card but forced to pay for the annual fee first. Crazy stuff they are doing to their customers. Go to SCB SG FB page, the number of complains on their card is astonishing. Use SCB credit card at your own risk.