If you’ve been pumping your petrol spend through Kris+ to boost your earn rate at Esso in Singapore, there’s bad news to report. As of 1st July 2026, Kris+ has quietly returned Esso to a 0.5 mpd earn partner, a fraction of the 3 mpd that had been in place, and low enough to remove most of the reason to bother.
Background
Esso joined Kris+ as an earn partner in March 2024, and while the year-round rate was a modest 0.5 mpd, a launch promotion lifted it to 3 mpd for the first three months, as we covered here.
Stacked with a miles-earning credit card for the in-app payment – up to 4 mpd on cards like the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard – that meant up to 7 mpd on your petrol. Up to 9 mpd was briefly on the table via the UOB Lady’s cards, which earned 6 mpd at the time before reverting to 4 mpd.
The upsized rate returned in October 2024, with 3 mpd running for six months through to 31st March 2025, as we covered here. After a three-month lapse back to 0.5 mpd, the 3 mpd rate was then reinstated as a new year-round rate from July 2025, which we covered here.
Back to 0.5 mpd
Unfortunately, “year-round” lasted exactly a year. Since 1st July 2026, Kris+ has quietly dropped Esso back to 0.5 mpd.
Here’s how the sums look on a typical in-app payment with a 4 mpd card:
- Before: 4 mpd (card) + 3 mpd (Kris+) = 7 mpd
- Now: 4 mpd (card) + 0.5 mpd (Kris+) = 4.5 mpd
The credit card portion is unchanged of course, it’s the Kris+ bonus that’s been gutted, shaving 2.5 mpd off your total.
A far less compelling option
Lost miles always matter, but the bigger issue is what this does to Esso’s standing against the other fuel retailers.
For many of our readers, the Kris+ bonus was the thing that made Esso worth a detour, if it wasn’t your usual pumping spot.
Strip it back to 0.5 mpd and you’re left comparing Esso on discounts, where it frankly doesn’t lead. Its discount tops out at around 12% for drivers pairing a 4 mpd card (10% Esso Smiles + 2% via Kris+). Bigger 14-18% discounts exist for Citi, DBS and OCBC cardholders, but on cards earning 1.6 mpd at best.
Rival petrol retailers do better, and in some cases far better, for the same 4 mpd on the right card.
Here are a few examples to emphasise the point:
- Shell: the UOB Lady’s Card or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa earns 4 mpd with a 14% discount via the Shell Go+ app, with no separate payment app like Kris+ needed.
- Caltex: the Citi Rewards Card earns 4 mpd with a 17% discount via CaltexGo.
- Sinopec: the UOB Lady’s, UOB PPV or Amaze + Citi Rewards combinations earn 4 mpd with up to 29% off during Sinopec’s regular promotions.
The usual caps and conditions apply to each of these, but the picture is clear. You now give up just 0.5 mpd by filling up at Shell, Caltex or Sinopec instead, and in return pick up anywhere from 2% to 17% of extra discount.
On a S$100 pump, Sinopec’s ~29% saves you around S$17 more than Esso’s ~12%, comfortably more than the Kris+ miles at Esso via you’d forgo.
Summary
Esso’s third and longest stint as a 3 mpd Kris+ partner is over, at least for now. At 0.5 mpd the app bonus is barely worth triggering, and the better discounts available elsewhere make Shell, Caltex or Sinopec the smarter place to fill up for most drivers chasing miles.
If Kris+ runs another promotion, and history suggests it might well do so, we’ll certainly cover it. For now though, there’s little reason for miles chasers to go out of their way for Esso.
(Cover Photo: Esso)