How to Earn Miles on Commonly-excluded Transactions like Education, Hospitals, Insurance and Utilities

If you’re a seasoned miles collector, you’ll probably know by now that not everything earns rewards. Banks have a list of excluded categories for which you won’t earn any miles or cashback, no matter how much you spend.

While it varies from card to card, the following categories are usually excluded.

Merchants with these MCCs pay lower-than-average processing fees, which makes such transactions less profitable. Excluding them from rewards is a way for the banks to balance their books.

But here’s the good news: exclusions are not universal. There are still a few cards which reward these categories, if you know where to look!

Charitable donations

The following credit cards still earn miles for charitable donations.

Unfortunately, the recent decision by Maybank to exclude charitable donations with effect from 1 July 2025 means there’s only two options left on the market. Furthermore, do note that the Chocolate Visa Card blocks donations to overseas charitable entities on the back-end (due to compliance-related reasons).

Education

The following credit cards still earn miles for education-related spend, such as school fees or university tuition.

If you’re making a payment to an overseas institution, the earn rates are higher in foreign currency, especially for Maybank cards. 

However, do remember that a 3.25% foreign currency transaction fee will apply, so if your primary concern is keeping the cost of the transaction low, then you might want to consider alternatives like Revolut or YouTrip instead (though these will not earn you any miles).

Alternatively, you might want to check whether Atome is a payment option. Atome partners with numerous private institutions and enrichment centres in Singapore, such as Writers Studio, School of Concepts, Superstar Teacher, BlueTree Education Geniebook and more. All transactions via Atome code as MCC 5999, which is eligible to earn 4 mpd with cards like the Citi Rewards Card, DBS Woman’s World Card and HSBC Revolution.

Government Services

The following credit cards still earn miles for government services.

The bigger issue is that most government portals in Singapore do not accept American Express cards. This is less of an issue overseas though, so for example, you can pay for your UK ETA (electronic travel authorisation) with an American Express card and earn miles. 

If American Express is not accepted, the only remaining option is the Chocolate Visa Card, which has a cap of 100 miles per month for bill payments (government services are included under this definition).

Hospitals

The following credit cards still earn miles for hospital bills.

 

With the exception of the Chocolate Visa Card and Maybank Visa Infinite, all of the abovementioned cards will only earn miles for private hospital bills, such as Mount Alvernia, Gleneagles, and Mount Elizabeth. Even then, you need to be careful because hospitals and general healthcare fall under the Chocolate Card’s definition of bill payments, which, as previously mentioned has a cap of 100 miles per month.

However, if your hospital bill can be paid through the HealthHub, Health Buddy or OneNUHS app, the transaction MCC changes to 8099 (Medical Services and Health Practitioners Not Elsewhere Classified), which is eligible to earn 4 mpd with the Citi Rewards Card or DBS Woman’s World Card by virtue of being online. 

Insurance Premiums

The following credit cards still earn miles for insurance premiums.

 

The Maybank Visa Infinite earns 1.2 mpd on insurance premium payments, capped at S$3,000 per calendar month. However, its income requirement of S$150,000 will rule it out as an option for most people.

The next best alternative would be the Chocolate Visa Card, though insurance premiums are also considered to be bill payments, and capped at 100 miles per month.

Otherwise, the best you can do is a mere 0.4 mpd with the KrisFlyer UOB Debit Card (not the credit card!) or 0.16 mpd with the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature.

Utilities

The following credit cards still earn miles for utilities bills.

Unfortunately, the two highest-earning options both have major drawbacks. As mentioned earlier, the Maybank Visa Infinite has a minimum income requirement of S$150,000, and the Chocolate Visa Card is capped at just 100 miles per month for bill payments including utilities.

Alternatives: Bill payment services

If you don’t have any of the cards mentioned above, there’s still the option of using a bill payment service like CardUp, Citi PayAll or SC EasyBill.

These platforms will charge your credit card for the amount due, plus an administrative fee, and make a bank transfer to the relevant billing organisation.

For example, I could pay a S$1,000 insurance premium on CardUp using a UOB PRVI Miles Card with a 2.25% admin fee.

• The total amount charged to my card will be S$1,022.50 (S$1,000 + 2.25% admin fee)

• I will earn 1,428 miles in total (S$1,022.50 x 1.4 mpd, adjusted for rounding)

• Therefore, my cost per mile is S$22.50 / 1,428 = 1.58 cents

In other words, you’re basically paying for miles, and whether it’s “worth it” or not boils down to how much you value a mile.

Conclusion

While banks have made it increasingly difficult to earn miles on certain types of transactions, it’s not completely hopeless. With the right mix of cards and payment platforms, there are still ways to earn rewards on education fees, insurance premiums, hospital bills and more.

That said, some of these workarounds come with caveats, such as high income requirements, low caps, or administrative fees. It’s important to crunch the numbers and see whether the miles you earn will be worth the additional effort involved.