Furniture and electronics are usually big-ticket purchases, so this is where optimising your cards actually makes a difference.
One thing to understand first: some 4mpd cards award bonus miles based on how you pay, while others care about the merchant’s MCC.
Payment-method based: UOB Visa Signature for contactless, and UOB Preferred Visa for mobile contactless. They generally don’t care what you’re buying.
MCC-based: UOB PPV online, HSBC Revolution, OCBC Rewards, Maybank XL and UOB Lady’s.
Electronics stores are usually MCC 5732, which is widely whitelisted. Furniture stores like IKEA and Courts are usually MCC 5712, which isn’t.
So for furniture, either use a payment-method card or buy via HeyMax to change the MCC.
If I’m Buying In-Store
I’d max out the contactless cards first.
| Card | Cap | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| UOB Visa Signature | $1,200 / statement month | Need at least $1,000 contactless spend in the statement month or everything drops to 0.4mpd. Physical tap and Apple/Google Pay both count. |
| UOB Preferred Visa | $600 / calendar month | Mobile Paywave only (eg. Apple, Google Pay) to earn 4mpd. |
| HSBC Revolution | $1,000 / calendar month | MCC-gated. Electronics (5732) and department stores (5311) work; furniture (5712) doesn’t. Cap is shared with online spend. |
For furniture showrooms, I’d use Visa Signature or PPV via mobile. For electronics, Revolution works too.
One non-card tip: always check competitor prices before paying.
I was buying a fridge at one of the major appliance stores, googled the exact model and found it cheaper elsewhere. I showed the salesperson, he checked with his supervisor and they matched it.
I’ve done this for every big-ticket purchase since. Takes two minutes.
If I’m Buying Online
| Card | Where it works | Cap | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| OCBC Rewards | Lazada, Shopee, TikTok Shop, Taobao | $1,000 / calendar month at 6mpd | Promo till 31 Mar 2027. Don’t use ShopeePay. The 6mpd is 4mpd + 2mpd promo, so your regular shopping cap still matters. |
| DBS Woman’s World | Any online store | $1,000 / calendar month | Standard exclusions apply. Points expire in about a year. |
| Citi Rewards | Any online store | $1,000 / statement month | Statement month, not calendar month. |
| HSBC Revolution | Amazon, electronics retailers | $1,000 / calendar month | Same MCC whitelist as in-store. Amazon and electronics work; furniture doesn’t. Cap shared with contactless. |
Amazon isn’t on OCBC Rewards’ 6mpd list, but still earns 4mpd under the normal merchant whitelist, except grocery transactions under MCC 5411.
DBS Woman’s World, Citi Rewards and HSBC Revolution work too.
If the Merchant Is on Kris+
If the store accepts Kris+, pay through it and stack card miles + Kris+ miles.
| Card | Earn | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| DBS Woman’s World | 4mpd | $1,000 / calendar month |
| HSBC Revolution | 4mpd | $1,000 / calendar month |
| UOB Preferred Visa | 4mpd | $600 / calendar month online cap |
| KrisFlyer UOB | 3mpd | Uncapped, after $1,000 SIA-group spend in the membership year |
Kris+ merchant rates change, so check the app before paying.
At time of writing:
- Audio House, Harvey Norman, iStudio: 1mpd
- Challenger: 0.5mpd
If the Merchant Sells Vouchers on HeyMax
This is where HeyMax gets useful for furniture.
Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World already earn 4mpd on HeyMax because it’s an online transaction.
More importantly, HeyMax voucher purchases code as MCC 5311 (department stores). That MCC is whitelisted by HSBC Revolution, OCBC Rewards, Maybank XL and UOB Lady’s under Fashion.
So instead of paying IKEA or Courts directly under furniture MCC 5712, you buy their voucher on HeyMax and your card sees a department-store transaction instead.
That gives you several more 4mpd caps to work with.
| Card | Cap | Earn | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Rewards | $1,000 / statement month | 4mpd | Statement month, not calendar. |
| DBS Woman’s World | $1,000 / calendar month | 4mpd | Points expire in about a year. |
| HSBC Revolution | $1,000 / calendar month | 4mpd / 8mpd with $50k in EGA | Cap shared with other online/contactless spend. |
| Maybank XL Rewards | $1,000 / calendar month | 4mpd | $500 minimum monthly spend. Under 40s only. |
| OCBC Rewards | $1,110 / calendar month | 4mpd | Same cap as your other eligible shopping spend. |
| UOB Lady’s | $1,000 Classic / $750 per category Solitaire | 4mpd | Fashion must be selected. Changes only apply next quarter. |
| UOB Preferred Visa | $600 / calendar month | 4mpd | Uses the online cap, not mobile contactless. |
| KrisFlyer UOB | No cap | 2.4mpd | Requires $1,000 SIA-group spend in the membership year. |
You can also double dip with Max Miles.
Rates at time of writing:
- Amazon: 3.5 Max Miles/$
- Courts: 0.5
- Best Denki: 0.25
Again, check the app because rates can change.
Putting It Together
If I had a big renovation month, I’d spread the spending across the cards instead of dumping everything onto one.
In-store: Visa Signature $1,200 + PPV mobile $600
Online / HeyMax: Citi Rewards $1,000 + DBS Woman’s World $1,000
Shopee / Lazada: OCBC Rewards $1,000 at 6mpd
Then use Maybank XL and HSBC Revolution for additional HeyMax purchases.
You can get roughly $6,000 of spend a month at 4mpd or better with these cards before touching a general-spend card, enough miles for a one-way Business Saver award to Bangkok.
And if you have more than that to spend, try splitting the purchases across two months rather than blowing past all your bonus caps.
