Big Nerf: Instarem Amaze to Charge 1% Fee on Local Transactions, Removes Cashback From 10th March 2025

Starting 10th March 2025, there will be significant changes to Instarem amaze and the news isn’t good — all domestic transactions via amaze linked to a card will incur 1% fee.

Instarem will also add the ability to convert InstaPoints to KrisFlyer miles, though they are also removing cashback as a redeemable option. Oh and card-linked transactions will no longer earn any InstaPoints.

1% fee on SGD transactions from the first dollar onwards

Currently, amaze charges 1% fee for local transactions made in SGD for amounts above S$1,000 within a calendar month. When the changes kick in from 10th March 2025, all transactions made in SGD will incur a 1% fee regardless of amount as long as it’s a card-linked transaction. Wallet-linked transactions continue to be free.

There will also be a minimum fee of S$0.50 per transaction which means that transactions under S$50 will incur a fee higher than 1%. For instance, a S$20 transaction will incur S$0.50 fee instead of just 1% or S$0.20, making the effective fee 2.5% instead.

This no doubt impacts the value proposition of the immensely popular use case of linking Citi Rewards to amaze in order to get 4 miles per dollar everywhere. While it will still be viable when the changes take effect, an extra 1% fee with a S$0.50 minimum is no doubt going to hurt the overall attractiveness of this pairing. Subscribe for updates on how I plan to deal with this nerf.

KrisFlyer miles redeemable at a poor ratio, cashback option removed

Instarem will also add the ability to convert InstaPoints to KrisFlyer miles at a ratio of 1,200 InstaPoints = 400 KrisFlyer miles.

Given that 2,000 InstaPoints can be redeemed for S$20 since the launch of Instarem amaze, this is a very poor ratio, akin to giving up S$12 for 400 miles. That’s an exorbitant 3-cent per mile cost. In any case, this comparison is soon irrelevant since cashback is not going to be a redeemable option when the changes take effect — Instarem is removing the ability to convert InstaPoints into cash altogether.

If you have InstaPoints, it’s time to redeem them for SGD. The small bit of good news is that you would then be able to withdraw the money owing to other tiny little buffs discussed below.

Overseas transactions will not have a fee, but InstaPoints no longer awarded for card-linked transactions

In fact, you might not need to worry about InstaPoints any longer since card-linked transactions will also not earn any more InstaPoints, down from the current 0.5 InstaPoints per S$1.

To be perfectly clear, overseas transactions will not incur any fee, but Instarem amaze’s foreign exchange rate for card-linked transactions has always been around 2% or so. It will sting a bit more without any InstaPoints.

Summary of changes

	Before 10th March 2025	10th March 2025 Onwards
Fees For Local Transactions	Free for first S$1,000, 1% for amounts above S$1,000	1%
Fees For Overseas Transactions	None	None
InstaPoints For Overseas Transactions	0.5 InstaPoints per S$1	None
InstaPoints Usage	1,000 InstaPoints for S$5 or 2,000 InstaPoints for S$20	1,200 InstaPoints for 400 KrisFlyer miles

Other changes

The amaze wallet limit will be increased to S$15,000 (up from S$5,000) with a higher annual transaction limit of S$75,000 (up from S$30,000), or the equivalent in foreign currency.

There will also be options to set daily and per-transaction limits for wallet spends directly in the app. SGD wallet balances can also be withdrawn to their bank account.

The 1% MCC fee on e-wallet top-ups (MCC 6540) and transit payments (MCC 4111) will no longer apply, but since all local transactions will come with a 1% fee, this isn’t that much of a change.

RIP Citi Rewards?

With these changes, it’s clear that Instarem is pushing amaze to be predominantly travel-oriented with wallet-linked transactions prioritised over card-linked ones.

The biggest casualty would be the ability to use Citi Rewards via amaze in a fuss-free way for 4 miles per dollar everywhere. Even if you are fine with a 1% fee, smaller purchases under S$50 become unviable owing to the minimum transaction fee. Using this combo overseas still makes sense, though ever so slightly worse without added InstaPoints.

Citi Rewards will of course continue to offer its 10X points earn rate on online transactions and selected offline categories. If you use Citi Rewards mainly for online transactions, the changes announced today won’t affect you much. For those who have been relying on amaze as a conduit to use Citi Rewards offline on a variety of transactions will find this a painful nerf.

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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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