Chocolate Visa Debit Card Review (2026)
The Chocolate Visa Debit Card is barely two years old, but it has already seen its fair share of buffs, nerfs, and nationwide furore.
Thankfully, things have been relatively quiet over the past year or so, making this a good time to revisit the card and assess where it now stands.
Bitter or sweet? Let’s find out.
1 to 2 Max Miles per dollar depending on average Chocolate balance
Chocolate Card earns a base 1 mile per dollar on the first S$1,000 spent within a calendar month, and 0.4 miles per dollar on amounts after the first S$1,000.
For bill payments (such as healthcare, insurance and other specified MCCs discussed later in this article), cardholders will earn miles only for the first S$100 of spend each month.
Users can earn bonus miles through the Miles Multiplier Programme, with higher balances in their Chocolate account translating into more miles per dollar spent on the Chocolate Card.
Essentially, every S$5,000 of balance increases the earn rate by 0.05 miles per dollar. This is applicable all the way to 2 miles per dollar which is reached with S$100,000 for those who are comfortable to maintain funds in their account.
Link the card with HeyMax first
Instead of partnering directly with airlines on its own, Chocolate Finance has tied up with HeyMax since early 2025 to provide Max Miles as a reward for Chocolate Card. This is a pretty good move – instead of having yet another account of miles to manage, users can get their rewards in their HeyMax account.
Moreover, Max Miles can be used for multiple airlines, hotels, or even used to offset one’s flight tickets with FlyAnywhere, making it one of the more versatile forms of points around.
KrisFlyer remains conspicuously absent from HeyMax’s list of airline partners, though it is possible to book certain Singapore Airlines flights for fewer miles using EVA Air miles. EVA Air, including Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways, is one of the many airlines that users can choose to convert their Max Miles with.
To earn rewards on the Chocolate Card, you will need to first have a HeyMax account and link your card.
HeyMax
Get bonus Max Miles on top of your usual card rewards. Max Miles can be used to redeem gift cards, airline miles and hotel loyalty points.
🎁 New Users
Verify your phone number and make your first confirmed purchase:
💳 Features
- Earn bonus Max Miles on top of usual card rewards
- Track card spending (Visa cards only)
- Look up Merchant Category Code and see what cards to use
For reference only; refer to exact details in terms and conditions
Once linked, HeyMax helpfully tracks the spend and miles earned by your Chocolate Card.
Max Miles are credited within the HeyMax app once each eligible transaction posts, which typically takes a few days depending on the merchant. The card’s monthly limits go by transaction date, so users can use up any limit they may have left on the final days of each month without worrying about posting dates.
Few exclusions, though limits apply
Chocolate Card launched with an impressively short list of exclusions, with just 9 MCCs explicitly excluded. In fact, even AXS transactions weren’t excluded, making it one of the only few cards that earned any rewards for such transactions.
It was a strong selling point for the card, but Chocolate Finance soon found out why AXS was such a common exclusion. A nation-wide debacle later, the company moved to block AXS transactions and e-wallet top-ups completely, and soon added a whole bunch of MCCs that would be capped at earning miles on the first S$100 of spend each calendar month:
| MCC | Description | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 80XX | Medical & health | 80 covers Medical Services, Health Practitioners, Hospitals, Dentists (MCC 8011–8099) |
| 93XX | Government services | 93 covers Government Services (MCC 9311–9399) |
| 49XX | Utilities and services | 49 covers Utilities (MCC 4900–4999) |
| 65XX | Real estate and property management | 65 covers Real Estate Agents, Managers (MCC 6513, 6531) |
| 63XX | Insurance | 63 covers Insurance (MCC 6300–6399) |
| 73XX | Business Services | 73 covers “Business Services” (MCC 7311–7399) |
These MCCs are deemed “bill payments” by the company, and are on top of the original 9 exclusions:
- 6529 Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Financial
- 6530 Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Merchant
- 6540 Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card
- 6050 Quasi Cash – Financial Institutions, Merchandise, Services
- 6051 Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Money Orders (Not Wire Transfer), Stored Value Card/Load, Travellers Cheques, and Debt Repayment
- 4829 Money Transfer
- 6010 Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements
- 6011 Financial Institutions – Automated Cash Disbursements
- 6012 Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services and Debt Repayment
With bill payments one of the card’s strongest unique points when it relaunched in 2025, capping such payments at just S$100 per month has made the card considerably less attractive.
The card still passes my threshold for being a “no exclusion” card (and it is the only non-Amex entrant in this category which gives it some standing), but the low limit makes it pretty lacklustre since it’s just 100 (to 200) miles at most each month. I often find myself just using my American Express True Cashback for such bills instead, especially since such transactions can often cross the S$100 mark.
One bright spot for the Chocolate Card is its support for charity-related transactions which are neither excluded nor limited to just S$100 per month. Users can earn the card’s full earn rate of up to S$1,000 of charitable giving per month, and this has been what I’ve found the card most useful for in the past couple of years.
No forex fee sounds good, but…
Chocolate Card does not charge any foreign currency fee, and continues to offer its usual earn rate for overseas spend. While getting miles with no forex fee sounds great on paper, the overall value proposition of using Chocolate Card overseas is a lot less appealing if you consider other alternatives.
If we consider each mile to be 1.5 cents each, a 4 miles per dollar card easily gives rewards in excess of its foreign currency fee:
| Chocolate Card | Citi Rewards + Amaze | 4 Miles Per Dollar Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earn Rate | 1 to 2 Max Miles per dollar | 4 miles per dollar | 4 miles per dollar |
| Forex Fee | 0 | ~2% | 3.25% |
| Effective Yield | 1.5% to 3% (1.8% to 3.6% considering FlyAnywhere) | ~4% | ~2.75% |
Only users who maintain a high balance in their Chocolate account can hope to match a 4 miles per dollar card with their Chocolate Card, and even then a maxed out account struggle to beat the value given by Citi Rewards paired with Amaze.
Another way to look at it is to treat the forex fee charged by a 4 miles per dollar card as the cost of earning more miles beyond the Chocolate Card’s base earn rate. A 4 miles per dollar card earns 3 miles more per dollar than the Chocolate Card’s base earn rate, so paying around 2% mark-up in forex rates through Amaze, or 3.25% forex fee with another card, is therefore the price we pay to earn additional 3 miles per dollar. This is a pretty great deal that any miles chaser should jump at.
Based on my testing, the Chocolate Card also does not do well against Mari Credit Card for the 7 currencies in which the latter promises best-in-class exchange rates.
This makes Chocolate Card a rather middling option when it comes to overseas spend. It neither collects miles as efficiently as other cards can, nor does it offer the most attractive currency conversion rates.
Debit is (usually) not as good as credit
Lastly, it is worth pointing out that the Chocolate Card is a debit card. It can be a pro for the financially less prudent, but it is worse than credit cards which provide an interest-free period for payments to be made.
Funds are deducted directly out of your Chocolate account for transactions, while credit cards allow you to continue earning interest on your funds until repayment is due.
Pretty good sign-up promo, at least in August 2026
With no annual fees, there isn’t much of a downside to keeping the Chocolate Card around. Possibly for the first-time yet, the card (and account) comes with a pretty attractive sign-up promo, at least in the month of August 2026.
The Good
- One of a few rare cards that can earn Max Miles
- Few exclusions compared to other cards and great for charitable giving
- No annual fee, minimum spend, or foreign currency transaction fee
- Max Miles can be converted to multiple airline and hotel programmes
- Monthly limits are determined by transaction date rather than posting date
The Bad
- Low base earn rate of just 1 Max Mile per dollar
- Requires up to S$100,000 in Chocolate account to earn a maximum of 2 miles per dollar, which is still unattractive
- Rewards for certain transactions are capped at just S$100 of spend per month
- It’s a debit card (you have to pay for every transaction upfront)
The Verdict
With a low earn rate even for users who place substantial amounts of funds in their Chocolate account, the Chocolate Card is far from an ideal choice of being one’s primary card. Its best use is for commonly excluded transactions, and even then the S$100 limit severely caps the card’s usefulness.
Having no foreign transaction fee is also nice, but there are few compelling reasons to use the card overseas when better alternatives exist.
Nonetheless, with no annual fee, there is little downside keeping the card around for the occasional bill. At just 100 to 200 additional miles per month for such payments, however, it is unlikely to make a meaningful difference to one’s miles balance.
Chocolate may be tasty, but it’s hardly a treat when you can only nibble on morsels.
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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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