Every credit card has a list of exclusions. This list tells you which payments won’t earn you cashback, miles, or other rewards. Common exclusions include government fees, insurance premiums, and income taxes.
We often pay large bills like contractor fees, mortgages, and property taxes through bank transfers or PayNow. Unfortunately, most credit cards don’t let you earn rewards on these payments.
There’s a way to earn rewards on these expenses. CardUp is a service that lets you pay bills like insurance (except NTUC Income), mortgages, and property taxes with your credit card. You can earn cashback or miles, but there’s a small service fee.
Update: Starting November 1, 2024, CardUp will stop processing:
- Effective November 1, 2024, CardUp will impose restrictions on certain loan repayments. UnionPay cards will no longer be accepted for both personal and business loan repayments, including mortgages, car loans, and education loans. Visa cards, on the other hand, will only be restricted for business loan repayments.
Who is this for:
- Those who want to claim business class flights because it will not worth it for economy flights
Here’s how it works:
- CardUp charges your credit card for the tax amount + a fee.
- They handle the bank transfer to the company’s business account for you.
Sample Computation:
Say, you pay for a S$1,000 transaction, if there is a 2% admin fee charged by Cardup, and you are using the OCBC 90N Visa with earn rate of 1.3 miles per dollar.
To get the cost per mile:
(amount x admin fee)
amount x (1 + admin fee) x earn rate
S$1,000 x 0.02 = S$20 service fee
S$1,000 x (1+0.02) x 1.3 miles per dollar = 1,326 miles
= 20/1,326 = 0.015 cost per mile
You will be getting 1,326 miles with a S$20 service fee payment, on top of your original S$1,000 transaction.
Maximize Your Rewards with Promo Codes!
Here are some promo codes to help you save even more on your payments with CardUp:
- New Users: Use code IJTLFREE for S$30 off your first payment to maximize your rewards before using the codes below.
- Existing Users:
Card | Promo Code | Fee | Payment Type | Ends on |
Maybank Platinum Visa | MB173 | 1.73% | Domestic Payments only | 31 Mar 2025 |
Singapore-issued Visa cards only | RECURRING185 | 1.85% | Domestic Payments only | 31 January 2025 |
Singapore-issued Visa, Mastercard, China UnionPay cards | GET225 | 2.25% | Domestic and International payments | 31 January 2025 |
OCBC 90°N Visa Cards only | OCBC90NV | 2.0% | Domestic and International payments | 31 December 2024 |
OCBC 90°N MasterCard Cards only | OCBC90NMC | 2.0% | Domestic and International payments | 31 December 2024 |
Here are the credit cards that can earn you either miles or cashback via Cardup (at the moment, the lowest cost per mile is for recurring payments)
Card | Earn Rate | Cashback or Cost per Mile |
3.33% Cashback; Min monthly spending S$300 in a quarter; Maximise cashback with exact spending at S$300, S$1000 or S$2000 spending | 1.6% Cashback after fees (use code MB173) | |
3% Cashback; Min monthly spending of S$800; max cashback earned at S$833 per month | 1.15% Cashback after fees (use code RECURRING185) | |
1.5 miles per dollar | 1.21¢ cost per mile (use code RECURRING185) | |
1.4 miles per dollar | 1.30¢ cost per mile(use code RECURRING185) | |
1.3 miles per dollar | 1.40¢ cost per mile(use code RECURRING185) | |
 Apply Here - OCBC Voyage | 1.3 miles per dollar | 1.40¢ cost per mile(use code RECURRING185) |
1.3 miles per dollar | 1.40¢ cost per mile(use code RECURRING185) |
Beyond 1.50 cents per mile, it might not be worth using Cardup, in my humble opinion.
How to pay your payments with your credit card:
- Sign Up for an account
2. Schedule a payment by selecting the relevant category
3. Select the recipient, you have two options:
- pre-loaded providers – if your merchant is on the list, click them directly
- add new recipient – if your merchant is not listed
4. Fill out details such as payment amount, choose the card and select “Standard payment”
5. Make a monthly recurring payment or one-time payment.
6. Key in your policy reference number, enter promo code below and click “Continue“
For new users, use IJTLFREE for S$30 off your first payment to maximise your rewards before using the below codes.
For existing users, see above
- Submit your documents to verify payment
After all that, you’re good to go!
*Some photos and Information are from cardup.co
Final Thoughts:
If you are a miles chaser, you can go for the UOB Priv Miles Card via CardUp for recurring payments because this is an entry level miles card with the lowest cost per mile at the moment. However, the miles do expire. Alternatively, for one-off payments, you could go with OCBC 90N Visa or Mastercard.
