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How to turn offline spend into online spend

Need to shop in-store but don't want to give up online spending bonuses? You can really have the best of both worlds.

While online shopping is obviously more convenient, there are still situations that call for in-person purchases.

A merchant may simply not have an online storefront, or even if they do, visiting a brick-and-mortar location to negotiate can get you discounts or extras that you wouldnโ€™t get online. I recently bought a display set TV from Courts at nearly 50% off the list price, something I wouldnโ€™t have been able to do online.

But just because youโ€™re spending in-store doesnโ€™t mean you have to give up online spending bonuses!

Which cards earn bonuses for online spending?

The two cards that should instantly come to mind for online spending are the DBS Womanโ€™s World Card and Citi Rewards Card, both of which earn 4 mpd for online spending.

Card Earn Rate Remarks
Citi Rewards Card
Apply
4 mpd Max S$1K per s. month, excludes travel and in-app mobile wallet spend
Review
DBS Womanโ€™s World Card
Apply
4 mpd Max S$1.5K per c. month*
Review
*Reduced to S$1K per c. month from 1 August 2025

But thereโ€™s more than just these two. Itโ€™s easy to forget that there are other cards where spending must be online in order for bonuses to be awarded. 

Card Earn Rate Remarks
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Apply
2.4 mpd
No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group in a m. year*
Review
StanChart Journey Card
Apply
3 mpd Max S$1K per c. month
Review
HSBC Revolution Card
Apply
4 mpd
Max S$1K per c. month
Review
*Min. S$1,000 on SIA Group for membership years ending November 2025 onwards

The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card earns an uncapped 2.4 mpd for online shopping transactions, defined as merchants with the following MCCs.

KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card bonus-eligible MCCs
MCC Examples
4816
Computer Network/ Info Services
GoDaddy, Twitch, Peatix
5309
Duty Free Stores
DFS, KrisShop, The Shilla
5310
Discount Stores
Lotte Mart
5311
Department Stores
Taobao, Isetan, Marks & Spencer
5331
Variety Stores
Muji, Mustafa, Miniso
5399

Misc General Merchandise
Iuiga, Japan Home, Comgateway
5611 
Menโ€™s Clothing
Benjamin Barker, Dockers, Superdry
5621
Womenโ€™s Ready to Wear
bYSI, Coast, Forever21
5631
Womenโ€™s Accessories
Bimba Y Lola, Chomel, Coach
5641
Childrenโ€™s and Infantsโ€™ Wear
Abercrombie Kids, Cotton On Kids, Kidstyle
5651
Family Clothing
ASOS, Bossini, Desigual
5661
Shoe Stores
ALDO, Bata, Birkenstock
5691
Menโ€™s and Womenโ€™s Clothing
Prada, G2000, Ezbuy
5699
Accessory and Apparel 
LeSportsac, Crumpler, Esprit
5732-5735
Electronics, Music Stores, Computer Software
Apple, Audio House, MealPal
5912
Drug Stores and Pharmacies
Guardian, NTUC Unity, Watsons
5942
Book Stores
Book Depository, Kinokuniya, Books Actually
5944-5949
Jewelry, Watches, Toys, Camera, Gift Cards, Leather Goods, Sewing
Cartier, Action City, Canon
5999
Misc. and Specialty Retail
Atome, Amazon, eBay

The StanChart Journey Card earns 3 mpd for online groceries, food delivery, transport, though this only applies to transactions charged in SGD.

StanChart Journey Card bonus-eligible MCCs
MCC Examples
(non-exhaustive)
Groceries
MCC 5411

NTUC FairPrice Online, Lazada Redmart
Bakeries
MCC 5462
Bengawan Solo, BreadTalk, Four Leaves
Misc. Food Stores
MCC 5499
Bottles and Bottles, Famous Amos, Irvins Salted Egg
Liquor, Wine or Beer Stores
MCC 5921
1855 The Bottle Shop, The Oaks Cellars, Grand Cru
Food Delivery*
MCC 5811

MCC 5812
MCC 5814
GrabFood, Deliveroo, Foodpanda
Transport
MCC 4111
MCC 4121
MCC 4789

Grab rides, Comfort taxi, gojek
Cruise Liners
MCC 4411
Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise
*Despite the name, the bonus would be equally applicable in situations where a restaurant has online ordering for dine-in (e.g. scan a QR code menu and pay online before receiving your food)

Finally, the HSBC Revolution Card awards bonuses for online spending on department and retail stores, dining, transport and membership clubs (bonuses for offline spending were removed in June 2024).

HSBC Revolution bonus-eligible MCCs
Category MCCs
Department Stores & Retail Stores 4816, 5045, 5262, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732 to 5735, 5912, 5942, 5944 to 5949, 5964 to 5970, 5992, 5999
Dining 5441, 5462, 5811, 5812, 5813
Transport & Membership Clubs 4121, 7997

So if youโ€™re spending with these five cards, the question then becomes: is it possible to turn an offline transaction into an online one?

โš ๏ธ When you donโ€™t want a transaction to be online
Thereโ€™s actually one card which penalises you for turning offline transactions into online: the Maybank World Mastercard. Cardholders earn 4 mpd on petrol transactions in Singapore, but only when paying offline. If you pay online (e.g. via Kris+), you will not earn the bonus.

How to turn offline spend into online spend

Amaze

Apply here
Use code 7HK2A2 for 225 bonus InstaPoints
๐Ÿ’ณ tl;dr: Amaze Card
  • Overseas transactions are converted into SGD (no FCY transaction fees, but subject to FX spread) and charged to the underlying credit/debit card
  • Transaction MCC remains the same, offline transactions charged to Amaze become online transactions for the underlying credit/debit card
  • Earn 0.5 InstaPoints per S$1 on FCY transactions of at least S$10 (except exclusion categories) charged to a wallet-linked Amaze
  • Redeem InstaPoints for KrisFlyer miles in blocks of 1,200 InstaPoints= 400 miles

Any transaction processed through Amaze codes as online spend, while retaining the original MCC. 

However, there are two further considerations here:

  • Amaze can only be paired with Mastercards
  • Amaze is excluded from rewards by DBS and UOB
  • Amaze charges a 1% admin fee (min. S$0.50) for all SGD-denominated transactions

Therefore, the only card that really benefits from the offline to online conversion is the Citi Rewards Card.

Atome

Get S$10 off first Atome purchase

Atome transactions code as online, whether theyโ€™re performed on a website, in-app, or physically in-store. This not only lets you turn offline spend into online, it also allows you to use credit cards at merchants which might not otherwise accept them. 

Your payment will code as MCC 5999, and split into three interest-free instalments. The first payment is due at the time of the transaction, and itโ€™s advisable to trigger the 2nd and subsequent payments manually via the Atome app as there have been reports that automatic payments do not trigger online spending bonuses.

For a recommended list of cards to use with Atome, refer to the post below. 

Whatโ€™s the best card to use for Atome?

Gift cards

๐Ÿ‘ 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

Gift card purchases through websites like Giftano, HeyMax, ShopBack and Wogi all count as online transactions.

You can then use those gift cards for in-store transactions at places including Best Denki, Challenger, Cold Storage, Courts, Giant IKEA, Natureland, Shell, and Sheng Siong. 

MCC 5311
MCC 5399
Amazon processes transactions over a range of MCCs, so use a card that awards bonuses for general online spend
  • Amazon
  • Courts
  • Challenger
  • Best Denki
  • Dairy Farm
  • Eu Yan Sang
  • IKEA
  • Klook
  • NTUC FairPrice
  • TADA
MCC 5999
  • Amazon
  • Best Denki
  • Cold Storage
  • Courts
  • Dairy Farm Group
  • eCapitaVoucher*
  • Eu Yan Sang
  • Giant
  • Grab
  • Guardian
  • IKEA
  • Lazada
  • NTUC FairPrice
  • Sheng Siong
  • TANGS
  • ZALORA
*Admin fee of up to 5% applies to purchases
MCC 5311
  • 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
MCC 5812
MCC 5814
MCC 5311
ShopBack processes transactions over a range of MCCs, so use a card that awards bonuses for general online spend
  • Amazon
  • Foodpanda
  • Gojek
  • Grab
  • IKEA
  • Lazada
  • NTUC FairPrice
  • Ryde
  • Shell
  • Shopee
  • TADA
  • Uniqlo
MCC 5947
  • Amazon
  • Best Denki
  • Caltex
  • Challenger
  • Cold Storage
  • Courts
  • Giant
  • GrabGifts
  • Guardian
  • IKEA
  • iStudio
  • Klook
  • Lazada
  • Muji
  • NTUC FairPrice
  • Shell
  • Shopee
  • TADA
  • TANGS
  • Trip.com
  • Watsons

I found this particularly useful when buying my TV from Courts, in a month when Iโ€™d already maxed out the 4 mpd caps with the UOB Visa Signature and UOB Preferred Platinum Visa.

I was still able to earn 4 mpd by purchasing Courts gift cards via HeyMax using my Citi Rewards Card and HSBC Revolution, then redeeming them in-store (yes, the OCBC Rewards Card would have offered 6 mpd, but Iโ€™d also maxed that out for the month).

Kris+

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

Kris+ transactions code as online spend, whether youโ€™re buying deals via the app or making in-store payments. The original MCC is usually maintained, though there are some very limited exceptions (mostly for travel agencies).

For a recommended list of cards to use with Kris+, refer to the post below. 

Whatโ€™s the best card to use for Kris+?

ShopBack Pay or FavePay

ShopBack Pay transactions code as online, even if in-store

Payments made via Shopback Pay or FavePay will code as online spend, even when payment is made in-store.

These transactions usually (but not always) retain the MCC of the underlying merchant. However, do note that DBS cards explicitly exclude FavePay, so donโ€™t use the DBS Womanโ€™s World Card here.

Frasers Experience

FRx gift cards can be used at any participating store inside of Fraser malls

FRx Experience gift cards can be used to make payment at most merchants inside Frasers malls. This includes clinics, tuition/enrichment centres, and other places that might not otherwise be eligible for bonuses.

  • Causeway Point
  • Century Square
  • Eastpoint
  • Hougang Mall
  • Northpoint City
  • Tampines1
  • The CentrePoint
  • Tiong Bahru Plaza
  • Valley Point
  • Waterway Point
  • White Sands

Gift card purchases will code as MCC 5965, and while this isnโ€™t whitelisted by any particular card, itโ€™s still eligible for 4 mpd with the Citi Rewards and DBS Womanโ€™s World Card. 

Do Apple Pay and Google Pay count as online transactions?

Google Pay is online if itโ€™s online, and offline if itโ€™s offline!

I might as well address this too, given how often it comes up.

Asking โ€œdo Apple Pay and Google Pay count as online transactionsโ€ is a very strange question. Itโ€™s a bit like asking โ€œdo credit card payments count as online transactionsโ€. They do, if you make payment online! 

When you use Apple Pay and Google Pay to make in-store payments, itโ€™s conceptually similar to tapping your physical card to pay, and considered an offline transaction.

When you use Apple Pay and Google Pay to make an in-app or website-based payment, itโ€™s conceptually similar to entering your card details in the app or website, and considered an online transaction.

Conclusion

While some cards will only award bonuses for online spending, that doesnโ€™t necessarily mean that physical stores are off-limits. By buying gift cards, paying with certain apps, or using Amaze, you can convert that transaction into an online expenditure. 

Iโ€™m guessing there are probably other ways that Iโ€™ve missed out, so feel free to share other options in the comments too!

What other ways do you know of turning offline spend into online spend?

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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Shin

are you able to use atome to convert public hospital spend to miles?

Clarifier

In short no
When a MCC is excluded dosent matter if you hit the card bonus requirements, its still excluded
Hospitals , utilities etc are in general exclusion list

Jay

How about changi pay? Do they code as online?

Yiwei

Have a dp from april this year at Lotte T3 with ChangiPay is duty free store 5309

Hridaya

I have been tracking my miles, you can convert physical Fairprice transactions to online and get 4 MPD using DBS WWM by paying through FP app

Is anyone else also using it?

Wonder

Yes. Been doing that

Zezima

Yes FairPrice App is confirmed.
Not just groceries, Kopitiam as well.

Works with both WWMC and CRMC.

Jim

Would say its important to mention Citi generally exclude Google Pay / mobile wallet spent from the bonus earn rate, so even if Google Pay makes transaction โ€˜onlineโ€™, it will not quality Citi Rewardโ€™s 4mpd requirement.

Christian

What a great post. I wish someone here in the USA would do a similar one for us.

Kelvin

Does grabpay code as online as well?

Carpe

One can also use changi pay to convert offline to online eg at duty free stores while buying day a watch or a bag

Byron

Instead of Shopback / Favepay. What about using Alipay? Seems to be accepted everywhere now.

Byron

Oh nice, does this become a hawker option with SGQR? Wanna consider doing an article on using Alipay? Not sure if itโ€™s a good option for 4mpd if there are platform fees / fx rates, etc,

Curious El

A Reddit post has several comments that Alipay will charge you in CNY even if youโ€™re using it in Sโ€™pore, so there will be FX charges or that you canโ€™t use it in Sโ€™pore with a Sโ€™pore credit card.

Byron

I see, what about TNG?

llllwww

Does wechat pay/alipay count as online transaction for womenโ€™s card?

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