From 13 June 2026, CardUp’s fees will rise across all standard and promo rates to 2.3%–2.9% for Singapore-issued cards. From 11 June 2026, iPayMy will also raise its Singapore Visa fees to 2.60%–2.95% too.
This article covers what is changing and, more usefully, the cheapest ways to keep earning miles on these bills afterwards.
What You Need To Know
CardUp: last day at current fees is 12 June. New fees apply across both standard and promo rates for all card types from 13 June 2026.
iPayMy: last day at current fees is 10 June. New fees apply across both standard and promo rates for Visa cards from 11 June 2026 — the good news is Mastercard isn’t affected yet.
What counts is the date your card is actually charged, not the date you set the payment up. If you scheduled a payment earlier but it only goes through on or after 13 June on CardUp, you pay the new, higher fee.
The Best Alternatives
1. New User Promos on CardUp and iPayMy - Best For New Users
If you are new to iPayMy, you can sign up through my iPayMy referral link and iPayMy will email you a promo code for S$30 off your first payment — going direct only gets you S$20 off. The S$30 is a flat discount on the service fee, so it goes furthest when it cancels out the whole fee. That happens at a payment of about S$1,050. To find the exact amount for any fee, divide S$30 by the fee rate, and redo the sum if the fee changes. On a miles card such as the UOB PRVI Miles Visa or Mastercard (1.4 mpd), a payment that size earns around 1,470 miles with the fee effectively waived. You can use this S$30 off for any types of payments like tax, insurance, renovation, MCST etc. Referral code must be used within 30 days from the date of issuance.
If you have more payments, use code LOBANGSIS for 1.79% fee on your first CardUp payment, for payments up to S$5K. The offer ends 8 June 2026 — your payment must be charged by then.
2. Citi PayAll — best for Tax and Non-Tax Payments of S$6K - S$8K
If you hold an eligible Citi card, Citi PayAll’s current promotion is cheaper than CardUp’s new rate: an effective 1.9% on income tax and 2.4% on non-tax payments (rent, insurance, education, renovation, electricity), valid until 31 July 2026, plus an S$80 eCapitaVoucher if you charge at least S$8,000 to a single card.
Once the voucher is included, the cost drops to around 0.75 cents per mile on a PremierMiles at S$8,000 of tax spend, and lower still on the ULTIMA and Prestige. The maths varies by card and spend, and there are qualifying conditions to meet — the full breakdown along with a calculator can be found in the Citi PayAll guide.
3. iPayMy on a Mastercard — best for Tax Payments below S$6K by 31st Aug
iPayMy’s Visa fees are rising, but its Mastercard income-tax promotion is not, and it stays below CardUp’s new rate:
- Income tax (Mastercard): code TAXMC2026 — 1.99%, valid until 31 August 2026.
4. UOB Payment Facility — best for no questions asked miles purchase
The UOB Payment Facility lets you pay almost anything — tax, rent, utilities, or a large one-off purchase — with any UOB credit card. The admin fee is a flat 1.8% (1.6% on the UOB Reserve), for applications approved by 31 August 2026, with no minimum spend and no documents required. The catch is that it earns a flat 1 mpd on every UOB card — so a PRVI Miles card, which normally earns 1.4 mpd, earns only 1 mpd here. That works out to about 1.8 cents per mile, above my valuation, so it is convenient rather than cheap. Note it also does not count towards the UOB 6% GIRO tax rebate, as it pays your account indirectly rather than IRAS directly.
Quick Comparison: Paying Income Tax
A lower fee does not always mean cheaper miles — it depends on how many miles the card earns, and whether a bonus applies. The table below compares the options for an income tax payment, ranked by cost per mile (assuming a 1.4 mpd card where the platform earns at your card’s rate):
| Option | Tax fee | Earn rate | Cost/mile (fee only) | Cost/mile (with S$80 voucher)* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi PayAll (ULTIMA) | 1.9% | 1.6 mpd | 1.19¢ | 0.56¢ | Invite-only card |
| Citi PayAll (Prestige) | 1.9% | 1.3 mpd | 1.46¢ | 0.69¢ | Min S$6,000 |
| Citi PayAll (PremierMiles) | 1.9% | 1.2 mpd | 1.58¢ | 0.75¢ | Min S$6,000 |
| iPayMy (Mastercard) | 1.99% | 1.4 mpd | 1.42¢ | — | TAXMC2026, until 31 Aug |
| CardUp | 2.25% | 1.4 mpd | 1.61¢ | — | Recurring tax |
| UOB Payment Facility | 1.8% | 1 mpd | 1.80¢ | — | 1.6¢ on UOB Reserve |
*Only Citi PayAll offers the S$80 eCapitaVoucher, at S$8,000 of single-card spend. The voucher figures are shown at exactly that amount (the best case) and rise as spend increases — for example, PremierMiles is about 1.25 cents at S$20,000.
My Take
At the new rates, CardUp no longer makes sense on most cards – Visa or Mastercard. However, iPayMy still has good opportunities with Mastercard. The lowest-cost options are New User Promotions followed by Citi PayAll (1.9%), where the S$80 voucher brings the cost per mile well down for Citi cardholders. Alternatively, existing iPayMy users can use iPayMy on a Mastercard (1.99%) for those with tax payments below S$6K by. 31st August 2026. The UOB Payment Facility has the lowest headline fee, but because it earns only 1 mpd, miles still cost about 1.8 cents each — a reminder to compare cost per mile, not just the fee. Remember, buying miles only makes sense for business class redemptions. Where a payment makes sense, bring it forward before the deadlines to keep the current rate.
Fees and promo codes change frequently and are subject to each platform’s terms. Always confirm the current rate in-app before paying.
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it’s difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates.
