As most of our readers know, CardUp is one of the payment platforms allowing you to settle a range of bills where credit cards normally wouldn’t be accepted, or wouldn’t earn points, like property rental, insurance, mortgage payments and season parking.
Throughout the year, CardUp offers promotions with lower than usual fees for making these kind of payments, and it’s a good time to refresh the full list of these options since they have just been extended right through to 2025.
This allows you to buy miles from 1.1 cents each, quite a competitive rate if (like us) you accrue primarily for First and Business Class flight redemptions that yield far better value than that.
Here’s the latest rundown.
Property rent (1.79%)
CardUp has extended its property rental offer with a 1.79% fee for payments scheduled between now and 31st January 2025, with payment due date between now and 5th February 2025.
The promo code is SAVERENT179, valid for payments made using Singapore-issued Visa, Mastercard and China UnionPay cards.
Here’s how the cost per mile stacks up, depending on the earn rate for the card you’re using.
SAVERENT179
Cost per mile
| Earn Rate (mpd) |
Cost per mile (@ 1.79% fee) |
| 1.6 | 1.10¢ |
| 1.5 | 1.17¢ |
| 1.4 | 1.26¢ |
| 1.3 | 1.35¢ |
| 1.2 | 1.47¢ |
As you can see, with most miles-earning credit cards in Singapore you’ll be buying miles at between 1.10 cents per mile and 1.47 cents per mile under this offer.
Recurring payments (1.85%)
CardUp has extended its recurring payments offer with a 1.85% fee for payments scheduled between now and 31st January 2025 (6pm Singapore Time), with payment due date between now and 5th February 2025.
The promo code is RECURRING185, valid for payments made using Singapore-issued Visa cards only.
This promotion is available for recurring payments set up with weekly, monthly or quarterly frequency, up to a total of S$20,000 limit per month.
CardUp’s regular fee of 2.6% will be applied to the rest of the payment(s), should the amount exceed S$20,000. The Offer can be redeemed repeatedly until the monthly S$20,000 limit is met.
Here’s how the cost per mile stacks up, depending on the earn rate for the card you’re using.
RECURRING185
Cost per mile
| Earn Rate (mpd) |
Cost per mile (@ 1.85% fee) |
| 1.6 | 1.14¢ |
| 1.5 | 1.21¢ |
| 1.4 | 1.30¢ |
| 1.3 | 1.40¢ |
| 1.2 | 1.51¢ |
As you can see, with most miles-earning credit cards in Singapore you’ll be buying miles at between 1.14 cents per mile and 1.51 cents per mile under this offer.
International payments (1.85%)
CardUp has extended its international payments offer with a 1.85% fee for payments scheduled between now and 31st January 2025, with payment due date between now and 5th February 2025.
The promo code is GLOBE185, valid for payments in foreign currency to overseas recipients made using Singapore-issued Visa cards only.
Here’s how the cost per mile stacks up, depending on the earn rate for the card you’re using.
GLOBE185
Cost per mile
| Earn Rate (mpd) |
Cost per mile (@ 1.85% fee) |
| 1.6 | 1.14¢ |
| 1.5 | 1.21¢ |
| 1.4 | 1.30¢ |
| 1.3 | 1.40¢ |
| 1.2 | 1.51¢ |
As you can see, with most miles-earning credit cards in Singapore you’ll be buying miles at between 1.14 cents per mile and 1.51 cents per mile under this offer.
Do check the exchange rate CardUp is applying before committing to this deal, as you may have to compare it to other overseas transfer providers, including your own bank.
All other payments (2.25%)
For other payments not listed above, CardUp has extended its de-facto year-round offer with a 2.25% fee for payments scheduled between now and 31st January 2025, with payment due date between now and 5th February 2025.
The promo code is GET225, valid for payments made using Singapore-issued Visa, Mastercard and China UnionPay cards.
The promo code is valid for all personal payments, subject to a minimum payment of S$130.
Here’s how the cost per mile stacks up, depending on the earn rate for the card you’re using.
GET225
Cost per mile
| Earn Rate (mpd) |
Cost per mile (@ 2.25% fee) |
| 1.6 | 1.38¢ |
| 1.5 | 1.47¢ |
| 1.4 | 1.57¢ |
| 1.3 | 1.69¢ |
| 1.2 | 1.83¢ |
As you can see, with most miles-earning credit cards in Singapore you’ll be buying miles at between 1.38 cents per mile and 1.83 cents per mile under this offer.
Clearly this one’s a bit more marginal for lower earn rate cards, compared to the more specific offers listed above.
How it works
When you set up a payment via CardUp, you’ll need to enter one of the promo codes listed above during the process, prior to uploading your supporting documents and reviewing the final cost.
You’ll then see the discount applied prior to confirming the payment, provided you are using an eligible card in accordance with the terms and conditions for the payment promo you are applying.
Which cards earn miles with CardUp?
CardUp maintains an updated list of Singapore-issued credit cards that earn miles when making payments through the platform.
Do be aware that not all the promotions listed above include all card types – some as only valid with Visa cards.
Here’s the latest list of eligible miles cards for at least some or all of the above promotions:
- BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard
- Citi PremierMiles Visa Card
- Citi PremierMiles Mastercard
- Citi Prestige Card
- Citi ULTIMA Card
- DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card
- DBS Insignia Visa Infinite Card
- DBS Vantage Card
- KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
- OCBC Voyage Card
- OCBC Voyage Premier / PPC / BOS Card
- OCBC 90ºN Card
- Standard Chartered Priority Banking Visa Infinite Credit Card
- Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card
- Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card
- UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard
- UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card
- UOB Reserve Card
- UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card
- UOB Visa Signature Card
Watch out for Citi PayAll deals
While these CardUp promotions are great year-round offers to take advantage of for all of 2024 (and at least a little bit of 2025), don’t forget that if you’re a Citi cardholder that bank also offers its very similar PayAll service for most of these payments.
The key here is to wait for one of the bank’s promotional deals, which can reduce the cost per mile to as little as 0.8 cents, though the most recent deal which ended last month meant buying miles at 1.22 cents.
In both 2022 and 2023, PayAll offered a promotion starting in April, so it may be worth holding off any payment commitments until then if you are a Citi cardholder, since it’s usually better than the payment providers like CardUp and ipaymy can offer.
Summary
CardUp has extended its promotional deals for property rental (1.79%), recurring payments (1.85%) and international payments (1.85%) through to the end of January 2025.
With a 1.6 mpd earning card, this potentially allows you to buy miles at 1.1 cents each.
If you’re making other payment types, the platform’s de-facto year-round 2.25% deal has also been extended, though the value here is a little less appealing, especially with 1.2 mpd cards.
Do stay tuned for a possible Citi PayAll promotion for a potentially cheaper way to generate miles if you hold a miles-earning card with the bank, since April is typically the timing for a new deal on that side.
(Cover Photo: CardUp)