Kris+ will cut earn rates at more than 250 merchants from July

Singapore Airlines recently announced that from 1 July 2025, the value of a KrisFlyer mile would be standardised at 1 cent across all its platforms. Whether you’re paying for Singapore Airlines or Scoot tickets, KrisShop purchases, Pelago experiences or Kris+ transactions, the same rate of 100 miles = S$1 will apply.

This seemed like especially great news for Kris+. Not only would the value of existing KrisPay miles appreciate by 50% overnight (up from the current 150 miles = S$1), it would also mean a commensurate increase in rebates. The top earning band of 9 mpd, for instance, would soon be a 9% rebate— before even factoring in the value of credit card miles!

Unfortunately, it’s not quite going to play out that way, because Kris+ has just announced a major nerf in earn rates across the board. While it’s hard to calculate exact numbers, by my estimates more than 250 merchants will be reducing their earn rates come July and, I suspect, more to come in subsequent months. 

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Kris+ cutting earn rates at more than 250 merchants

Kris+ has published an updated list of merchants and earn rates that takes effect from 1 July 2025, which I’ve parsed into the table below and compared with the previous version (dated 1 November 2024).

Now, before we compare the numbers, I want to highlight a problem. We only have snapshot views of the Kris+ merchant ecosystem, based on how often Singapore Airlines decides to publish an updated list.

In the period between 1 November 2024 and 1 July 2025, there would be new joiners and leavers, and existing merchants might also have had “off-cycle” earn rate adjustments. This introduces noise into the data, but short of maintaining an auto-updating list (and if anyone knows how to do that, I’m all ears), I don’t know how to solve it.

That said, we can still get a rough sense of the overall generosity of the Kris+ programme, as measured by average earn rates.

As you can see, the July 2025 changes will entail a severe cut of about 40%, though perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise given the rebasing of KrisFlyer mile value (more on that later). 

Here’s a full rundown of all the merchants whose earn rates have changed between 1 November 2024 and 1 July 2025.

This was always inevitable

While no one likes to see a nerf, this really shouldn’t come as a surprise. It was bound to happen once the rebasing of KrisFlyer miles was announced.

Think about it: suppose you’re a merchant who’s currently offering 9 mpd with Kris+ and paying X% commission. If Kris+ increase the value of KrisPay miles by 50%, it can’t be the case that you keep the same earn rates and commissions. Either you pay more to Kris+, or you cut your earn rate proportionately. 

In other words, the merchants are rebasing too. For example, we’re seeing a lot of merchants moving from the 9 mpd to 6 mpd category. That’s exactly what you’d expect to see, if the value of a KrisPay mile was increased by 50%.

If your end goal was always to take the miles earned from Kris+ and spend them at other Kris+ merchants, then you probably won’t mind this change too much— though not every rebasing reflects a 50% increase in value (i.e 33% reduction in earning); some merchants have taken the opportunity to cut their earn rates proportionately more.

But let’s be honest: how many people fall into that category? Practically everyone converts the miles earned from Kris+ into KrisFlyer, and in that case, these changes are going to sting something fierce. We’re seeing the number of 9 mpd merchants get cut from 95 to just four, and 6 mpd merchants from 114 to 48. 

Mind you, I don’t think this is the end of it. There are approximately 190 merchants whose earn rates have not changed, but I find it hard to believe they’ll be able to maintain those rates for long with the rebasing. My guess is that either this group has contracts with Kris+ that guarantee their current earn rates and commissions for a certain period, or they plan to do “off-cycle” earn rate adjustments.

Earning miles via Kris+

Earning miles at Kris+ merchants is simple. All you need to do is: 

1. Scan the merchant’s Kris+ QR code
2. Enter the amount to be paid, and press “Pay” to pay via Apple/Google Pay

Miles will be credited immediately upon completing the transaction, which makes Kris+ an excellent way of topping up a KrisFlyer balance.

Don’t forget to transfer any KrisPay miles earned to KrisFlyer within 21 days of the transaction, in their entirety. If you wait longer than 21 days, or spend any of the accrued miles, the balance will be stuck in Kris+. Miles in Kris+ expire after six months, and can only be spent at a rate of 150 miles = S$1 (or 100 miles = S$1 from 1 July 2025).

A big “Transfer to KrisFlyer” button appears after every transaction. Alternatively, you can turn on the new auto-transfer feature, which will automatically deposit any miles earned from Kris+ into your KrisFlyer account.

What card should I use with Kris+?

In general, Kris+ retains the MCC of the underlying merchant (though there are some exceptions, most notably for travel agencies), so you can use whatever card you’d normally use for that particular merchant.

When in doubt, the following cards are the safest to use with Kris+, as they earn 3-4 mpd regardless of Kris+ merchant.

💳 Best Cards for Kris+
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max. S$1.5K per c. month
Citi Rewards + Amaze Apply	4 mpd	1% admin fee if in SGD. Max. S$1K per s. month. No bonuses for Citi Rewards Card alone
KrisFlyer UOB Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap

However, there are also other cards you can use for dining or retail that will earn up to 4 mpd, such as the HSBC Revolution or UOB Lady’s Cards. Refer to the post below for more details. 

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

Conclusion

From 1 July 2025, Kris+ will cut earn rates at more than 250 partners, all but eliminating the 9 mpd category and reducing average earn rate to an all-time low of 3.3 mpd. 

While this is no doubt unpleasant, it’s perhaps not unexpected. It was always going to be necessary to “rebase” the Kris+ earn rates in light of the decision to boost the value of KrisPay miles to 1 cent each, and the adjustments — for the most part— reflect this.

But so long as it costs nothing extra to use Kris+ (and be mindful of opportunity costs, because you can’t stack other promotions like Love Dining), then some miles are better than no miles at all. 

You still have a few days more to take advantage of the current earn rates, so try and do some shopping or dining out this weekend if you can. You might also consider buying vouchers from the Kris+ app, to lock in today’s earn rates for future consumption.