Overview:
- Citi PayAll: Pay Bills and Earn Rewards (with a Catch)
- Citibank Singapore’s Citi PayAll lets you use your Citi credit card to pay bills like rent, insurance, taxes, and school fees. While convenient, there’s a twist: you earn miles or points on these payments, but there’s a small service fee.
- This fee means you’ll pay slightly more than the actual bill amount to rack up rewards. In essence, you’re “buying” miles with Citi PayAll, but there are conditions (like minimum spend requirements) to consider.
Promotion Explained:
At a service fee of 2.6%, Citibank credit card holders making payments through Citi PayAll between 22 April 2024 to 31 July 2024 (11:59 pm) will earn:
- 2 miles per dollar on all Citi PayAll tax transactions
- 1.6 miles per dollar on all Citi PayAll non-tax transactions
Caveat: Must spend S$5,000 (does not include service fee) on non-tax transactions on a single card, capped at S$150,000 across all Citi PayAll categories. The good news is that you can accumulate this S$5,000 across multiple transactions.
- Base miles will be credited when your Citi PayAll transaction is posted. While bonus miles will be credited within 16 weeks after the offer period (by 20 Nov 2024). But ultimately, you get the same miles, whichever card you choose.
Additional perk: First 2,000 Citi cardholders who spend at least S$8,000 on non-tax transactions on a single card will receive S$80 GrabGifts vouchers, on top of the above offers. Only one GrabGifts awarded per customer.
Promotion T&Cs here
Citi PayAll T&Cs here
Cards that you can use with Citi PayAll:
Citi ULTIMA, Citi Prestige, Citi PremierMiles & Citi Rewards Card
Even though the cards have inherently different base miles, the amount of bonus miles will be “topped up” accordingly within 16 weeks. You will ultimately receive the same amount of miles at the end of it all.
Even though Citi Rewards is my favouritest card of all time, I think it is better to use one of the other 3 Citi cards (Citi PremierMiles, Citi Prestige, Citi Ultima) instead as the miles do not expire on them and you don’t need to wait till 20 Nov 2024 for the rest of your bonus miles.
Card | Base Miles | Bonus Miles (Tax) | Cost per Mile (Tax) | Bonus Miles (Non-Tax) | Cost per Mile (Non-Tax) |
0.4 miles per dollar | 1.6 miles per dollar | 1.3 cents | 1.2 miles per dollar | 1.63 cents | |
1.2 miles per dollar | 0.8 miles per dollar | 1.3 cents | 0.4 miles per dollar | 1.63 cents | |
1.3 miles per dollar | 0.7 miles per dollar | 1.3 cents | 0.3 miles per dollar | 1.63 cents | |
 Citi Ultima | 1.6 miles per dollar | 0.4 miles per dollar | 1.3 cents | Add New | 1.63 cents |
Example:
Imagine you make S$5,000 in non-tax payments and S$5,000 in tax payments during the promotion period:
- You’d earn a total of 18,000 miles (S$5,000 x 2 miles per dollar for non-tax + S$5,000 x 1.6 mpd for tax).
- There’s a service fee of 2.6%, so you’d pay S$260 (S$10,000 total spend x 2.6%) to earn that miles.
This means you’d effectively pay 1.44 cents per mile earned (S$260 fee / 18,000 miles).
How to Set Up Citi Pay All:
- First apply for one of the Citi cards above if you don’t have it
- Open the Citibank SG app (Android | iOS) and tap on Payments on the home screen.
- Find and tap Citi PayAll.
- Select Start using Citi PayAll if it’s your first time.
- Choose the type of bill you’re paying (rent, education, etc.) and how often you want to make the payment – remember to fulfill the above mentioned requirements to qualify for promo.
- Enter the payment amount, select your eligible Citi credit card, and provide your recipient’s details.
- Once everything is confirmed, your card will typically be charged within 3 business days. The recipient will receive the money via bank transfer.
- It is very important to stick with a SINGLE CARD!!
Payment Setup:
If you cancel your Citi PayAll setup before the payment is complete, or if the payment is reversed/refunded/rejected, Citibank may take back any bonus points or miles awarded during the promotion. Basically, to qualify for the bonus points or miles, you need to ensure the bill payments you set up through Citi PayAll during the promotion period are successful.
Promotion Period: Make sure to set up your payments by July 31, 2024, 11:59 PM to qualify. The actual payment date (when your card is charged) can be as late as August 6, 2024, 11:59 PM.
Why Buy Miles with Citi PayAll?
- Flying in First and Business Class can be significantly cheaper with Citi PayAll than paying with cash!
- Citibank Credit Cards have one of the widest range of transfer partners, giving you maximum flexibility
- With three of the four cards having non-expiring miles, it could be a cheap way to buy miles for that business class ticket.
- Your Citi Miles or ThankYou points can be converted through these transfer partners:
| Transfer Partner | Conversion Partner (Citi Miles) | Conversion Partner (ThankYou Points) |
|---|---|---|
| KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Asia Miles | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| British Airways | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Flying Blue | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| IHG | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Qatar Airways | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| THAI | 1:1 | 5:2 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1:1 | 5:2 |
What Type of Payments Can You Use Citi PayAll For?
Supported Payments | |
Rent | Condo Management Fees |
Insurance | Donations/Charity |
Taxes | Electricity Bills |
Education/School Fees | Domestic Helper Fees |
Event Management Fees | Medical Services |
Membership Fees | Payment for Retail Goods and Services |
Maintenance Fees | Parking Fees |
Renovation Fees | Professional Services Fees |
Property Agent Fees | Storage Fees |
Wedding Expenses | Travel Expenses |
Child Care Services | Transport Fees |
Utilities | |
Other Restrictions:
- loan or debt repayments (mortgage, credit cards etc.)
- cryptocurrency-related transactions
- gambling and casino related transactions
- can only be used to transact an amount not exceeding 95% of your permanent credit limit
- In a calendar month, you can make a maximum of:
- 3 Citi PayAll payments to the same beneficiary
- 10 Citi PayAll payments (excluding taxes)
My Take:
In the past, Citi PayAll offered exceptional value during promotions, allowing users to acquire miles at a rock-bottom rate of 1-1.22 cents per mile. This represented the most competitive price in the market. However, recent changes have resulted in a substantial cost increase.
Consequently, for those solely focused on maximizing miles per dollar spent, alternative options like CardUp for tax payments currently offer a more attractive proposition, particularly without minimum spending requirements. However, Citi Credit Cards boast an extensive network of transfer partners. This could still make Citi PayAll a viable option, albeit at a slightly higher cost than before, for those seeking to transfer miles to frequent flyer programs outside of KrisFlyer.
