As friends with progeny often remind me, educating a child is an expensive task.
Gone are the days when you could throw them out of the house and let the mean streets do their thing. Now it’s all pedagogy this and Socratic method that, with five-digit tuition bills the norm. And even after graduation, there’s still skills upgrading, professional development, MBAs and all sorts of lifelong learning to suck your wallet dry.
So if you’re going to spend all that money anyway, how can you earn something in return (esoteric knowledge aside)?
| 💳 What’s the Best Card for… |
| This guide forms part of the “best card” series. Check out other category specific guides below, or the overall guide here. |
| 💗 Charitable Donations | 🏫 Education | 🥡 Food Delivery | 🏥 Hospital Bills | ☂️ Insurance | ⛽ Petrol | 🚍 Public Transport| 🚰 Utilities Bills |
What MCC does education code as?
Education institutions can code under the following MCC ranges:
- 8211: Schools, Elementary and Secondary
- 8220: Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools and Junior Colleges
- 8241: Schools, Correspondence
- 8244: Schools, Business and Secretarial
- 8249: Schools, Trade and Vocational
- 8299: Schools and Education Services Not Elsewhere classified
Merchants assigned these MCCs typically pay a below-average processing fee, which makes these transactions less profitable for banks. Consequently, there’s less margin to offer rewards.
What credit cards earn rewards for education?
Sadly, there are very few options left for earning rewards on education expenses. Citibank started excluding these in October 2018, UOB in September 2019, Standard Chartered in May 2020, Bank of China in June 2020, and HSBC in July 2020.
This leaves American Express and Maybank as the only two card issuers who still award points for education.
| Bank | Awards Points for Education? |
 | ✓ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✓ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✕ |
 | ✕ |
This means the following cards can be used to earn miles on education expenses.
| Card | Local Earn | FCY Earn |
 AMEX Solitaire PPS Card | 1.5 mpd1 | 2.4 mpd2 |
 AMEX HighFlyer Card | 1.8 mpd | 1.8 mpd |
 AMEX PPS Card | 1.4 mpd1 | 2.0 mpd2 |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend | 1.2 mpd | 2.0 mpd3 |
 Maybank Visa Infinite | 1.2 mpd | 2.0 mpd |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card | 1.1 mpd | 2.0 mpd3 |
 Maybank Horizon | 0.4 mpd | 2.0 mpd4 |
| 1. Earn 1.4 and 1.5 mpd on the PPS and Solitaire PPS Card respectively for every dollar over S$3,800, otherwise 1.3 mpd for both 2. Earn 2.0 and 2.4 mpd on the PPS and Solitaire PPS Card respectively for every dollar over S$3,800, otherwise 1.3 mpd for both 3. Earn 2.0 mpd in June and December only; otherwise 1.1 mpd (AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card) or 1.2 mpd (AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend) 4. Min spend of S$300 per calendar month on all retail transactions | ||
As you can see, the options aren’t ideal. The three highest-earning cards are by nature restricted- the AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Card for Singapore Airlines’ elite passengers, and the AMEX HighFlyer Card for SME owners.
What’s more, the Maybank Visa Infinite’s income requirement of S$150,000 (and annual fee of S$600) puts it out of reach for most, which really only leaves the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card and Maybank Horizon Visa Signature as viable options.
GrabPay Mastercard alternative
One workaround for the limited acceptance of AMEX cards is to top up your GrabPay account first, then use the GrabPay Mastercard to pay your bill.
However, this is contingent on your card offering rewards on GrabPay top-ups, and there’s only three cards left in the market which do:
| 💳 Cards for GrabPay Top-Ups | ||
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 AMEX SIA Business CardApply | 1.8 mpd (until 4 Apr 23) | Only for owners of SMEs |
 AMEX True Cashback CardApply | 1.5% cashback (until 4 Apr 23) | No cap |
 UOB Absolute Cashback CardApply | 0.3% cashback | No cap |
Do remember that:
- You won’t earn any GrabRewards points for education payments
- Your annual transaction limit on the GrabPay Mastercard is S$30,000
Alternatively, if you’re willing to pay a fee in exchange for earning miles on education expenses, the following options are available.
| Provider | Fee | Cost Per Mile* |
 Pay + Earn | 2.5% | 1.52-2.50 |
 | 2.25% (code: GET225) S$30 off first payment with code: MILELION | 1.38-1.83 |
 | 2% | 1.25-1.67 (only for Citi cards) |
 | 1.9% | 1.36-1.9 (only for SC cards) |
| *Based on general spending cards with earn rates of 1.2 to 1.6 mpd | ||
Whether it’s “worth it” to buy miles all boils down to how much you value a mile. The gold standard is of course to earn miles for free, but if banks keep cracking down, this may be the only option left.
For overseas education payments
If you’re paying an overseas educational institution, there’s one more angle to consider: foreign currency transaction fees (FCY fees).
Remember, your credit card will charge you an FCY fee for any transaction that isn’t in Singapore dollars. This adds an additional 3.25% or so to your final cost, which can be significant on a big ticket expense like tuition.
Here’s a rundown of how many miles each card earns on FCY spend, its FCY fee, and what that means for the cost per mile.
| Card | Earn Rate (FCY spend) | FCY Fee | CPM |
| AMEX HighFlyer Card | 1.8 mpd | 2.95% | 1.64# |
| Maybank Visa Infinite | 2.0 mpd | 3.25% | 1.63 |
| Maybank Horizon | 2.0 mpd | 3.25% | 1.63 |
| AMEX PPS Card | 2.0 mpd^ | 2.95% | 1.48 |
| AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend | 2.0 mpd* | 2.95% | 1.48 |
| AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card | 2.0 mpd* | 2.95% | 1.48 |
| AMEX Solitaire PPS Card | 2.4 mpd^ | 2.95% | 1.23 |
| #A better option is to top-up your GrabPay account to earn 1.8 mpd, then use the GrabPay Mastercard to pay. The FCY fee will be 2%, which means a CPM of 1.11 cents. *Only in June and December; otherwise 1.1 mpd (AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card) or 1.2 mpd (AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend) ^For every S$1 spent above S$3,800; otherwise 1.3 mpd for both AMEX PPS and Solitaire PPS Cards | |||
Again, whether or not it’s worth it depends on how much you value a mile.
Conclusion
The opportunities to earn free miles when paying education expenses are rapidly disappearing, so you’d better make hay while you can. If you have an AMEX or Maybank card, it’s still possible to earn some sort of rebate, although the scenarios will be marginal at best.
Is the limitations by MCC the same whether you’re paying a local education institution in SGD, or a foreign one in FCY?
if a given transaction is excluded by MCC, it doesn’t matter whether SGD or FCY
Hi! Will I earn points/miles by paying MOE thru AXS using AMEX CC or GrabPay MC? Thanks!
No. Read your T&C.
Paid for NUS last month with Amex KF Ascend. Miles awarded!
NUS takes AMEX? sweet.
Shouldn’t CIMB be included in this list?
From T&Cs, CIMB seems to not exclude Education payments, which is great!
Just checking here ..
is it confirmed that CIMB credit cards will earn rewards (miles or cashback) for educational spend?
I would think the fairly new UOB Absolute Amex also allows rewards for educational spend.
Anyone can verify and update? Thank you
How about UOB VI and Reserve ? They excluded education too?
Hi Aaron, here is data point for your reference. I realized that the FCY fee is 3% via Grab. Recently the GrabPay mastercard to pay for overseas tuition fees. Thought you might wanna know. This will bring the CPM to 1.67 cents. Not sure if you have other data points which may support this?
“#A better option is to top-up your GrabPay account to earn 1.8 mpd, then use the GrabPay Mastercard to pay. The FCY fee will be 2%, which means a CPM of 1.11 cents.”