I’ve been informed by an Instarem spokesperson of upcoming changes to the Amaze card, which has been Suitesmile’s must-have miles/travel card for a few years.
1% fee on card-linked SGD transactions
This is the huge one. From 10 Mar 2025 all SGD transactions (from the first S$1) on the Amaze card via a linked card will incur a 1% fee (min. $0.50 fee), including refunds and pre-authorisations. Until 9 Mar 2025, only monthly spendings over S$1,000 have this fee.
The worrying part is the minimum fee of $0.50 per SGD transaction, which makes the Amaze card really poor for smaller transactions; a $1 transaction will have a 50% fee! Only SGD transactions of $50 and above will come with a 1% fee.
Here’s a table to help you visualize:
| Transaction Amount | Fee (%tage of transaction) |
|---|---|
| $1 | $0.50 (50%) |
| $5 | $0.50 (10%) |
| $10 | $0.50 (5%) |
| $20 | $0.50 (2.5%) |
| $50 | $0.50 (1%) |
| $100 | $1 (1%) |
Impact: Amaze + Citi Rewards combo for in-person spending in SGD
Since 2021, Citi Rewards cardholders could enjoy a great 4 mpd earn rate on in-person spending, even though it’s not a card benefit. This is because, by linking the Citi Rewards card to Amaze, Citibank sees all transactions as “online”, hence qualifying them for the higher earn rate.
Sure, you can also earn 4 mpd on in-person spending with the UOB Preferred Platinum card, but Citi miles/points are far superior.
With this fee, you’ll be “paying” at least 0.25 cents per mile, when using the Amaze + Citi Rewards combo for SGD spending.
Related: What’s the true cost of using Amaze for SGD spending from 10 Mar 2025?
Note: Foreign currency spending is not affected by this change
📄 Amaze’s fees page.
Increased wallet and spending limits
The Amaze wallet limit will be increased to S$15,000 (from S$3,000) and annual spending limits to S$75,000 (from S$20,000).
Earn KrisFlyer miles on Amaze transactions
From 10 Mar 2025, InstaPoints can no longer be converted to cashback. Instead, they can be converted to KrisFlyer miles at a poor ratio of 1,200 points to 400 miles.
Ah yes, still waiting for your update to the 2025 card strategy after the choco x heymax card and now the amaze nerf
I suppose, with how useful Citi miles/points are, the Amaze + Citi Rewards combi is still preferred over its alternatives, despite the nerf. But moving forward, I may have to make lesser transactions lower than $20 on it.
What are your thoughts on it?
I need to sleep (and cry) over this nerf for a day, before rethinking my miles strategy. 🙁