Citi PremierMiles Visa Card: All you need to know

The Citi PremierMiles Visa Card is a credit card that you can use around the world for shopping, travel and more. One of its main attractive features is the ability to quickly accrue miles as you spend, which you can put to use later towards hotels, flights or to pay for purchases. The card also has other perks like airport lounge access, travel insurance, and discounts.

Read on to learn more about how the card works and if it can be of interest to you. But if you are looking for an easy way to spend by card or cash as you travel, there are better options out there that can save you money too. Take a look at Wise’s multi-currency account to shop, hold currency and pay in 45+ countries at 7x lower than the banks.

How does the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card work

The Citi PremierMiles Visa card works like a normal credit card, where you can use the card to make purchases within your credit limit. You then pay back your spent amount every month with interest. The advantages of the Citi PremierMiles card are the benefits and reach of a Citi card plus the rewards for spending. But before we get into the rewards, here are the fees and charges that come with using the card¹.

Annual fee

There is an annual fee of SGD 192.60, inclusive of (GST), which is waived for the first year. Starting in the second year, you will have to pay the annual fee.

Annual interest rate

At the writing of this article, the effective interest rate can be one of the following below. The Cash Interest Rate refers to interest on any debit balances for cash advances, quasi cash transactions, outstanding balances from a balance transfer program and the like.

	Interest Rate per Year	Cash Interest Rate per Year
Prevailing	26.9%	26.9%
Promotion*	20.9%	20.9%
If Account is Past Due**	29.9%	29.9%

*this can be extended with good conduct in your account.
** An account is past due if you have not paid the minimum payment amount due before the due date

On an outstanding balance, there will always be a minimum interest rate charged of SGD 3.

Late payment fee

If you aren’t able to make a minimum payment amount by the due date, there will be a fee of SGD 100 added to your account.

Minimum monthly repayment
You will always be notified of the minimum payment amount due for the next billing cycle on your account statement. It is calculated by taking 1% of your current balance and adding it to 1% of any outstanding unbilled installment amounts, on top of the interest charges, late payment charges, and overdue amounts. If your balance is below SGD 50, then your minimum payment amount will be the existing balance.

Foreign currency transaction fee

Despite being a travel-focused card, this credit card does start to tack on quite a few fees once you start spending abroad. If you make a purchase in a non-SGD currency, that amount is first converted into USD then SGD to post the transaction. For this, you will be hit with admin fees along the way.

	Fee as percentage of the transaction
Visa admin fee	3%
Converted SGD admin fee	3.3%

If you opt for dynamic currency conversion at the time of sale abroad, you will get a 1% admin fee for that as well.
But on top of all of this, you will also be hit with the hidden fee in the exchange rate. Visa sets their own exchange rate which is weaker than the one you see on Google. By making their rate lower than the one they use themselves, they are able to sneak in a new fee which takes a bite out of your money.

Cash advance transaction fee

In case you are traveling and are in need of cash, you can take cash out from your Citi PremierMiles Visa card at an ATM. This cash advance will cost the greater of SGD 15 or 6% of the amount taken out.

Overlimit fee

If you spend beyond the credit limit awarded to you, you will be charged a fee of SGD 40 on your balance.

What is the eligibility for Citi PremierMiles Visa Card?

To be eligible for the Citi PremierMiles card you need to have a minimum income of SGD 30,000 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents; SGD 42,000 for Foreigners; and be over the age of 21. When applying, there is also a fee of SGD 192.60 (including GST).²

If you are a Citi Cardmember already, you can apply directly through your existing account. Or if you are new to Citi, you can apply through their website.

Employees on a salary will need to submit a copy of their NRIC/ passport; latest original computerized payslip or Tax Notice of Assessment, or the latest 12 months of CPF statements, online.

For those who are self-employed, you will need to submit a copy of your NRIC/ passport as well, but also your last 2 years of income tax notice of assessment and last 3 months’ bank statements.

What can I do with Citi PremierMiles Visa Card?

The Citi PremierMiles Visa Card is set up to reward those who travel a lot. With incentives to spend in foreign currencies, you can earn travel miles fast that you can use to book further travel and don’t expire. And, on top of discounts on travel booking websites with Citi World Privileges, there are enticing offers for travel insurance and airport lounge access too.

Citi PremierMiles Visa Card air miles

For every SGD 1 equivalent you spend in a foreign currency, you will earn 2 Citi Miles. These miles can be used for frequent flyer or hotel programs, hotel stays, flights, rental cars, and activities. Or you can redeem your Citi Miles to pay for any purchases. There are other ways to get Citi miles too³:

	Citi Miles Earned
SGD 1 Spent in Foreign Currency	2
SGD 1 Spent in Singapore	1.2
SGD 1 Spent with minimum spending of SGD 3000 per month	1.5
Card renewal bonus	10,000
Welcome Gift	40,000

Citi PremierMiles Visa Card travel insurance

If you purchase travel tickets using your Citi PremierMiles Visa Card, you get up to SGD 1 million in insurance coverage. The travel tickets do need to be roundtrip and must depart and return to Singapore within 90 days. It is suggested to make sure you read the fine print in the insurance coverage to be fully aware of the policy terms and exclusions.⁴

Citi PremierMiles Visa Card lounge access

Once you get the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card, you can apply to Priority Pass for membership. The membership is only applicable for the Principal cardholder and allows for 2 free visits to Priority Pass valid airport lounges every year. Beyond the 2 free visits, if you still want access to the lounges, you can go but you will be charged USD 27 per person per visit on your Citi PremierMiles Visa card account.⁵

Overseas spend with Citi PremierMiles Visa Card

If you’re looking to spend overseas as you travel, the Citi PremierMiles Visa card can appear to be a good option. And while the travel miles look attractive, they may not be the best compensation for very high-interest rates and multiple fees on every single transaction abroad. And with an unattractive exchange rate on top of that, it is quite easy for your purchases to start costing a lot more than you think.

Overseas spending does not need to be this way. With modern tools and companies like Wise, you can travel, spend and get cash with one low fee and at the mid-market exchange rate. That means the exchange rate you see on Google, is the exchange rate you get. No more interest rates or getting surprised by your account statement every month, get the simple, easy and cheap Wise’s borderless card.

Get your Wise borderless card- a multi-currency account that is on average 7 times cheaper than banks

Spending overseas does not have to be complicated or expensive. With Wise’s borderless card you can spend, hold and convert 40+ currencies. Plus you can withdraw cash for free up to SGD 350. No more paying cash advance fees or expensive administrative fees. Once you sign up for the borderless account, you will always get the mid-market exchange rate and just one low fee on every transaction. This is what makes Wise an average of 7 times cheaper than banks.

You can use your borderless account on the go, at the beach, or at home with Wise’s award-winning app. And the app will keep you updated on transactions with immediate push notifications so you are always on top of your finances. And better yet, you can use the borderless account to shop from overseas on Alibaba, Amazon, Qoo10 and Grab too for less than most credit cards. Saving money and easy to use? Upgrade your international lifestyle with Wise’s borderless account.

Sources used for this article:

1. Citi PremierMiles Visa Card Fees and Charges
2. Eligibility
3. Air Miles
4. Travel Insurance
5. Lounge Access

All sources checked as of 28 November, 2019