Citi Rewards Sign Up Promotion:
Option 1: Bank Promotion
Receive 40,000 bonus Points Welcome Offer when you spend S$800 in the first 2 months of account opening.
- Valid til 28 Febrary 2025
- Read Terms and Conditions here
Option 2: SingSaver
- Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or Dyson Micro 1.5kg Vacuum (worth S$599) or Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wi 64GB (worth S$499) or Apple Airpods Pro Gen 2 + Magsafe Charger (worth S$408) or S$400 Cash via PayNow upon activating and spending a min. S$500 within 30 days of card approval.
- Valid until 01 December 2024
- Promotion is valid for new to bank credit card holders
- Read Terms and Conditions here
- Must fulfill spending requirement to receive gift confirmation
- Remember to check for SingSaver email and complete the registration to secure your reward!
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 |
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
- 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:
- Earn 4 miles per dollar (10 TY Points per S$1) for online transactions (including ride-hailing, groceries, restaurant delivery, and more). This excludes transactions pertaining to travel and mobile wallets.
- Earn 4 miles per dollar (10 TY Points per S$1) for retail purchases
- Earn 0.4 miles per dollar (1 TY Point per S$1) for any other purchases
- No minimum monthly spending required
- Spending cap of S$1,000 on eligible transactions per statement month applies to 4 miles per dollar earn rate
- Points are earned for every S$1 spent
How to Best Optimise it:
Best Used For Online Non-Travel Related Transactions and Retail Stores (Bags, Shoes, and Clothes)
- To earn the most out of this card, you should use this at any online transactions at shops like Lazada, Shopee, Qoo10, and even on ride-hailing and food delivery apps. You’ll also get 4 miles per dollar when you shop online or offline retail stores such as in department stores, fashion, and apparel stores;
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 Non-Travel Local & Overseas Offline Spending
- For when you have to spend on offline transactions that does not belong to the MCCs mentioned above, you can use Amaze Card to convert your offline transactions into online, thus, letting you earn the 4 miles per dollar earn rate! See “Any Hacks/Promos” below.
- Bus/MRT rides are considered travel-related spending, therefore will not earn any miles.
Work Around the Spending Cap of S$1,000 per statement month
- 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 – a Payment Processor that converts your spending from offline to online
You may pair Citi Rewards Card with Instarem Amaze Card to convert offline dining & retail & overseas spending to online to earn the bonus miles. In your statement, you will see the same transaction type, except it is now read as an online transaction by the bank with the *Amaze added in front of transaction name.
- For Overseas Spending:
- Earn 0.5 InstaPoint/S$1 (capped at 500 IP per month – S$5 cashback. Exclusions apply)
- You can redeem 2,000 InstaPoints for S$20 cashback
- 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. Effective 1st April 2024, Instarem Amaze will impose a 1% fee (min $0.50) for any local spending above S$1000 per month when linked to a card.
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.
Optimized Spending Strategy when paired with Amaze (for offline local transactions):
- Key Difference: The Amaze card’s limit resets monthly, while Citi Rewards Card resets per statement period. This can affect your strategy for maximising rewards without incurring the Amaze 1% fee mentioned above.
- If you need to spend S$2,000 local offline spending, plan to split the spending into S$1,000 between the statement date (example above: 12th of June) to end of the month (30th June) and another S$1,000 between the following statement date (12th of July) to the end of the following month (31st of July).
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 | 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:
Using the Citi Rewards Card directly with Apple Pay or Google Pay for online transactions will not earn you 4 miles per dollar, as these are considered in-app mobile wallet payments. For instance:
- 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
- Need to watch out 1% amaze transaction fee beyond S$1,000 of local offline spending per calendar month
- Has a monthly spending cap of S$1,000 per statement month to earn 4 miles per dollar.
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:
- With the amaze card, it allows you to earn 4 miles per dollar almost everywhere as it converts everything from offline to online. Once it converts it to an online transaction, everything is included unless they are on an excluded list – on this excluded list, are the standard exclusions like insurance, education fees, rental as well as travel related merchant category codes. Based on personal experience, I could get 4 miles per dollar on many places where other cards exclude like Google Ads, TCM, Doctor’s Visit. This difference only makes it stand out as top above everything else.
- For Travel-related spending, I use the DBS Women’s World Mastercard now.
- Therefore, Citi Rewards Card + Amaze is my most used credit card for general spending.
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.
Citi Rewards Sign Up Promotion:
Option 1: Bank Promotion
Receive 40,000 bonus Points Welcome Offer when you spend S$800 in the first 2 months of account opening.
- Valid til 28 Febrary 2025
- Read Terms and Conditions here
Option 2: SingSaver
- Receive a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$649) or Dyson Micro 1.5kg Vacuum (worth S$599) or Apple iPad 10th Gen 10.9 wi 64GB (worth S$499) or Apple Airpods Pro Gen 2 + Magsafe Charger (worth S$408) or S$400 Cash via PayNow upon activating and spending a min. S$500 within 30 days of card approval.
- Valid until 01 December 2024
- Promotion is valid for new to bank credit card holders
- Read Terms and Conditions here
- Must fulfill spending requirement to receive gift confirmation
- Remember to check for SingSaver email and complete the registration to secure your reward!
? 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.
