There is no single best American Express card in Singapore, because Amex runs a deliberately short consumer line-up and each card does one job well. For flat, no-fuss rebate, the True Cashback Card pays 1.5 percent on everything with no cap. For Singapore Airlines flyers, the KrisFlyer Credit Card and its pricier Ascend sibling earn KrisFlyer miles directly. For people who eat out a lot at hotel restaurants, the Platinum Credit Card's Love Dining discounts can outweigh its S$327 fee. The honest catch with any Amex in Singapore is acceptance: more merchants take Visa and Mastercard, so an Amex usually works best as a second card rather than your only one. This guide walks through every card, the exact 2026 fees and earn rates, and who each one suits.
Amex issues its own cards in Singapore directly (proprietary cards), separate from bank-issued cards that simply run on the Amex network, such as the DBS Altitude Amex. This guide covers the proprietary American Express consumer credit cards you apply for at americanexpress.com/sg. The co-brand CapitaCard was discontinued from 1 July 2025, so if you see it on an older ranking, that list is out of date.
The four cards in the table below are the mainstream picks most people choose between. Amex also sells two premium products under the Platinum name, the Platinum Reserve Credit Card and the Platinum charge card, which cost far more and are covered in their own section later.
All figures below are inclusive of 9 percent GST, which is the rate that has applied in Singapore since 1 January 2024. Annual fees shown are the published 2026 figures; first-year waivers apply on the cashback and base KrisFlyer cards but not on the Ascend or Platinum.
| Card | Annual fee (incl. GST) | First year | Headline earn | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| True Cashback Card | S$174.40 | Waived | 1.5% cashback, no cap | Flat rebate, no travel |
| KrisFlyer Credit Card | S$179.85 | Waived | 1.1 mpd general, 2 mpd SIA/Scoot | Occasional SIA flyers |
| KrisFlyer Ascend Card | S$397.85 | Not waived | 1.2 mpd general, 2 mpd SIA/Scoot | Frequent SIA flyers |
| Platinum Credit Card | S$327.00 | Not waived | 2 pts/S$1.60, 10X at partners | Heavy hotel diners |
If you do not fly much and you want a card you never have to think about, this is the Amex to get. It pays 1.5 percent cashback on almost every eligible purchase with no minimum spend and no earn cap, credited to your statement. That flat structure is the whole point: you do not have to track bonus categories or worry about hitting a cap mid-month.
New cardholders get a higher intro rate of 3 percent cashback on spend in the first six months, capped at S$150 in bonus cashback. After that, the rate settles to the standard 1.5 percent. The annual fee is S$174.40, waived for the first year, and the first two supplementary cards are permanently free.
On overseas spend, the card earns an extra 1 percent on top of the 1.5 percent base, so 2.5 percent total on eligible foreign-currency transactions. That sounds good until you remember the 3.25 percent foreign currency conversion fee Amex applies to non-SGD spend. Net of that fee, you are slightly behind, so this is not the card to default to abroad. For overseas spend a multi-currency option such as a card or wallet with low FX markup usually beats it.
This is the cheapest way to earn KrisFlyer miles directly on an Amex, and it suits someone who flies Singapore Airlines or Scoot once or twice a year. You earn 2 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 on eligible Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop and Pelago purchases, 2 miles per S$1 on Grab spend up to S$200 each calendar month, and 1.1 miles per S$1 on everything else.
The 1.1 miles-per-dollar general rate is the number to watch. It is lower than the dining or online rates on a good bank miles card, so this card earns best when a chunk of your spend genuinely runs through SIA, Scoot or Grab. If most of your spend is groceries and bills, a cashback card or a general-spend miles card will out-earn it.
The annual fee is S$179.85, waived for the first year. New-to-Amex applicants can get up to 16,000 bonus KrisFlyer miles with a minimum S$2,000 spend in the first three months (offer terms and end dates change, so check the current promotion before applying). You also get three Member Invites a year worth up to 12,000 miles total if friends are approved. Miles post straight to your KrisFlyer account, so there is no separate points-to-miles conversion fee to pay, unlike most bank cards.
The Ascend is the premium version of the KrisFlyer card and the maths is straightforward: it costs S$397.85 a year with no first-year waiver, so you need to extract more than that in value before it makes sense. Earn rates are barely higher than the base card at 2 miles per S$1 on SIA, Scoot, KrisShop and Pelago, 2 miles per S$1 on Grab up to S$200 monthly, and 1.2 miles per S$1 on general spend.
The value is in the perks, not the earn rate. Each year on renewal you get a complimentary one-night stay at participating Hilton hotels, a 10,000-mile renewal redemption voucher (a one-off discount when you redeem miles for an eligible booking), and complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status. The four complimentary lounge passes that this card used to include were removed on 1 November 2024 and replaced with the Hilton status upgrade, so do not pick this card expecting lounge visits.
Run the numbers before paying the fee. If a Hilton night and the 10,000-mile voucher are worth more than S$397.85 to you, and you will actually use the free night, the card clears its own cost. If not, the base KrisFlyer card earns almost the same miles for a fee that is waived in year one and far lower after.
Despite the name, this is not the famous Platinum Charge Card. It is a credit card with a S$327 annual fee, no first-year waiver, built around dining rather than miles. The earn rate is modest: 2 Membership Rewards points per S$1.60 spent generally, and 10 points per S$1.60 at Platinum 10Xcelerator partners. Points convert to miles or rewards, so the effective earn is unremarkable for a card at this price.
The reason to hold it is Love Dining: up to half the bill, all year, at a list of premium and hotel restaurants, applied for two diners. If you regularly eat at the participating five-star hotel restaurants, two or three meals can cover the annual fee. You also get up to S$200 in fashion and dining credit. If you rarely eat at hotel restaurants, none of this applies to you and the card is poor value.
Treat the Platinum Credit Card as a dining-savings instrument, not a rewards card. The decision is simple: list the restaurants you actually visit, check which are on the current Love Dining list, and estimate your yearly saving. If it clears S$327 comfortably, it pays for itself. Pair it with a flat cashback card for everyday spend, since the points earn here is weak.
Above the four mainstream credit cards sit two premium products that share the Platinum name but cost far more. They are not the right pick for most readers, yet a guide to the best Amex should say plainly what they are so you can rule them in or out.
The American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card costs S$545 a year (incl. GST) and is built around lifestyle access rather than rewards. It earns 2 Membership Rewards points per S$1.60 generally and 10 points per S$1.60 at Platinum 10Xcelerator partners, the same modest rate as the Platinum Credit Card. What you pay extra for is the Love Dining program with up to half the bill at premium restaurants, a complimentary one-night stay each membership year at participating Frasers Hospitality properties, and access to the members-only Tower Club Singapore. It makes sense only if you would use the dining and club access often enough to clear the higher fee.
The Platinum Card is a charge card, not a credit card, so there is no preset spending limit and the balance is settled in full each month. The annual fee is S$1,744 (incl. GST). The earn rate is the same 2 points per S$1.60 base and 10 points per S$1.60 at 10Xcelerator partners. The draw is travel access: unlimited entry to over 1,550 airport lounges worldwide through the American Express Global Lounge Collection (including Centurion Lounges), Marriott Bonvoy elite status, a complimentary hotel night each year, and the Table for Two dining benefit. The current welcome offer runs up to 200,000 Membership Rewards points for new members (100,000 with annual fee payment and S$15,000 spend in the first six months, plus 100,000 on first spend in the 15th month), worth roughly 100,000 KrisFlyer miles when transferred. That is a serious card for serious travellers, and overkill for anyone who flies once or twice a year. If lounge access is the real reason you are looking, weigh it against the dedicated cards in our airport lounge access guide before paying a four-figure fee.
| Card | Type | Annual fee (incl. GST) | Headline draw | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum Reserve Credit Card | Credit card | S$545.00 | Love Dining, Frasers night, Tower Club access | Heavy diners who want club perks |
| The Platinum Card | Charge card | S$1,744.00 | 1,550+ lounges, Marriott status, free hotel night | Frequent international travellers |
Sign-up bonuses move around constantly, so treat any figure you see online as a snapshot rather than a promise and confirm the live terms on the application page before you apply. As a rough guide for 2026, the True Cashback Card pairs its 3 percent intro rate with a bonus capped at S$150, the base KrisFlyer card has run offers up to 16,000 bonus miles for new-to-Amex members on a minimum spend, and the Ascend and both Platinum cards tie their bonuses to paying the annual fee plus hitting a spend target inside the first few months.
A welcome bonus is worth chasing only if you would clear its minimum spend on things you were going to buy anyway. Manufacturing spend to hit a target, then carrying the balance, hands back the bonus in interest several times over. Count the bonus once, against the first-year fee, and judge the card on its ongoing earn rate after that, because you keep the card far longer than the welcome period.
One eligibility rule trips people up: most Amex welcome bonuses are for customers who are new to American Express, meaning you have not held an Amex proprietary card in the past twelve months. Holding a bank card that merely runs on the Amex network, such as a DBS Altitude Amex, does not usually count as holding an Amex, but check the specific terms each time.
The single biggest practical drawback of any Amex in Singapore is acceptance. Visa and Mastercard are taken almost everywhere; Amex is taken at most large retailers, supermarkets and chains but is still refused by some hawker stalls, smaller F&B outlets and merchants who balk at Amex's higher transaction fees. You will hit the occasional terminal that does not take it.
This is why an Amex works best as a second card rather than your only one. Carry a widely accepted Visa or Mastercard as backup and use the Amex where it is accepted and where its rebate or miles beat the alternative. The True Cashback Card's flat 1.5 percent is the easiest to slot in this way because there are no categories to track.
For day-to-day budgeting, the rebate or miles only matter if you clear the balance in full every month. Carry a balance and the roughly 25 to 28 percent annual interest wipes out any cashback or miles many times over. If you are not sure whether a card pays its way after the fee, run your real spend through the personal budget calculator first, then compare cards against your actual numbers rather than the headline rate.
Start with what you actually want back. If you want simple cash and do not fly, the True Cashback Card is the clear pick: flat 1.5 percent, no cap, fee waived in year one. If you fly Singapore Airlines a couple of times a year and will redeem miles for flights, the base KrisFlyer Credit Card earns directly to your account with no conversion fuss. If you fly often and will use a Hilton night every year, the Ascend can clear its higher fee. If you dine at hotel restaurants regularly, the Platinum Credit Card's Love Dining can save more than the S$327 it costs.
Two rules cut through the marketing. First, value miles by how you will redeem them, not the headline rate; miles you let expire are worth nothing. Second, treat any non-waived annual fee as a cost you must earn back in concrete benefits before the card is worth holding. The Ascend and Platinum both fail that test for most people and pass it cleanly for a specific few.
If miles are your goal, it is worth comparing Amex against the wider market rather than within the Amex line-up alone. Bank miles cards often pay more on general and dining spend, while the Amex KrisFlyer cards win on direct crediting and SIA-specific spend. Our guide to choosing a card by your spending lays out that comparison.
By annual fee, the True Cashback Card at S$174.40 and the base KrisFlyer Credit Card at S$179.85 are the cheapest, and both waive the first-year fee, so you effectively pay nothing in year one. The KrisFlyer Ascend (S$397.85), Platinum Credit Card (S$327), Platinum Reserve (S$545) and the Platinum charge card (S$1,744) cost more and do not waive year one.
Amex does not offer a permanently free consumer card here, but the True Cashback Card and the base KrisFlyer Credit Card both waive the first-year fee, so they cost nothing for the first twelve months. After that you can ask for a fee waiver at renewal; whether Amex grants it depends on your spend and history, so it is not guaranteed.
They are different products despite the shared name. The Platinum Credit Card has a S$327 fee, a credit limit and a Love Dining focus. The Platinum charge card costs S$1,744, has no preset spending limit and is settled in full each month, and is built around travel perks such as access to over 1,550 airport lounges, Marriott status and a free hotel night. The charge card suits frequent international travellers, not everyday spenders.
The American Express True Cashback Card. It pays a flat 1.5 percent on eligible purchases with no cap and no minimum spend, plus 3 percent for the first six months (up to S$150 bonus). The S$174.40 annual fee is waived in the first year.
It depends on the card. The True Cashback Card (S$174.40) and the base KrisFlyer Credit Card (S$179.85) have the first-year fee waived. The KrisFlyer Ascend (S$397.85) and the Platinum Credit Card (S$327) do not waive the first-year fee, so you pay from day one.
For the consumer cards, the published requirement is S$30,000 a year for Singapore citizens and PRs, and S$60,000 a year for foreigners. The S$30,000 floor for citizens and PRs matches the Monetary Authority of Singapore minimum-income rule for issuing a main credit card to applicants under 55; individual issuers and premium cards can set higher thresholds.
Only if you use its perks. It costs S$397.85 with no first-year waiver and earns barely more than the base card. The value is the annual complimentary Hilton night, a 10,000-mile renewal voucher and Hilton Silver status. If those are worth more than the fee to you, it pays for itself; otherwise the base KrisFlyer card is better. Note the four lounge passes were removed in November 2024.
Yes. American Express applies a 3.25 percent conversion fee on non-SGD transactions, in place since 1 October 2023. The True Cashback Card earns an extra 1 percent abroad (2.5 percent total), but net of the 3.25 percent fee you are slightly behind, so it is not the best card for overseas spend.
Less so than Visa and Mastercard. Large retailers, supermarkets and chains generally take it, but some hawker stalls and smaller F&B outlets do not. Carry a Visa or Mastercard as backup and use the Amex where it is accepted and where its rebate or miles win.
Yes. The American Express CapitaCard was discontinued from 1 July 2025. If a comparison still lists it, that ranking is outdated. The current proprietary line-up is True Cashback, KrisFlyer, KrisFlyer Ascend and the Platinum Credit Card, with the pricier Platinum Reserve and Platinum charge card sitting above them.
Apply online at americanexpress.com/sg with your NRIC or passport, proof of income such as recent payslips or your latest Notice of Assessment, and CPF contribution history if you are a salaried employee. You must meet the minimum income, generally S$30,000 a year for citizens and PRs and S$60,000 for foreigners, though premium cards set higher floors. Approval often takes a few business days once your documents are verified.
Miles from the KrisFlyer and KrisFlyer Ascend cards post directly to your KrisFlyer account, with no points-to-miles conversion step or fee. You then redeem them through Singapore Airlines for award flights, seat upgrades or KrisShop purchases. Award flights usually give the best value per mile. Our guide on how to redeem KrisFlyer miles for award flights walks through the booking steps.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.