Best Credit Cards For Instarem Amaze
Instarem Amaze is a wallet app that allows you to reduce the forex spread you incur when you spend overseas. It allows you to link up to 5 Mastercard credit or debit cards to it, letting you earn rewards on your credit cards provided. As a side benefit, transactions also become online ones.
However, a few banks have excluded Amaze-related transactions from earning rewards over the years, but here are the best cards you can still use with the wallet app.
Instarem Amaze
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💳 Features
- Save on forex fees (typically around 2% spread compared to credit card forex charges of more than 3%)
- Convert offline to online spending (for cards like Citi Rewards)
- Store and swap between 5 credit cards on one Amaze card
- Find out Merchant Category Code of transactions
Note that local transactions incur a 1% fee with a S$0.50 minimum per transaction.
For reference only; refer to exact details in terms and conditions
Local vs foreign currency transactions
While you can certainly still use your Amaze card in Singapore, credit card linked transactions incur a 1% fee with S$0.50 minimum.
There is no fee for credit card linked transactions for foreign currency spend, though the forex spread is usually around 2% worse than the spot rate. Given that many credit cards charge 3.25% fees for foreign currency transactions, using Amaze is often preferable as long as your credit card still gives rewards with Amaze transactions.
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Miles Cards
| Card | Earn Rate | Monthly Cap | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 Citi Rewards | 4 miles per dollar | S$1,000 spend (4,000 miles) | ❌ Excludes travel-related spend |
 OCBC Rewards | 4 miles per dollar | S$1,110 spend (4,440 miles) | 📋 Only for specific MCCs |
 Maybank XL Rewards* | 4 miles per dollar | S$1,000 spend (4,000 miles) | 💲 Minimum spend of S$500 per month 📋 Only for Dine, Shop, Travel, and Play categories |
Citi Rewards has long been the card to pair with Instarem Amaze. As card that gives its 4 miles per dollar earn rate on online transactions, the ability of Instarem Amaze to convert even offline transactions into online one has made this a fantastic pairing. This duo has been less attractive to use locally due to the 1% fee introduced in March 2025, but it is still a great combo to use for overseas spend, giving its 4 miles per dollar earn rate on practically everything except travel-related (e.g. flights, hotels etc.) spend.
OCBC Rewards is a pretty niche card since it only works with a very specific list of MCCs, but since it supports things like 5309 (Duty-Free Shops), it can be useful to pair this card with Instarem Amaze when you are shopping at overseas duty-free shops. The card also has a bunch of shopping-related MCCs which could come in useful overseas.
Cashback Cards
| Card | Earn Rate | Monthly Cap | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Citi Cash Back | 6% or 8% cashback | S$80 cashback | 💲 Minimum spend of S$800 per month 📋 Only for petrol, ride-hailing, dining, and groceries |
 Maybank Family & Friends* | Tier 1: 6% cashback Tier 2: 8% cashback | Tier 1: S$20 cap (S$333.33 spend) Tier 2: S$30 cap (S$375 spend) | 1️⃣ Tier 1: min. spend of S$800 per month 2️⃣ Tier 2: min. spend of S$1,600 per month 📋 Only for selected categories |
 Maybank XL Cashback* | 5% cashback | S$80 cashback (S$1,600 spend) | 💲 Minimum spend of S$500 per month 📋 Only for Dine, Shop, Travel, and Play categories |
Citi Cash Back can be a very useful card to pair with Amaze for overseas spend since things like dining and ride-hailing are pretty common transactions when one is abroad.
*Note: using Amaze with Maybank XL or Maybank Family & Friends means your transactions will be local SGD ones
Amaze converts foreign currency transactions into local SGD ones. This is something to note for Maybank XL Rewards, Maybank XL Cashback, as well as Maybank Family & Friends because these cards have their own overseas categories.
Transactions made through Amaze would hence not count towards Maybank Family and Friends’ Malaysian Ringgit & Indonesian Rupiah spend category, nor would they count towards Maybank XL Cards’ foreign spend category.
You should thus only use Amaze when paying for transactions that fall under the card’s supported categories. For other transactions (or if you are unsure of the MCC), you would then use the card on its own without Amaze.
Read this article for more info on when to use Amaze with Maybank Family & Friends:
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Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.
He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.
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