How to receive Cashback for Insurance, School and Hospital payments in 2021

There’s been some changes since I wrote the 2020 version of this article. Here’s a 2021 update to include UOB’s great new cashback card!

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Commonly excluded categories

Transactions like insurance premiums, school fees and hospital bill payments are common exclusions from cashback and miles/points programs of most banks in Singapore. This prevents anyone from using a specialised credit card for maximum miles/points/cashback.

These transactions are usually larger than usual. It will be a waste to not receive any cashback or points for them. The good news is, there is a workaround!

What cards can I use?

These cards award cashback for Insurance, Education and Hospital payments.

3.5Suitesmile's overall rating of this card (out of 5), all things considered. This includes how it compares against alternative miles/cashback cards, its annual fee, and how easy (or hard) it is to achieve the advertised benefits.

AMEX True Cashback Card

Get 22% fuel savings, 1.5% cashback on almost everything

Apply

More information

Key details of the AMEX True Cashback Card

Card rating ^{Suitesmile's overall rating of this card (out of 5), all things considered. This includes how it compares against alternative miles/cashback cards, its annual fee, and how easy (or hard) it is to achieve the advertised benefits.}:
Ease of use ^{A rating (out of 5 stars) of how easy it is to achieve the maximum earn rate and other benefits advertised by this card.}:
Minimum annual income: Not stated (usually S$30,000)
Annual fee: S$174.40 (first year waived; request waiver every year)

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 Get 22% fuel savings at SPC till 31 Dec 2026, up to S$1,690
 Get uncapped 1.5% cashback on almost everything, including commonly-excluded transactions (e.g. utilities, school fees, healthcare)
 No minimum spending

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⚠️ Low earn rate (spend with better cashback cards)
⚠️ AMEX cards have lower merchant acceptance than Visa/Mastercard
⚠️ 3.25% foreign transaction fee

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📄 Quick review

More information on the

American Express True Cashback Card

Suitesmile rating:

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✍️ Short summary
This card gives you unlimited 1.5% cashback on almost everything! This includes spending categories that are usually excluded from earning cashback/miles on other cards like Utilities, Insurance, Hospital and School fees.

Cardholders can also get a 22% discount at SPC fuel stations per year. The Registration is required via the AMEX mobile app.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how the SPC discount is calculated:

• 10% instant discount as an SPC&U member
• 5% instant discount for using an AMEX card
• 7.1% statement credit from the amount that was charged to card
• 1.5% statement credit from the amount that was charged to card

As compared to Visa and Mastercard, it can be harder to find merchants that accept AMEX cards outside the United States.

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💸 Annual fee
S$174.40
(First year waived)

💼 Income requirement
Not stated (usually S$30,000)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How/When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card by the end of the statement month.

📜 Terms & conditions

🎁 Sign-up promo

3Suitesmile's overall rating of this card (out of 5), all things considered. This includes how it compares against alternative miles/cashback cards, its annual fee, and how easy (or hard) it is to achieve the advertised benefits.

UOB Absolute Cashback Card

Get 1.7% cashback on almost everything

Apply

More information

Key details of the UOB Absolute Cashback Card

Card rating ^{Suitesmile's overall rating of this card (out of 5), all things considered. This includes how it compares against alternative miles/cashback cards, its annual fee, and how easy (or hard) it is to achieve the advertised benefits.}:
Ease of use ^{A rating (out of 5 stars) of how easy it is to achieve the maximum earn rate and other benefits advertised by this card.}:
Minimum annual income:• S’porean/PR: S$15,000 – S$30,000 ^{S$30,000/year if aged 55 and below; S$15,000/year if aged 56 and above.}
• Foreigner: S$40,000Annual fee: S$196.20 (first year waived; request waiver every year)

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 Get 1.7% cashback on almost everything
 Get 0.3% cashback on commonly-excluded transactions (e.g. Grab wallet tops-ups, utilities, healthcare)
 No minimum spending
 Uncapped earn rates

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⚠️ Low earn rate (spend with better cashback cards)
⚠️ AMEX cards have lower merchant acceptance than Visa/Mastercard
⚠️ 3.25% foreign transaction fee

---

📄 Quick review

More information on the

UOB Absolute Cashback Card

Suitesmile rating:

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✍️ Short summary
This card gives you unlimited 1.7% cashback on almost everything.

Earn just 0.3% cashback on certain spending categories like Healthcare, School Fees, Utilities and GrabPay e-wallet top-ups.

As compared to Visa and Mastercard, it can be harder to find merchants that accept AMEX cards outside the United States.

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💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How/When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card by the end of the following statement month.

📜 Terms & conditions

🎁 Sign-up promo

What about AMEX Krisflyer cards?

You may also use AMEX Krisflyer and Krisflyer Ascend for 1.1 and 1.2 MPD respectively on Hospital and Education payments (not Insurance).

However, I do not find both cards attractive as miles are automatically transferred into your Krisflyer account at the end of the month, immediately giving them an expiry date 3 years ahead. I also value Krisflyer miles the lowest among other frequent flyer programs.

What if AMEX is not accepted?

Unfortunately, there are still many organisations that do not accept American Express cards (only Visa and Mastercard). Here’s how you can still receive cashback on transactions made at those places.

tl;dr: Top-up your GrabPay wallet with AMEX True Cashback for the first $5,000 in 6 months and switch to UOB Absolute Cashback after that.

Start by topping up your GrabPay wallet with either AMEX True Cashback or UOB Absolute Cashback card to receive cashback.

Upon signing up for an AMEX True Cashback card, you will receive 3% cashback on your first $5,000 spent in the first 6 months. You will receive 1.5% cashback after that. There is no minimum or maximum monthly spend to receive 1.5% cashback on GrabPay top-ups!

The all-new UOB Absolute Cashback card will give you 1.7% cashback without minimum or maximum monthly spend too.

Once this is done, you will be able to use your GrabPay Mastercard for payments at any merchant that accepts credit cards.

AMEX
+
GrabPay

Sign-up bonus

3% cashback

more infoGet 3% cashback for the first $5,000 of spending, within 6 months.

Key benefit

Unlock 1.5% cashback
where you usually can’t

more infoTop up your GrabPay wallet with AMEX True Cashback or UOB Absolute Cashback to receive up to 1.5% cashback at merchants that do not accept American Express cards.

Note the GrabPay limits: $5,000 per transaction per day, $10,000 per month, $30,000 per year.

Annual fee

$171.20
(first year waived)

more infoAnnual fee is automatically waived for the first year. Ask for an annual fee waiver every year after that. We do not recommend paying for this card's annual fee as there are other credit cards offering similar benefits. If fee waiver request is not granted, we suggest that you cancel the card.

Min. Income
requirement

$30,000/yr

more infoYou will have to submit prove of income during the application process.

Apply for AMEX True Cashback
Apply for GrabPay Card on Grab’s mobile app

Why we like this card

Although it requires an additional step, having up to 1.5% cashback for categories that usually get you nothing (insurance premiums, school fees, hospital bills) makes it worth it!

GrabPay limitations

An extra point to note is, because of MAS regulations, Grab will only allow you to spend a maximum of $5,000 per day/transaction, $10,000 per month and $30,000* per year.

If your bill exceeds the daily/transaction limit, you may request (the organisation) to make multiple payments over separate days. More about this limitation here.

* May vary depending on individual risk profiles.

Psst...check out the latest credit card sign-up promos for August 2026:

Citibank S$430 cash 🔥Citibank | or 16k miles › HSBC S$461 cash 🔥HSBC | or 20k miles › OCBC S$400 cash 🔥OCBC | or Dyson Airstrait › DBS S$320 cashDBS | or S$350 eCapitaVouchers › CIMB Samsonite + S$50 cashCIMB › View all banks ›

Bottom line

The all-new UOB Absolute Cashback card earned its place in my wallet because it offers the highest unlimited cashback with no exclusions. This card has been added to Suitesmile’s list of the best credit cards in Singapore for each spending category.