Citibank converts popular credit cards to Mastercard

Citibank Singapore has now converted four of its popular credit cards from Visa to Mastercard. The four credits cards that are affected are:

1. Citibank PremierMiles

2. Citibank Rewards

3. Citibank Cash Back

4. Citibank Cash Back+

What does this mean?

It is the worst kept secret that Citibank Rewards Visa offers 4 miles per dollar (MPD) for GrabPay top-ups up to $1,000/month, albeit unofficially. If you do not already know, Citi Rewards Card’s terms and conditions explicitly states that mobile wallet top ups do not give you 10X points (4 MPD).

If you have been taking advantage of this ongoing “perk” you’d know that it can end at any time if the Merchant Category Code (MCC) for Grab top ups changes. This has happened to Citibank Rewards Mastercard a few months ago and will apply to all new Citibank Rewards credit cards received from now on as it is no longer possible to apply for Citibank Rewards Visa.

What will happen to my current Rewards Visa card?

Here’s the silver lining, if you are already holding a Citibank Rewards Visa card, it will not be replaced. You will be allowed to use it till the expiry date of that card.

What now for GrabPay Mastercard?

After a series of nerfs, Citibank Rewards Visa is the last card that is keeping GrabPay Mastercard useful. As things stand, I can still receive 4 MPD for GrabPay top ups and will continue to use my GrabPay Mastercard for most of my spending. This is will go on until the expiry of my Citibank Rewards Visa card or when I stop receiving 4 MPD for top ups. That would then make GrabPay Mastercard completely useless as there are still many cards with great earn rates. Also, other prepaid cards like Revolut and YouTrip offer better foreign currency exchange rates than GrabPay Mastercard. It didn’t help that Grab themselves recently did a major devaluation on their loyalty program.

I have updated our page of the best credit cards for each spending category and removed GrabPay Mastercard.

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