Here’s The MileLion’s review of the Citi Rewards Card,Citibank’s imaginatively-named flagship rewards offering.
Once upon a time, this was marketed as a card for shopaholics to earn bonus points when buying bags, shoes or clothes. But insidersknew that “bags, shoes and clothes” was just a serving suggestion; in reality, cardholders could earn 4 mpd on all manner of things including Points.com purchases, ride-hailing and even GrabPay top-ups, for a period.
Citi eventually dropped the charade in March 2019 by officially expanding the scope of the bonus to cover virtually all online transactions, and with Amaze extending that to offline transactions too, this is an essential card for any miles chaser.
 | |
| Citi Rewards Card | |
| 🦁 MileLion Verdict | |
| ☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It | |
| What do these ratings mean? | |
| With 4 mpd on almost all online transactions (extendable to offline via Amaze) and a wide variety of transfer partners, the Citi Rewards Card is essential to have. | |
| 👍 The good | 👎 The bad |
|
|
| 💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews | |
Overview: Citi Rewards Card
 | |||
| Apply Here | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Points Validity | Up to 5 yrs. |
| Annual Fee | S$196.20 (First Year Free) | Min. Transfer | 25,000 TY points (10,000 miles) |
| Miles with Annual Fee | N/A | Transfer Partners | 11 |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | S$27.25 |
| Local Earn | 0.4 mpd | Points Pool? | No |
| FCY Earn | 0.4 mpd | Lounge Access? | No |
| Special Earn | 4 mpd on online trxns. (except travel) | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
The Citi Rewards Card was originally issued on the Visa network, but ever since 2020, all newly-issued Citi Rewards Cards have been switched over to Mastercard.
Legacy Citi Rewards Visa Cards remain valid, and existing cardholders would do well to hold on to them, seeing as how both the Mastercard and Visa have their own 4 mpd bonus caps (we’ll talk about that later in this review).
Otherwise, both cards offer similar perks and benefits. There used to be a bigger distinction because the Mastercard had a reputation for not crediting bonus points properly for certain merchants.Those problems have mostlybeen resolved, to the best of my understanding, but it’s stillbest practice to monitor your points balance each month and check for discrepancies.
How much must I earn to qualify for a Citi Rewards Card?
The Citi Rewards Card has an income requirement of S$30,000 per annum, the MAS-mandated minimum for a credit card.
Applicants who don’t meet the minimum income requirement may be able to place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with Citibank to get a secured version of the card. Visit a Citi branch for more information.
How much is the Citi Rewards Card’s annual fee?
| Principal Card | Supp. Card | |
| First Year | Free | Free |
| Subsequent | S$196.20 | S$98.10 |
The Citi Rewards Card has an annual fee of S$196.20 for the principal cardholder, and a S$98.10 fee for supplementary cards. The first year’s fee is waived for the principal cardholder.
Annual fee waivers are at Citi’s discretion, but I’ve never had an issue getting one (with annual spending in the S$10-12K range).
Citibank does not award any bonus points for renewals of the Citi Rewards Card.
What sign-up bonus or gifts are available?
 |
| Apply here |
New Citi Rewards Cardholders can currently enjoy a bonus of 40,000 ThankYou points(equivalent to 16,000 miles) when they:
- Applyonline for a Citi Rewards Card
- Get approved within 30 days from application
- Spend at least S$800 on eligible transactions within the first 2 months of approval
This offer is open to those who do not currently hold a principal Citi card, and have not cancelled one in the 12 month period before application.
You can read the full details of this offer here.
How many miles do I earn?
| 🇸🇬 SGD Spend | 🌎 FCY Spend | ⭐ Bonus Spend |
| 0.4 mpd | 0.4 mpd | 4 mpd on online trxns. (except travel and mobile wallet) |
SGD/FCY Spend
Citi Rewards Card members earn:
- 1 ThankYou point for every S$1 spent in Singapore Dollars
- 1 ThankYou point for every S$1 spent in foreign currency (FCY)
1 ThankYou point is worth 0.4 airline miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 0.4 mpd for both local and FCY spending.
All foreign currency transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, which is par the course for the market.
| 💳 FCY Fees by Issuer and Card Network | ||
| Issuer | ↓ MC & Visa | AMEX |
| Standard Chartered | 3.5% | N/A |
| American Express | N/A | 3.25% |
| Citibank | 3.25% | N/A |
| DBS | 3.25% | 3% |
| HSBC | 3.25% | N/A |
| Maybank | 3.25% | N/A |
| OCBC | 3.25% | N/A |
| UOB | 3.25% | 3.25% |
| BOC | 3% | N/A |
| CIMB | 3% | N/A |
Bonus Spending
Citi Rewards Cardholders earn a total of 10 ThankYou points for every S$1 (4 mpd) (whether in SGD or FCY)spent on:
- Online transactions (except travel and in-app mobile wallet payments)
- Department stores, or shops selling bags, shoes and clothes
An overall cap of S$1,000 per statement month applies, shared between (1) and (2). Any spend in excess of the cap earns 0.4 mpd.
The Citi Rewards Mastercard and Citi Rewards Visa each have their own bonus cap, so if you have both cards, you can earn 4 mpd on up to S$2,000 per statement month.
| ⚠️ Calendar Month vs Statement Month |
Calendar month is straightforward (e.g. 1-31 January), but statement month will vary from person to person. Login to your Citi online banking and view your card details. You’ll see the statement date at the top.
For example, my statement month runs from the 12th to the 11th of the following month. This means my 4 mpd cap resets on the 12th each month. |
(1) Online transactions
All online transactions will earn 4 mpd with the Citi Rewards Card, except for travel and in-app mobile wallet payments.
Travel
Citi Rewards Cardholders do not earn 4 mpd on travel transactions, defined by the following MCCs:
| ❌ Travel-Related Blacklist | |
| MCC | Description |
| MCC 3000 to 3350 MCC 4511 | Airlines |
| MCC 3351 to 3500 MCC 7512 | Car Rental Agencies |
| MCC 3501 to 3999 MCC 7011 | Lodging- Hotels Motels, Resorts |
| MCC 4111 MCC 4112MCC 4789 | Passenger Transport and Railways |
| MCC 4411 | Cruise Lines |
| MCC 4722 MCC 4723 | Travel Agencies and Tour Operators |
| MCC 5962 | Direct Marketing- Travel Related Arrangement Services |
| MCC 7012* | Timeshares |
| 👎 Amaze won’t help |
| To pre-empt the inevitable questions: no. Amaze won’t help you circumvent these restrictions, because it only changes the merchant description, not the MCC |
This means you shouldn’t use the Citi Rewards Card for air tickets, cruises, hotels, rental cars, or booking activities with online travel agents like Klook and Pelago.
For more on this exclusion, refer to the article below.
Explained: Citi Rewards Card blacklist for “travel-related” transactions
In-app mobile wallet payments
Citi Rewards Cardholders do not earn 4 mpd on in-app mobile wallet payments,i.e. using the Citi Rewards Card in conjunction with Apple Pay or Google Pay for virtual transactions.
For example:
- you won’t earn 4 mpd when you use the Citi Rewards Card to make an in-app Google Pay transaction with Deliveroo
- you will earn 4 mpd when you use the Citi Rewards Card to make an in-app credit card transaction with Deliveroo.
For most app-based payments, it’s a simple matter of choosing to pay directly with your credit card, instead of via Apple or Google Pay.
However, there are some platforms e.g. Kris+ which only allow you to pay with Apple or Google Pay, so don’t use the Citi Rewards Card here (protip: pairing it with Amaze helps overcome the restriction!)
Explained: Citi Rewards Card mobile wallet blacklist
Everything else is fair game, which is pretty awesome if you think about it, since you probably make dozens of online transactions each day without even realising it: hailing a Grab, ordering food delivery, buying groceries, paying for Netflix, shopping on Lazada or Shopee, booking movie tickets etc.
These bonuses can be extended to offline transactions too, via the Amaze Card.
 | ||
| Apply here | ||
| T&Cs | ||
| Use code 7HK2A2 for 225 bonus InstaPoints | ||
| 💳 tl;dr: Amaze Card | ||
|
That’s because the all Amaze transactions code as online, even if they were made physically in-store. This means you could dine in a restaurant or shop at a brick-and-mortar merchant, pay with the Amaze Card paired to a Citi Rewards Card, and earn 4 mpd on your spending!
Of course, there’s no knowing how long this will last, since it’s obviously not what Citibank had in mind when creating the Citi Rewards Card. In fact, there was an epic scare back in January this year, when Amaze x Citi Rewards transactions were only earning 0.4 mpd instead of the usual 4 mpd. Fortunately, this was eventually resolved, though it should be obvious that this hack is living on borrowed time.
(2) Department stores, bags, shoes or clothes
Citi Rewards Cardholders will earn 4 mpd on all SGD or FCY transactions made online or offline at merchants with the following MCCs:
| MCC | Examples (non-exhaustive) |
| MCC 5311 Departmental Stores | Takashimaya, TANGS, Isetan, OG, Metro, BHG, Marks & Spencer |
| MCC 5611 Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Accessories Stores | Benjamin Barker, Timberland, Edit Suits, Berluti |
| MCC 5621 Women’s Ready to Wear Stores | Zara, H&M, Mothercare |
| MCC 5631 Women’s Accessory and Speciality Stores | Tory Burch, Love Bonito, Pandora |
| MCC 5641 Children’s and Infants’ Wear Stores | Kiddy Palace, Mummys Market, Pupsik, Motherswork |
| MCC 5651 Family Clothing Stores | Uniqlo, ASOS, Club 21, Burberry, Yoox |
| MCC 5655 Sports and Riding Apparel | Nike, Lululemon, Adidas |
| MCC 5661 Shoe Stores | Skechers, Charles & Keith, Bata, Foot Locker, Pazzion |
| MCC 5691 Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores | Ezbuy, Zalora, Fartech |
| MCC 5699 Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessory Shops | Qoo10, Cotton On, Reebonz |
| MCC 5948 Luggage or Leather Goods Stores | Louis Vuitton, Coach, Rimowa |
In case you’re uncertain about the MCC, there’s three ways of looking it up before making a purchase:
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| ❓HeyMax | ●●● | ● |
| 📱Instarem app | ●● | ●● |
| 🤖DBS digibot | ● | ●●● |
For avoidance of doubt, you will earn 4 mpd even if you digitise the Citi Rewards Card into Apple or Google Pay and use your mobile phone to pay at the merchant, as this is not considered an in-app mobile payment.
How does this compare to other specialised spending cards?
The Citi Rewards isn’t the only card that earns bonuses for online spending. However, it’s one of the best out there because it uses a blacklist system.
A blacklist system means that all online transactions earn bonuses, unless they’ve been explicitly blacklisted. The Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World Card adopt this approach.
A whitelist system means that only specified transactions earn bonuses. The HSBC Revolution, UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and OCBC Rewards adopt this approach. Granted, some whitelists are broader than others, but it’s still not quite the same.
For more on blacklist vs whitelist, refer to the article below.
Blacklist vs whitelist cards: How I optimise between both
When are ThankYou points credited?
Base and bonus ThankYou points are credited when your transaction posts, which generally takes 1-3 working days.
How are ThankYou points calculated?
Here’s how you can work out the ThankYou points earned on your Citi Rewards Card.
| Base Points (1X) | Round down transaction to nearest S$1, then multiply by 1 |
| Bonus Points (9X) | Round down transaction to nearest S$1, then multiply by 9 |
This means the minimum spend required to earn miles is S$1.
If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate your points:
| Base Points (1X) | =ROUNDDOWN(X,0)*1 |
| Bonus Points (9X) | =ROUNDDOWN(X,0)*9 |
| Where X= Amount Spent | |
For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:
- General Spending Cards
- Specialised Spending Cards
What transactions aren’t eligible for ThankYou points?
The full list of ineligible transactions to earn ThankYou points can be found in the Citi rewards T&Cs.
I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:
- Educational Institutions (MCC 8211-8299)
- Donations (MCC 8398)
- Government Services (MCC 9000-9999)
- Insurance (MCC 6300)
- Professional Services and Membership Organizations (MCC 8651-8661)
- Quasi cash transactions including top-ups to GrabPay and YouTrip (MCC 6529-6540)
- Real Estate Agents and Managers (MCC 6513)
- Utilities Payments (MCC 4900)
For the avoidance of doubt, Citi Rewards Cardholders will earn rewards for CardUp transactions (just 0.4 mpd, not 4 mpd), though they will certainly prefer to use Citi PayAll instead (see below).
What do I need to know about ThankYou points?
| ❌ Expiry | ↔️ Pooling | 💰 Transfer Fee |
| Up to 5 years | No | S$27.25 per conversion |
| ⬆️ Min. Transfer | ✈️ No. of Partners | ⏱️ Transfer Time |
| 25,000 TY Points (10,000 miles) | 11 | 24-48 hours (for KF) |
Expiry
A common misconception is that Citi ThankYou points earned on the Citi Rewards have a 5-year validity. Citibank even says so on its own website.
But that’s not true. Back when the ThankYou rewards portal was still live, if you checked the expiry date of your points, you’d see that they allexpired on the same day!
What’s going on here is that all ThankYou points earned on the Citi Rewardsexpire every 5 years (+ 3 months grace) from the date of card approval/renewal, not from when points are earned.
To provide an illustration, suppose you’re approved for a Citi Rewards card on15 October 2022.
- All points earned between15 October 2022 to 31 October 2027will be valid till31 January 2028 (5 years + 3 months grace)
- On1 November 2027,a new validity period will begin
- All points earned between1 November 2027 to 31 October 2032will be valid till31 January 2033 (5 years + 3 months grace)
Therefore, Citi Rewards points are valid forup to5 years + 3 months grace, and can be valid for as little as 3 months in an extreme case!
PSA: The Citi Rewards Card’s strange expiry policy
Pooling
Citibank does not pool points across cards.
If you have 12,000 ThankYou points on the Citi Rewards Visa and 30,000 ThankYou points on the Citi Rewards Mastercard, you will have to pay two separate conversion fees.
This also means that you’ll need to transfer all your points out before cancelling the card, or else forfeit them.
Transfer Partners & Fee
Citibank has the widest variety of transfer partners in Singapore, with 12 airline and hotel programmes to choose from.
Points transfer at a 5:2 ratio, with a minimum transfer block of 10,000 miles.
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (Citi: Partner) |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
Transfers cost S$27.25 each, regardless of how many points are converted.
Transfer Times
Citibank tells customers that points transfers will take 14 business days, but in reality it’s usually 24-48 hours for KrisFlyer, or 2-4 working days for other programmes.
If you need your points credited instantly, you can move them via Kris+ at a rate of 10,000 TY points = 3,400 KrisPay miles. KrisPay miles can then be instantly converted to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio.
 |
| S$5 for new Kris+ Users |
| Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363and make your first transaction |
There are pros and cons to this:
Pros
- Minimum conversion block is reduced to 10,000 TY points, versus 25,000 TY points if converting via Citibank’s rewards portal
- Transfers from Citi to Kris+ and Kris+ to KrisFlyer are instant
Cons
- Those 10,000 TY points would normally be worth 4,000 KrisFlyer miles, so a 15% haircut is incurred
Should you choose to take this option, do note that it’s a two-step process. The first transfer is from Citi to Kris+, the second is from Kris+ to KrisFlyer. A big button will pop up after the first step, prompting you to make the second step.
If you do not convert these points within 21 days, or spend any of the transferred miles, the balance will be “stuck” in Kris+, where they expire after six months, and are worth a mere 0.67 cents apiece.
Other card perks
Buy miles with Citi PayAll
 |
| Citi PayAll |
Citi PayAll is a platform that allows Citibank cardholders to pay various types of bills and earn rewards points in the process.
24 different categories of payment are currently supported:
| 💰 Citi PayAll: Supported Payments | |
| Category | Monthly Cap |
| S$200,000 |
| S$100,000 |
| S$30,000 (each category) |
| Outstanding balance with IRAS |
| ⚠️ Earn miles for free! |
While most of the abovementioned categories are excluded from rewards by most card issuers, there are still a handful of exceptions out there. Before resorting to Citi PayAll, be sure to check whether any of your existing cards would let you earn miles for free!
|
Citi Rewards Cardholders will earn 0.4 mpd on all payments with an admin fee of 2.6%, which means that under regular circ*mstances, you would be paying 6.5 cents per mile. That’s obviously ludicrously expensive, and not worth considering.
But Citi has historically run promotions that upsized the earn rate to as much as 2.5 mpd, and at one time we were buying miles at just 0.8 cents each! Unfortunately, the generosity has been dialed back significantly. Citi’s recent promotion for 2024 income tax season reduced the cost per mile to “only” 1.31 to 1.62 cents apiece, which is not bad in and of itself, but nowhere as good as before.
For what it’s worth,Citi PayAll transactions will count towards the minimum spend for welcome offers and other promotions, provided the service fee is paid.
I’ve written a comprehensive guide to Citi PayAll, so be sure to check out the article below.
Citi PayAll Complete Guide: How to pay bills and earn miles
Summary Review: Citi Rewards Card
| |||
| Apply Here | |||
| 🦁 MileLion Verdict | |||
| ☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It |
The Citi Rewards Card is an absolutely essential tool in your wallet, especially when paired with Amaze.So long as you remember to avoid travel-related transactions and in-app mobile wallet payments, you’re looking at 4 mpd pretty much everywhere.
The only drawback is its S$1,000 monthly cap, which means you’re limited to 48,000 miles per year. Of course, those lucky enough to hold both the Mastercard and Visa can double their cap to 96,000 miles, though keep in mind only the Mastercard can be paired with Amaze. Also, you won’t be able to pool the points together, which remains another annoying drawback of Citi cards.
So that’s my review of the Citi Rewards Card. What do you think?
