Citi Rewards Card
Earn 4 miles per dollar on online spend and selected retail
Citi Rewards Card Overview:
Local Earn Rate | 0.4 miles per dollar (1 TY point) |
Foreign Currency Earn Rate | 0.4 miles per dollar (1 TY point) |
Bonus Earn Rate | 4 miles per dollar (10 TY points) |
Foreign Currency Fees | 3.25% |
Min. Miles Transfer | 25,000 TY points (10,000 miles) |
Miles earned in blocks of | S$1 |
Transfer Fee | S$27.25 (including 9% GST) |
Points Pooling | No |
Lounge Access | No |
Airport Limo | No |
Points Expiry | 5 Years |
For a quick and easy overview of Citi Rewards, check out my TikTok video where I break down its key features and benefits!
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
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Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs); S$42,000 (foreigners)
- Don’t worry if you income is below this threshold, there is a more secured version of this card where you can do a S$10,000 fixed deposit
- Annual Fee: S$194.40 (inclusive of gst), waived for the first year
- Since minimum income requirement by MAS is S$30,000 per annum, this card is an entry-level card that should be pretty easy to get an annual fee waiver (I have a annual spending of around $5-8K on this card and have not had a problem getting a waiver on subsequent years). You can check out my TikTok video on getting annual fee waiver.
Key Benefits:
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Earn 4 miles per dollar (10 TY Points per S$1) for online transactions (including ride-hailing, groceries, restaurant delivery, and more). This excludes travel-related transactions.
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Earn 4 miles per dollar (10 TY Points per S$1) for retail offline purchases
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Earn 0.4 miles per dollar (1 TY Point per S$1) for any other purchases
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No minimum monthly spending required
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Spending cap of S$1,000 on eligible transactions per statement month applies to 4 miles per dollar earn rate
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Points are earned for every S$1 spent
How to Best Optimise it:
Best Used For All Online Non-Travel Related Transactions
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Get 4 miles per dollar on almost any online transaction. This covers shopping platforms like Lazada and Shopee, ride-hailing, and food delivery apps. You’ll also earn miles when paying for online courses, subscriptions, or even dining at restaurants that run payments through an online system.
👉 Tip: Always enter your card details directly. Skip Apple Pay or Google Pay inside the app, as those may not be coded as online transactions. (See “What To Avoid”)
Best for Selected Offline Retail Stores (Bags, Shoes, and Clothes)
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Earn 4 miles per dollar when shopping at offline department stores, fashion outlets, and apparel shops (refer to MCC list below).
👉 Tip: For these offline purchases, you can safely tap and pay using Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Merchant Category Code (MCC) | Description |
5311 | Department Stores |
5611 | Men’s and Boy’s Clothing and Accessories Stores |
5621 | Women’s Ready to Wear Stores |
5631 | Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores |
5641 | Children’s and Infant’s Wear Stores |
5651 | Family Clothing Stores |
5655 | Sports and Riding Apparel Stores |
5661 | Shoe Stores |
5691 | Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores |
5699 | Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessory Shops |
5948 | Luggage and Leather Goods Stores |
Best Used With Amaze Card for Overseas Offline Spending
- For when you have to spend overseas, this combo is great to lessen the FCY fee while still earning 4 miles per dollar. See “Any Hacks/Promos” below.
Work Around the Spending Cap of S$1,000 per statement month
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Unlike most cards that have spending caps per calendar month, the Citi Rewards works by statement month. Therefore, I have explained in the below section how to use the spending cap to your advantage under “Any Hacks/Promos” below.
Any Hacks/Promos:
Instarem Amaze Card
- Pay in Singapore Dollars abroad (as transactions in FCY is converted by Amaze, you do not incur the credit card usual FCY fees of 3.25%, but you do suffer a 2% FX spread loss)
- Connect up to 5 Mastercard cards
How to use it:
- Load the Amaze card into Google Pay and Apple Pay and use contactless payment via Amaze.
Instarem Amaze
Use Code: Ac6aso
Instarem Amaze card is a payment processor in the form of a physical card that helps you consolidate multiple cards
Use the Spending Cap to Your Advantage (when using Citi Rewards Card by itself)
- If the statement date on your statement, is 11th of the month (see picture below), it means your spending cap of S$1,000 will run from 12th of the month to 11th of the following month. This means your 4 miles per dollar spending cap resets on the 12th of each month. It matters because, let’s say you have a large spending of S$2,000 in a month, you could spend S$1,000 on the 9th and another S$1,000 on the 12th to earn 4 miles per dollar for the full S$2,000 spending.
Past Buffs/Nerfs:
Nerfs:
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Amaze now charges a 1% fee on all SGD offline spending—right from the first dollar
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Before, this fee was waived for the first S$1,000 in SGD spending each month, which made the Amaze + Citi Rewards combo a great hack to earn 4 miles per dollar on local offline purchases—by converting them into online spend. Now, that fee-free buffer is gone. You’ll be charged a 1% fee (minimum S$0.50) on SGD offline transactions made with Amaze from the very first dollar spent.
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This mainly affects those using Amaze + Citi Rewards for everyday offline spending like dining, clinics, etc. This hack can still work, but only on transactions above S$50.
- But good news is, online SGD transactions aren’t affected. You can still earn 4 miles per dollar by using your Citi Rewards card directly.
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What to Avoid:
Exclusion List:
MCC | Description |
6529 | Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Financial Institute |
6530 | Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Merchant |
6534 | Quasi Cash – Money Transfer – Member Financial Institution |
6540 | Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
7349 | Cleaning and Maintenance, Janitorial Services |
7511 | Quasi Cash – Truck Stop Transactions |
7523 | Parking Lots, Parking Meters and Garages |
7800 | Government-Owned Lotteries (US Region only) |
7995 | Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, OffTrack Betting, and Wagers at Race Tracks |
4829 | Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs) |
4900 | Utilities – Electric, Gas, Water, and Sanitary |
5199 | Nondurable Goods(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
5960 | Direct Marketing – Insurance Services |
6012 | Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment |
6050 | Quasi Cash – Financial institutions, Merchandise, Services |
6051 | Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Money Orders (Not Wire Transfer), Stored Value Card/Load, Travelers Cheques, and Debt Repayment |
6211 | Securities – Brokers and Dealers |
6300 | Insurance Sales, Underwriting and Premiums |
6513 | Real Estate Agents and Managers – Rentals |
8211 | Elementary and Secondary Schools |
8220 | Colleges, Junior Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools |
8241 | Correspondence Schools |
8244 | Business and Secretarial Schools |
8249 | Vocational and Trade Schools |
8299 | Schools and Educational Services(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
8398 | Charitable and Social Service Organizations |
8062 | Hospitals |
8651 | Political Organizations |
8661 | Religious Organizations |
9211 | Court Costs Including Alimony and Child Support |
9222 | Fines |
9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
9311 | Tax Payments |
9399 | Government Services(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
9402 | Postal Services – Government Only |
9405 | U.S. Federal Government Agencies or Departments |
9754 | Quasi Cash – Gambling – Horse Racing, Dog Racing, State Lotteries |
5993 | Cigar Stores and Stands |
Other than the standard exclusions, Travel-related and in-app mobile payments do not earn 4 miles per dollar for Citi Rewards Cardholders.
Travel-related transactions:
MCC | Description | Examples |
3000 to 3350, 4511 | Airlines, Air Carriers, Airlines, Air Carriers (Not Elsewhere Classified) | Singapore Airlines, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Emirates |
3351 to 3500, 7512 | Car Rental Agencies, Car Rental Agencies (Not Elsewhere Classified) | Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise |
3501 to 3999, 7011 | Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts (Not Elsewhere Classified) | Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Four Seasons |
4112, 4789 | Passenger Railways | Amtrak, Eurostar, JR East, SMRT |
4411 | Cruise Lines | Royal Caribbean,Carnival, Norwegian, Princess |
4722 | Travel Agencies and Tour Operators | Expedia, Booking.com, Klook, Chan Brothers |
5962 | Direct Marketing– Travel-Related Arrangement Services | Airbnb, Agoda, Trip.com, Hotels.com |
In-app mobile wallet payments:
- If you order food from Mcdonalds app using Google/Apple Pay in the app and pay with the Citi Rewards Card, you will not get 4 miles per dollar.
- If you order food from Mcdonalds using the credit card option in the app and pay with the Citi Rewards Card, you will get 4 miles per dollar. The best way to avoid this is to choose to pay directly with your credit card for most online payments, instead of using Apple or Google Pay.
- Using Citi Rewards directly with in-app mobile payments (Google/Apple Pay) will not earn you 4 miles per dollar, however, when you link the Amaze card with Google/Apple Pay, Amaze converts it into online transaction, allowing you to earn the 4 miles per dollar!
*Take note that SMRT falls under Passenger Railways. Therefore using Citi Rewards Card for SimplyGo does not earn you any rewards.
*Card Specific Exclusions can be found here
Transfer Partners:
Here is the list of their current transfer partners:
Transfer Partners | Conversion Ratio |
Krisflyer | 25,000:10,000 |
Flying Blue | 25,000:10,000 |
British Airways | 25,000:10,000 |
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 25,000:10,000 |
Etihad | 25,000:10,000 |
Asia Miles | 25,000:10,000 |
EVA Air | 25,000:10,000 |
Qantas | 25,000:10,000 |
Qatar Airways | 25,000:10,000 |
Turkish Airlines | 25,000:10,000 |
IHG Rewards | 25,000:10,000 |
*All of these has transfer ratio of 5:2 so that’s 25,000:10,000 with a S$27.25 transfer fee inclusive of 9% GST
Is it Worth it:
Advantages:
- Most versatile card that you can use for everything except travel
Disadvantages:
- You cannot earn 4 miles per dollar on travel-related or mobile wallet in-app transactions (Apple or Google Pay)
- Points cannot be pooled together across Citi cards – therefore you need to pay a separate transfer fee for each card
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How to redeem the Citi ThankYou points to a frequent flyer program: Check out my Tiktok video for the step-by-step guide.
- When is the ThankYou points credited: This usually credits when the transaction is posted, usually takes 24 hrs, or in some, it could take 2-3 days.
- How long are my ThankYou points valid for: All Thank You points earned on the Citi Rewards Card expire every five years (+ three months grace) from card approval/renewal, not from when points are earned.
Eg. If your card was approved on 1 June 2020, your points earned from 1 June 2020 to 31st May 2025 will expire on 31 August 2025. From 1st June 2025 starts the new cycle of your Thank You points.
Final Thoughts:
- Citi Rewards alone is still a strong card to use for online transactions and offline retail shopping (except travel related) giving you 4 miles per dollar. Citi Rewards x Amaze is not the best combo as of the moment for converting offline SGD spends to online because of the updated 1% fee for all SGD transactions. However, you can still pair it with amaze but only for overseas spends to reduce the FCY fee while still earning the 4 miles per dollar.
- For Travel-related spending, I use the DBS Women’s World Mastercard now.
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
💡 We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.
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