Back in April this year, SIA’s “lifestyle app” Kris+ cut its miles earning rates at 15 merchants island-wide by up to 67%, quickly followed by a sneaky unannounced earn rate cut at 12 further partners from the same date, and there’s some bad news this week with confirmation that a third cull for 2024 takes effect from tomorrow.
Kris+ has now revealed that another 27 merchants allowing instant miles earning for in-store purchases will have their accrual rates cut from 1st August 2024.
“With effect from 1 August 2024, there will be new bonus earn rates for selected partners.”
Kris+
Let’s look at the impact.
Full list: Merchants cutting rates
A range of merchants including Breitling, Cole Haan, Champion and Superdry are cutting their earn rate from 1st August 2024.
Each affected merchant has a note on their dedicated page within the Kris+ app.
Don’t worry though, we’ve got the full list of course – and here’s how the new rates will look, sadly affecting a range of higher-earning 9 mpd and 6 mpd merchants this time round.
Kris+ merchant rate cuts
| Merchant | Current rate | New rate (from 1 Aug) |
| Breitling | 6 mpd | |
| Creative Jewellery Studio | 6 mpd | |
| Delsey Paris | 4 mpd | |
| EA Detailer | 6 mpd | |
| For the Love of Laundry | 6 mpd | |
| LeCaine Gems | 6 mpd | |
| Mayer | 6 mpd | |
| The Little Gym Singapore | 6 mpd | |
| Travel Zone | 4 mpd | |
| Victorinox | 4 mpd | |
| BazGym Gymnastics School | 3 mpd | |
| Birkenstock | 3 mpd | |
| Champion | 3 mpd | |
| Cole Haan | 3 mpd | |
| Futurum Academy | 3 mpd | |
| JDMIS | 3 mpd | |
| La Senza | 3 mpd | |
| MBT | 3 mpd | |
| Mega Adventure Sentosa | 3 mpd | |
| Outdoor Life | 3 mpd | |
| Pretty Ballerinas | 3 mpd | |
| RUHENS SG | 3 mpd | |
| Sentosa | 3 mpd | |
| Spin Paint House | 3 mpd | |
| Superdry | 3 mpd | |
| The Art Nooq | 3 mpd | |
| Tree Art | 3 mpd |
In the worst case, some 9 mpd merchants are shifting into the 4 mpd crowd – a 56% earn rate cut.
This round of cuts isn’t on the scale of those we saw in May 2023 and again in September 2023, with around 70 merchants (or 15% of the pack) affected on both occasions, though as mentioned above it does come in addition to 27 merchants having their rates cut just four months ago.
There were also four sneaky unannounced rate cuts in the early part of this year, bringing the total impact for 2024 so far to 58 merchants (14% of the current list).
Latest Kris+ earn rates
Here’s a summary of the total number of merchants by earn rate from 1st August 2024, compared to now, with these fresh earn rate cuts accounted for.
Kris+ Earning Rates
| Earn Rate | Merchants | |
| Till 31st July 2024 |
From 1st August 2024 |
|
| 9 mpd | 124 | 114 |
| 6 mpd | 142 | 132 |
| 5 mpd | 4 | 4 |
| 4 mpd | 13 | 16 |
| 3 mpd | 130 | 147 |
| 2 mpd | 8 | 8 |
| 1.5 mpd | 1 | 1 |
| 1 mpd | 16 | 16 |
| 0.5 mpd | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 440 | 440 |
As you can see, the shift here is away from the higher 9 mpd and 6 mpd earn levels into the lower rates, which is bad news for miles collectors.
- The average earn rate across all 440 Kris+ merchants will drop from 5.60 mpd now to 5.40 mpd from 1st August 2024.
- The average earn rate across the 27 Kris+ merchants cutting their earn rate in this round will drop from 7.11 mpd now to 3.89 mpd from 1st August 2024.
- The average earn rate across all Kris+ merchants just over a year ago, in April 2023, was 7.24 mpd, 34% higher than it will be from 1st August 2024.
Nonetheless, a quarter of all Kris+ earn merchants will still net you the top rate of 9 mpd on top of your credit card points when making a purchase, even after this change kicks in.
How to earn miles with Kris+ when purchasing
Since September 2021, in-app payments have been the only way to earn Kris+ miles when purchasing in-store at an earning partner.
The process is straightforward, just scan the merchant’s QR code and make payment using Apple Pay or Google Pay with your linked credit card.
The app then credits your miles instantly, which you should then transfer immediately to your KrisFlyer account (you only have seven days to do so, before the miles are stuck in KrisPay with a paltry 0.67 cents rebate value against future purchases).
Credit card points of up to 4 mpd are still in addition
One thing that’s thankfully not changing about Kris+ is that you’ll still accrue points or miles on your credit card for the spend made for in-app payment transactions, in some cases adding up to 4 mpd to the maximum 9 mpd Kris+ is dishing out, for up to 13 mpd total earning.
This depends on the credit card you hold and the merchant category (MCC code) of the retailer.
The following cards will earn at their bonus rates of between 3 mpd and 4 mpd for spend in the specific MCCs listed. You can check the MCC with the merchant in advance of your payment if you are unsure, though some are obvious (like restaurants – 5812).
| Card | Earn Rate |
Notes / MCCs | |
 UOB Lady’s
|
4 mpd | Capped at S$1,000 per month (Lady’s) or S$2,000 per month (Lady’s Solitaire). Subject to your specified quarterly bonus category, including: |
|
| Dining: | MCC 5499 MCC 5812 MCC 5814 |
||
| Beauty: | MCC 5977 MCC 7230 MCC 7297 MCC 7298 |
||
| Fashion: | MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5661 MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5948 |
||
 HSBC Revolution(see our review) |
4 mpd | On mobile wallet payments at specific outlets by MCC, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. |
|
| MCC 3501 MCC 5045 MCC 5441 MCC 5462 MCC 5499 MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5661 MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5732 |
MCC 5734 MCC 5812 MCC 5814 MCC 5944 MCC 5945 MCC 5947 MCC 5948 MCC 5992 MCC 5999 MCC 7011 MCC 7997 |
||
 DBS WWMC(see our review) |
4 mpd | On on up to S$1,500 of online spend per calendar month, including when paying at a merchant using Apple Pay or Google Pay via the Kris+ app (all MCCs). |
|
 OCBC Rewards(see our review) |
4 mpd | On shopping transactions in specific MCCs, capped at S$1,110 per calendar month. | |
| MCC 5309 MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5655 MCC 5661 |
MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5941 MCC 5948 |
||
 KrisFlyer UOB(see our review) |
3 mpd | On all Kris+ spend, with no minimum and no upper cap. | |
UOB Lady’s SolitaireDon’t use your Citi Rewards card to make payment with Apple Pay or Google Pay on Kris+, since online transactions using this card specifically exclude mobile wallet payments and will therefore earn at the basic rate of 0.4 mpd.
Unsure?
If you’re not sure whether your bonus miles credit card is eligible for the merchant of your choice, our advice is to use your best card for general spend miles accrual, especially if the transaction is substantial.
For smaller amounts you may wish to take the chance, but remember most bonus category spend credit cards earn just 0.4 mpd when you make transactions that the bank decides don’t qualify.
Don’t forget – transfer straight to KrisFlyer miles
While earn rates of up to 9 mpd as KrisPay miles through the Kris+ app across 440 merchants is still great news, despite these cuts, always remember to transfer them to KrisFlyer miles.
Why? Well KrisPay miles can only be transferred to your KrisFlyer account within 7 days of the transaction. To do so, simply tap on the “Transfer to KrisFlyer” button which will appear on the miles earned confirmation screen or transaction details screen.
You can do so later (within 7 days), but why wait?
Remember that KrisPay miles earned per transaction can only be transferred to your account in their entirety. If you earned 100 KrisPay miles from a single Kris+ transaction, for example, the full 100 KrisPay miles must be transferred to your KrisFlyer account. If you have already spent some of your KrisPay miles earned, a partial transfer option is not available.
We therefore recommend transferring to KrisFlyer immediately following any Kris+ earning transaction, in case you either forget or make a mistake later.
Summary
Kris+ is cutting earn rates at 27 merchants from 1st August 2024, from either 9 mpd or 6 mpd down to less exciting levels, including 3 mpd in many cases.
There’s not much notice provided this time – today (31st July 2024) is your last day to take advantage of current earn rates before the cuts kick in, so you should plan any purchases you need right away at these retailers, if possible.
While most Kris+ earn partners aren’t changing their rates, we’re gradually seeing the average earn levels in the programme deplete further with this latest news – down 25% from 7.24 mpd in April 2023 to 5.40 mpd from August 2024.
As always, never forget the golden rule – transfer your KrisPay miles straight into your KrisFlyer account after each purchase!
(Cover Photo: Birkenstock)