The MileLion’s 2025 Credit Card Strategy

As we approach the halfway point of the year, it’s time to update The MileLion’s 2025 Credit Card Strategy, my blueprint for earning miles on a day-to-day basis.

The first half of 2025 has been rough, with more nerfs than I’d care to count and only a couple of noteworthy buffs (including, would you believe it, the BOC Elite Miles Card!).

Here’s a brief summary of everything that’s happened.

For this year’s card strategy post, I’m taking a slightly different approach:

• First, I’ll share the list of cards I’m personally using this year
• Then, I’m going to assign each card to a different category of spending
• Finally, in recognition that your circumstances will likely be different from mine, I’ll suggest some alternatives that you might want to explore

Before we start

Before we talk about specific cards, here are a few important points to make. 

Not a comprehensive listing

First, this article is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of the best cards for each category. There are other cards that could work just as well, so please don’t flood the comments with “why not Card X for category Y?”

Remember, the idea here is to present a strategy rather than a compendium. If you’re interested in a comprehensive listing of the best cards for a given category, you should instead refer to the articles below.

Don’t forget sign-up bonuses

Second, this article doesn’t take into account ongoing sign-up bonuses.

These are opportunities for new cardholders to earn a lump sum of miles by spending a minimum amount within a certain period following approval. You should absolutely try to take advantage of these first, because the effective earn rate (in terms of miles awarded per dollar spent) will be superior to many of the cards in this post.

I publish a monthly article that covers all the sign-up bonuses in detail, and you can also bookmark my Welcome Offers page to keep tabs on the latest promotions.

Categories can overlap

Third, categories can overlap or be subsets of each other, so don’t think about them too rigidly.

For example, a card which earns bonuses on contactless payments can be used at a restaurant, department store, supermarket, or anywhere that contactless payments are accepted. Likewise, if a card earns bonuses on foreign currency spend, it doesn’t matter whether that spend is dining, shopping or travel-related.

Check the definitions

Fourth, different cards may define the same category differently. For example, what counts as dining for HSBC may be different from UOB.

Always refer to the T&Cs for the exact list of eligible MCCs, and if you need to check the MCC of a given merchant, use the methods below.

Which cards am I using for 2025?

Here’s a summary of the cards that I’ll be using the most in 2025. 

Card	Categories
Citi Rewards Card Apply	Amaze Online transactions (ex. travel) 4 mpd Capped
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	Online transactions 4 mpd Capped
DBS yuu AMEX/Visa Apply	yuu merchants (7-Eleven, Cold Storage, foodpanda, Giant, gojek, Guardian) 10 mpd Capped
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	SIA Group Kris+  Pelago 3 mpd Uncapped Dining Public transport Ride-hailing 2.4 mpd Uncapped
Maybank Horizon Apply	Air tickets 2.8 mpd Capped FCY spend 2.8 mpd Uncapped
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	FCY spend 3.2 mpd Uncapped Petrol 4 mpd Uncapped
HSBC Revolution Apply	Atome HeyMax vouchers 4 mpd Capped
OCBC Rewards Card Apply	HeyMax vouchers 6 mpd Capped
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Dining  Travel Apply	Air tickets Dining OTAs Hotels 4 mpd Capped
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply	Mobile contactless spend 4 mpd Capped
UOB Visa Signature Apply	Contactless spend FCY spend 4 mpd Capped

I realise that 11 cards may seem like a lot to keep track of (12 actually, if we count the Chocolate Visa which I’ll keep handy for donations and education), but once you learn the general heuristics, it’s really not as complicated as it seems.

Also, if your monthly spending is more modest, it’s highly unlikely you’ll need all the cards shown above. Those spending <S$5,610 per month (S$5,110 from 1 August 2025, with the nerf to the DBS Woman’s World Card) could use the following “minipack” to earn 4 mpd on almost everything, without the need to memorise specific categories.

💳 “Minipack” For Smaller Spenders
Card	Spend	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	S$1,000	Online spend ex. travel
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	S$1,500*	Online spend
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply	S$1,110	Contactless spend
UOB Visa Signature Apply	S$2,000	Contactless spend (min. spend S$1,000 per s. month)
*Cut to S$1,000 from 1 August 2025

You will miss out on some higher-earning opportunities — like 6 mpd with the OCBC Rewards or 10 mpd with the DBS yuu — but this makes things extremely straightforward.

What card for which category?

Contactless Payments

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1.1K per c. month, must use mobile payments Review
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	4 mpd	Min S$1K, max S$2K per s. month on contactless & petrol Review

Having a bonus for contactless payments is practically a license to earn 4 mpd everywhere, given how ubiquitous contactless terminals are nowadays.

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa continues to be the go-to option, with 4 mpd on all mobile contactless transactions. Simply add this card to your Apple, Google or Samsung Pay account and tap your phone or watch in-store to pay. 

Those who regularly spend beyond the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa’s monthly S$1,000 bonus cap can consider the UOB Visa Signature, which has a higher monthly bonus cap of S$2,000. Cardholders will earn 4 mpd on contactless transactions, with a minimum spend of S$1,000 per statement month.

Even better: since November 2024, there’s no more worries about UOB$ merchants zapping your miles, because UOB now allows double dipping on UOB$ and UNI$.

The main thing to be aware of is the difference in how each card defines contactless spending. You will not earn any bonuses if you tap the physical UOB Preferred Platinum Visa card!

	UOB PPV	UOB VS
	✅	✅
	❌	❌
	✅	✅
Excludes MST	✅	✅
Tapping physical card	❌	✅

I shouldn’t have to say this (though based on some angry emails I receive, perhaps I do), but UOB’s standard exclusion list still applies. You won’t earn 4 mpd if you use contactless payments at an educational institution or government office, for instance.

Online Transactions

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per s. month, excludes travel Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1.5K* per c. month Review
*Max S$1K per c. month from 1 Aug 2025

Like contactless payments, online transactions are another big catch-all category.

Both the Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World Card (WWMC) will earn 4 mpd on online transactions, so long as it doesn’t fall into:

• the bank’s general list of exclusions, or
• in the case of the Citi Rewards
  • travel-related transactions such as airlines, cruises, hotels, rental cars and travel agencies
  • in-app mobile wallet payments (e.g. Deliveroo + Citi Rewards = 4 mpd, Deliveroo + Google Pay (using Citi Rewards) = 0.4 mpd)

In other words, both the Citi Rewards and DBS WWMC would be well-suited to cover everyday transactions like:

• Food delivery
• Ride-hailing
• Movie tickets
• Google Play or Apple App Store purchases
• Netflix, Spotify and other streaming subscriptions
• E-commerce sites like Amazon, Lazada, Shopee etc.
• (WWMC only) Buying airline tickets, cruises, prepaid hotels or activities & attraction bookings with Klook or Pelago

If I had to choose between the two, I’d lean in the direction of the Citi Rewards Card, simply because its points have a longer validity period (up to 5 years, versus 1 year for the WWMC) and more transfer partners (11, versus 4 for the WWMC).

However, its monthly bonus cap is also lower than the WWMC’s (at least until 1 August 2025, after which they’ll be on par), and there is an annoying exclusion for travel, so that’s something to consider too. 

Head-to-head: Citi Rewards Card vs DBS Woman’s World Card

HeyMax

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
OCBC Rewards Card Apply	6 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month

HeyMax, better known for its MCC lookup tool, also sells vouchers for a wide array of merchants. Payments made directly with these merchants would code under various MCCs, but HeyMax voucher purchases all code as MCC 5311 Department Stores.

👍 250 Max Miles joining bonus
Sign up for a HeyMax account and get up to 250 Max Miles as a welcome bonus
250 bonus Max Miles
Amazon Best Denki Courts Deliveroo Foodpanda Giant Grab IKEA Klook Lazada	Natureland NTUC FairPrice Oddle Eats Pelago Ryde Shein Shell Sheng Siong TADA TANGS ZALORA

Therefore, whether you’re buying electronics or furniture, booking activities, taking a Grab or gojek, ordering food delivery, buying eSIMs or shopping online, you can use HeyMax to change the MCC to 5311.

That’s a whitelisted category for the OCBC Rewards Card, which earns 6 mpd (until 30 June 2025; 4 mpd afterwards if the promo isn’t further extended) capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. 

If that cap is exhausted, I would switch over to the HSBC Revolution Card for 4 mpd, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. This card had a terrible 2024 (and 2025 began with yet another one!), but it still whitelists 5311, and HSBC points are arguably the most useful rewards currency in Singapore.

• Conversion fees are waived indefinitely
• Conversions to all but two programmes (Hainan and JAL) are instant
• Rewards points pool across all HSBC cards
• While the minimum conversion block is 10,000 miles, the subsequent block is just two miles (so you could transfer 10,002 or 20,496 miles, for example)
• Even though non-expiring points would be nice, HSBC still offers longer validity than most competing banks at 37 months
• It has 16 airline and four hotel transfer partners, by far the most of any bank in Singapore

One caveat: this is not the card to use if you want to earn KrisFlyer miles, following the transfer ratio devaluation in January 2025. 

Atome

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per s. month Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1.5K* per c. month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month Review
*Max S$1K per c. month from 1 Aug 2025

BNPL platforms like Atome have their detractors, but I think it’s a great tool for any miles chaser. With Atome, you can:

• Break up transactions into three interest-free monthly payments, stretching your cashflow and better optimising the monthly bonus caps on specialised spending cards
• Enjoy extra discounts with selected merchants
• Convert non-bonused MCCs into bonus-earning MCCs
• Convert ineligible MCCs into reward-earning MCCs
• Double dip on credit card miles and Atome+ Points (which can be converted into Max Miles)

Since Atome counts as online spend, you can use both the Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card, in addition to the HSBC Revolution Card. 

Do remember to trigger payments manually a few days before they’re due, as recurring payments may not be eligible to earn miles.

Dining

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	2.4 mpd	No cap. Min. S$800* on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review
*Min. S$1,000 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year if your membership year ends from November 2025 onwards

The dining category includes both dining at restaurants, as well as ordering through food delivery platforms like Deliveroo and GrabFood (but if you’re using foodpanda, then the 10 mpd DBS yuu Card should be the only choice- see below).

I choose Dining as one of the two bonus categories on my UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, so that’s 4 mpd capped at S$2,000 per calendar month. Once that cap is exhausted (remember, it’s shared with another bonus category), I either utilise my contactless card bonuses, or switch to the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 2.4 mpd.

Do note that there is a subtle but important difference between the two cards in terms of dining definition, with the UOB Lady’s Card covering MCC 5499 (e.g. Famous Amos, Bee Cheng Hiang, Nespresso), and the KrisFlyer UOB Card covering MCC 5813 (e.g. Harry’s, Wine Connection, Zouk). Therefore, they’re not completely interchangeable. 

🍽️ Dining Card MCC Coverage
	UOB Lady’s	KF UOB
5811 Caterers	✅
5812 Restaurants	✅	✅
5813 Bars & Nightclubs		✅
5814 Fast Food	✅	✅
5441 Candy Stores
5462 Bakeries
5499 Misc. Food	✅
Earn Rate	4 mpd	2.4 mpd
Monthly Cap	S$1K/2K	No cap

Foreign Currency (FCY) Spend

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max $1K per s. month Review
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$1K, max S$2K per s. month on FCY spend Review
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$4K per c. month. 2.8 mpd with min. S$800 per c. month. No cap Review

Assuming I haven’t already busted the Citi Reward Card’s bonus cap, I’ll pair it with Amaze to earn 4 mpd on overseas spending with a 2% FCY fee.

Otherwise, next in line is the UOB Visa Signature for 4 mpd on FCY spend, subject to a minimum FCY spend of S$1,000 per statement month, and capped at S$2,000 FCY spend per statement month. Do note that this cap is shared with the 4 mpd cap for contactless payments/petrol- you can refer to this article for a more detailed explanation on how the caps work.

If that’s still not enough, or if I’m making a big ticket purchase and need something without a cap, then I’d use the Maybank World Mastercard for an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spend, subject to a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month (you can also get an uncapped 2.8 mpd with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month).

Groceries

I used to select Family as one of the bonus categories on The MileLioness’ UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card so I could earn 4 mpd on groceries, but after doing the sums, realised it didn’t really make sense.

Most of my grocery spend was at Giant or Cold Storage, simply because of the DBS yuu Card. While I did visit NTUC occasionally, it wasn’t enough to justify using an entire bonus category just for groceries. And besides, I’m more likely to shop at FairPrice’s website these days, so I can use a card with online spending bonuses instead. 

So I no longer keep a separate card for this category, and follow this simple rule:

• In-store NTUC, Sheng Siong: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa or UOB Visa Signature
• Online/ In-store Giant, Cold Storage: DBS yuu Card
• Online NTUC: DBS WWMC

Petrol

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	4 mpd	No cap Review

My hybrid car gets around 5 litres per 100km, so petrol expenses each month are modest. When I do need to pump, I usually turn to the Maybank World Mastercard for an uncapped 4 mpd, with no minimum spend.

Public Transport

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	2.4 mpd	No cap. Min. S$800* on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review
*Min. S$1,000 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year if your membership year ends from November 2025 onwards

When I don’t have access to the car and need to take the bus or train, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is a straightforward solution with an uncapped 2.4 mpd.

Travel

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review

The second bonus category on my UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card is Travel, so I can earn 4 mpd on up to S$2,000 of travel-related transactions such as:

• Air tickets
• Cruises
• Duty-free stores 
• Hotels
• Online and regular travel agencies

yuu Merchants

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS yuu AMEX Apply	10 mpd	Min. spend & cap of S$600 per c. month Review
DBS yuu Visa Apply

If you’re spending at a yuu merchant, there is absolutely no question about which card you should use: the DBS yuu AMEX or DBS yuu Visa, both of which earn 10 mpd on the following.

The only speed bump here is the minimum spend of S$600 per calendar month (which is also the cap), but between groceries, food delivery, pharmacy stuff and gojek, it’s doable for me.

Since this gets asked a lot, I want to clarify that the minimum spend need not be on yuu merchants alone. However, I find it a waste to spend on non-yuu merchants because you’ll earn just 0.27 mpd, which will drag down your overall earn rate. Even if you’re slightly short of the minimum spend, buying Cold Storage or Giant vouchers would be a better way of making up the balance than non-yuu spend.

For a detailed guide on the DBS yuu Card and yuu Points, refer to this post. 

What other cards can you consider?

Chocolate Visa Card

Chocolate Visa Card

Apply

The Chocolate Visa Card was great for a few months, but come 1 July 2025 it’ll be hit with a reduced earn rate of 1 mpd, a monthly cap of 100 miles on bill payments, and a new Miles Multiplier feature which awards bonus miles based on your Chocolate account balance.

While it can still be useful for FCY transactions where the goal is to minimise transaction costs while still earning rewards (Chocolate has no FCY fees; all transactions are converted to SGD at the prevailing Visa rates), I think it’s safe to say that most miles chasers will greatly reduce their usage of this card post-nerf.

I personally will keep it around for charitable donations and education, where 1 mpd is still better than nothing.

UOB Lady’s Card

If you do not meet the minimum income requirement for a UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card (S$120,000 p.a.) then the UOB Lady’s Card would be the next best alternative. This card earns 4 mpd on one bonus category, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.

You cannot hold both the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card at the same time. I’m aware of situations where cardholders who upgrade from the Lady’s to Lady’s Solitaire end up holding both cards for a period, but there’s really no incremental benefit as you’re still capped at 2x bonus categories and a S$2,000 bonus cap per calendar month. 

StanChart Beyond Card

The newly-launched StanChart Beyond Card has a hefty S$1,635 annual fee, and if you’ve decided to take the plunge, you’d better start using it religiously.

Not only do you have a hefty minimum spend of S$20,000 to meet for the welcome bonus, this card’s mechanics are structured in a way that the more you spend, the more you get rewarded. 

The local earn rates of 1.5-2 mpd are already good for a general spending card, but what’s even more impressive is the FCY earn rates of 3-4 mpd (and 8 mpd for overseas dining if you’re a Priority Private customer).

StanChart Smart Card

The StanChart Smart Card now earns a remarkable uncapped 9.3 mpd on streaming, public transport, electric car charging and fast food, but there’s a big catch here. You need to spend at least S$1,500 per statement month to unlock that rate (7.4 mpd is possible with a minimum spend of S$800).

I don’t know about you, but I would find it exceedingly difficult to spend that much on these categories, though I’m sure there’ll be some who make it work (e.g. a Grab driver with an EV).

General spending cards

I make it a point to avoid general spending cards as much as possible, for the simple reason that there’s no reason to earn 1.2-1.6 mpd when you could be earning 4 mpd. 

However, general spending cards can still be part of a sound miles strategy, in situations where:

• There’s a lucrative welcome offer
• You’ve exhausted the bonus caps on higher-earning specialised spending cards
• You have a big-ticket transaction that can’t be split across multiple cards
• There’s a limited-time promotion that upsizes the earn rates
• You’re using CardUp or Citi PayAll, which aren’t eligible for bonuses with specialised spending cards

In these situations, it’s all about picking the highest-earning general spending card there is. 

Final reminders

Don’t forget Kris+

Whenever you’re at a restaurant, store, spa or hotel, always be sure to check whether they’re a Kris+ merchant, because that’s an easy opportunity to stack a further 0.5-9 mpd on top of your credit card miles. 

S$5 for new Kris+ Users

Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction

I’ve written a separate guide on the best cards to use with Kris+, which can be found below.

What’s the best card to use for Kris+?

Don’t over-optimise

As much as we want to maximise 4 mpd everywhere, is it possible to overdo it?

Definitely. The way I see it, there are two additional considerations:

(1) Conversion Fees

By spreading your cards across multiple banks, you’re collecting different points currencies and will have to pay multiple conversion fees.

However, I’m not too worried about this. Conversion fees are annoying and we try to minimise them where we can, but paying them isn’t the end of the world. In the grand scheme of things, an extra S$25 here and there isn’t going to destroy the overall value proposition of the miles game.

💰 Points Conversion Fees by Bank
Issuer	Per Conversion	Annual Option
	Free	N/A
	S$30	N/A
	S$27.251	N/A
	S$27.252	S$43.603
	Free	N/A
	S$27.25	N/A
	S$25	N/A
	S$27.25	N/A
	S$254	S$505
1. Waived for Citi ULTIMA Cardholders 2. Waived for DBS Insignia Cardholders 3. Automatic conversions in blocks of 500 DBS points (1,000 miles) each quarter. Additional ad-hoc redemptions can be done for free 4. Waived for UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking Cardholders 5. Automatic conversions in blocks of UNI$2,500 (5,000 miles) each month for balances above UNI$15,000. Additional ad-hoc redemptions cost S$25 each

Moreover, it doesn’t necessarily mean more cards = more fees. If you own multiple cards from the same bank, you may still pay only a single conversion fee, provided the points are pooled.

For example, a UOB customer could hold a UOB PRVI Miles, UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, UOB Visa Signature and UOB Lady’s Card, all while paying only a single conversion fee. 

(2) Orphan Points

Orphan points are a bigger concern than conversion fees. If you spread yourself too thin, you may end up in a situation where you’re optimising on individual transactions, but not in an overall sense. 

What are orphan miles, and how do you avoid them?

To illustrate, suppose I drive infrequently but get a Maybank World Mastercard just so I can earn 4 mpd on petrol. I may be optimising on that particular transaction, but it counts for very little if I end up with a small chunk of TREATS points that I can’t cash out. 

All things equal, non-pooling credit card points with larger minimum conversion blocks are more likely to result in orphan miles.

tl;dr: Optimisation is good, but you need to look at both the micro and macro picture. If you don’t spend a significant amount on a particular category, then consider using a whitelist card like the Citi Rewards or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, or even a general spending card instead.

Quality vs quantity of points

Not all credit card points are made equal. They differ in terms of:

• Expiry
• Minimum conversion
• Pooling
• Transfer partners
• Transfer fees
• Transfer speed

In other words, two cards could offer 4 mpd, but one card’s 4 mpd might be more valuable than the other. I personally consider AMEX Membership Rewards points, Citi Miles/ThankYou points and HSBC points to be the three most valuable rewards currencies in Singapore.

Because of this, I’d be more inclined to max out the online bonus cap on my Citi Rewards Card first, before switching over to my DBS Woman’s World Card. It’s also another argument in favour of keeping the HSBC Revolution, in spite of its many nerfs. 

Conclusion

I’ll be using a total of 11 credit cards for the rest of 2025, but I want to emphasise again that most people won’t require nearly as many. A simple four card combo of the Citi Rewards, DBS Woman’s World Card, UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature will be enough for a miles game newbie to earn 4 mpd on most transactions. 

The other cards come in when you have specific use cases (e.g. Maybank World Mastercard for overseas education spend), or if you want to take advantage of “beyond 4 mpd” opportunities (e.g. UOB Lady’s Card + Lady’s Savings Account, OCBC Rewards for heymax vouchers, DBS yuu for yuu merchants). That would be, in the words of Nigel Tufnel, going to eleven, and while it’s always fun, it won’t be for everyone.

Card strategies shouldn’t be static; there will be further nerfs and buffs in 2025, and when that happens we’ll need to reshuffle our deck accordingly.

How has your card strategy for 2025 evolved so far?