Nerfed: Amaze Adds 1% Fee For Certain Payments But Reduces Wallet Top-up Fee to 1%

From 13th October 2023, certain transactions made via Instarem Amaze will incur a 1% fee. These transactions include things like insurance, education and hospital payments made via a linked credit card in your Instarem app. On a brighter note, Instarem is making a previous nerf less painful by reducing the fee for wallet app top-ups to 1%.

1% fee for education, hospital etc.

SGD Transactions made with selected Merchant Category Codes (MCC) will incur 1% fee from 13th October 2023 onwards with a minimum of S$0.50. The affected MCCs are:

• Insurance and specialty retail stores (6300, 5999)
• Healthcare Services (8099, 8011, 8062, 8021, 8041)
• Advertising and Business Services (7311, 7399)
• Government Services (9399)
• Education (8299, 8220)
• Automotive services / car dealers (5511, 7538)

Some of these transactions like insurance and government services are already excluded by almost every credit card there is in the market, so adding a fee to something nobody is using doesn’t really hurt anyone.

Things like hospital payments, however, is a pain for those who use Citi Rewards paired with Amaze. This combination gives you 4 miles per dollar when you pay in person at a medical facility, but from 13th October 2023 onwards it will attract a 1% fee. To be clear, for government hospitals, you can still use the Citi Rewards card directly to pay online via Health Buddy and get your 4 miles per dollar, so Amaze’s new fee only affects Amaze transactions.

Citi Rewards + Amaze still works

Each time Instarem tightens the noose around Amaze, I imagine the number one concern for many users would be whether the Citi Rewards + Amaze combination still works. For those unfamiliar with this pairing, Citi Rewards card gives 10X points (4 miles per dollar or 2.27% cashback) on online transactions, and Amaze handily converts even in-store payments into online ones. This means you get Citi Rewards’ high earn rate almost anywhere regardless whether it is an online or physical transaction.

For now, this “hack” still works, save for the above transactions which will soon see you paying additional 1% transaction fee for that.

Is it worth paying the 1% fee?

If you have an alternative that gives you 4 miles per dollar, you obviously want to use that instead. Given how versatile Citi Rewards + Amaze is, however, it may not be that easy to find a replacement. Most cards don’t give their high earn rate with hospital bills paid in person, and Citi Rewards + Amaze might be your only choice. Either that, or you have to use a card that gives at best 1.3 to 1.4 miles per dollar.

In such a situation, is it worth paying the 1% fee? I absolutely think so. If your next best alternative is a 1.4 miles per dollar card, paying the 1% fee secures you additional 2.6 miles per dollar. This is akin to buying each mile for 0.38 cents which is a very low rate. Each mile is worth 0.6 to 0.8 cents even at very conservative valuations, so buying them at rates lower than this is worth it. I am personally willing to pay up to 1.25 cents for each mile.

2% fee for wallet app top-ups lowered to 1%

Simultaneously, Instarem announced a decrease in the 2% fee it instated months ago for using Amaze to top up a wallet app (e.g. Grab). The new fee is 1% which also takes effect from 13th October 2023 onwards.

The good news is that cashing out your Instapoints will be cheaper under the new rate. Instapoints can be earned through a few ways such as making foreign currency spend or referring your friends to join the service. The reward points can be converted into balance within your Amaze wallet and you can either spend it normally, or cash it out by topping up your Grab wallet and transferring it to your bank account.

The latter option requires a fee, and even at 2%, I will prefer to cash out. Spending with one of my many other credit cards can beat the 2% fee handily, so cashing out is better value. At 1%, it is even more straightforward.

Table summary

In all, the new fee situation can be described in a table provided by Instarem in a press release sent out via email:

Merchant Description	Examples	Merchant Category Code	Fee when paying with amaze wallet	Fee when paying with a linked card
Non-Financial Institutions: wallets, cards etc.	GrabPay Wallet, ShopeePay	6540	1%	1%
Security brokers, dealers, Quasi cash merchants	Xmglobal IG.com, Coinhako, Coinbase, Wirex	6211 6051	1%	1%
Others	*EZ-Link wallet top-ups & TransitLink General Ticketing Machines only	4111*	1%	1%
Insurance and specialty retail stores	Singlife, FWD, AIA, Atome, Shopback Paylater	6300 5999	No fees	1%
Healthcare Services	Doctor Anywhere, Raffles Medical, Polyclinics & Hospitals, Q&M Dental	8099 8011 8062 8021 8041	No fees	1%
Advertising and Business Services	Google, Tiktok Ads, Amazon Web Services	7311 7399	No fees	1%
Government Services	HDB, LTA, Town Council	9399	No fees	1%
Education	THE LEARNING LAB, NTUC LearningHub, NUS, NTU, SUSS	8299 8220	No fees	1%
Automotive services / car dealers	Performance Motors Cycle & Carriage, MITSUBISHI/KIA SVC CTR	5511 7538	No fees	1%

Conclusion

Nerfs aren’t enjoyable, of course, but it’s part and parcel of the rewards game. Thankfully, as far as nerfs go, this one isn’t terrible and probably shouldn’t affect what most people use Amaze for. Stay subscribed for important updates!

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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