A quiet mechanism has appeared at the edge of the miles economy: a member of HeyMax can now settle the access fee on a borrowed balance by card, and that fee is returned in cash, so the card's rewards arrive at a price near 0.73 cents a mile. It is the kind of gap that appears whenever a system's rules meet the ingenuity of people who read them closely, and the cheapness is less a gift than a window. Those who understand the arithmetic will use it while it stands, and the institutions on the other side of the transaction will almost certainly move to close it.
HeyMax First Access Fees Now Payable by Credit Card, Enabling Miles at 0.73 Cents Each
You pay by credit card and get refunded in cash.
Mark
So what actually changed here?
Mimi
HeyMax First access fees can now be paid by credit card, with a 3% non-refundable processing fee. The fee itself is still refunded by PayNow once the borrowed miles are returned.
Mark
And that refund is the trick?
Mimi
Yes. You earn 4 mpd on S$927, get S$900 back, and your net cost is S$27 for 3,708 miles. That's about 0.73 cents a mile.
Luke
That figure assumes a 4 mpd card and that the bank honours the miles. It's the writer's calculation, not a guarantee.
Mark
Why can't people just repeat it endlessly?
Mimi
Borrowed miles can't repay a drawdown. Only earned Max Miles can, so your earned balance sets the pace.
Mark
And Silver is the best tier?
Mimi
For this purpose, yes. The 3-cent fee lets each earned mile support more card spend, about 30% more than Reserve.
Luke
Worth noting the bigger pools help only if you park cash with HeyMax, which carries its own risk and opportunity cost.
Mark
What's the danger?
Mimi
Banks may call it inorganic spend and claw back rewards, or exclude HeyMax by name, which could hit voucher purchases too.
Luke
That's the author's expectation. No bank has acted yet, so how it plays out is unknown.
O Pulso
- A card payment that comes back as cash has opened a fast lane for buying card miles at a fraction of the usual price.
- Eight cards earning 4 mpd at MCC 5311 can absorb roughly S$7,450 a month, turning a niche trick into a sizable flow of miles.
- The arrangement works only as long as banks do not notice the round trip, and card terms give them ready grounds to claw back rewards.
- Exclusions by merchant name could sweep up HeyMax voucher purchases too, so the damage may spread beyond the original loophole.
- Members are racing to use the window now, with the bank response expected to arrive sooner rather than later.
A quiet mechanism has appeared at the edge of the miles economy: a member of HeyMax can now settle the access fee on a borrowed balance by card, and that fee is returned in cash, so the card's rewards arrive at a price near 0.73 cents a mile. It is the kind of gap that appears whenever a system's rules meet the ingenuity of people who read them closely, and the cheapness is less a gift than a window. Those who understand the arithmetic will use it while it stands, and the institutions on the other side of the transaction will almost certainly move to close it.
A member of HeyMax who has borrowed 30,000 Max Miles against their account can now pay the S$900 access fee attached to that loan by credit card. HeyMax has changed its HeyMax First facility to allow this, and the MileLion has found in it a very cheap route to credit card miles, from around 0.73 cents each. The fee is paid by card with a non-refundable 3% charge, then refunded in cash through PayNow, so the card spend earns rewards while the fee comes back.
HeyMax First lets members borrow Max Miles for a flight or hotel now and earn back the shortfall later. The tiers differ in pool size and access fee, from free Silver with a 3-cent fee to Reserve at S$1,999 a year for a million miles. Every member starts on Silver, which turns out to be the most useful tier for this trick, because a higher access fee lets each earned mile support more card spend.
The arithmetic is simple. Borrowing 30,000 miles on Silver brings a S$927 card charge, which earns 3,708 miles at 4 mpd on a card at MCC 5311. The S$900 refund leaves S$27 as the real cost. The trick has limits, since borrowed miles cannot repay a drawdown, and only earned miles count. Eight Singapore-issued cards qualify, and together they could absorb around S$7,450 a month.
The MileLion is wary of how long this lasts. The bank pays for 4 mpd on what is essentially a round trip of cash, and card terms allow rewards to be clawed back on spend that is not a genuine purchase. Banks tend to respond by excluding a merchant, and since exclusions often use merchant names, HeyMax voucher purchases could be caught too. The open question is whether that comes, and how soon.
A member of HeyMax with 30,000 Max Miles borrowed against their account, and an access fee of S$900 attached to the loan, can now settle that fee with a credit card. That is the change HeyMax made to its HeyMax First facility, and it has opened up what the MileLion calls a very cheap way to buy credit card miles: from 0.73 cents each.
HeyMax First is the platform's "Fly Now, Earn Later" product. Members borrow Max Miles to redeem a flight or hotel stay, then earn back the shortfall at their own pace. Two fees apply: a membership fee, waived for the first year, and an access fee charged when miles are withdrawn and fully refunded once the borrowed miles are returned. Until now, the access fee could only be paid by PayNow.
The tiers differ in pool size and fees. Silver is free, with a 30,000-mile pool and a 3-cent access fee per mile. Gold costs S$299 a year for 100,000 miles at 2.7 cents. Platinum is S$699 for 300,000 miles at 2.5 cents. Reserve is S$1,999 for 1 million miles at 2.3 cents. Every member starts on Silver.
Card payments carry a non-refundable 3% processing fee, code as MCC 5311 (Department Stores), and work only with Singapore-issued cards. The key detail is that the access fee is refunded by PayNow even when paid by card. You pay by card and get your money back in cash.
The arithmetic goes like this. Borrowing 30,000 Max Miles on Silver means a S$900 access fee, which becomes S$927 with the processing fee. On a card earning 4 miles per dollar at MCC 5311, that earns 3,708 miles. When the borrowed miles are repaid, S$900 comes back, leaving S$27 as the true cost, or about 0.73 cents per mile. The MileLion notes this undercuts bill payment services: from 0.95 cents for one tax payment facility, up to 1.60 cents for another whose offer ends on 31 October 2026.
It is not an infinite miles hack, because borrowed Max Miles cannot be used to repay a drawdown. Only miles earned elsewhere count. In the article's example, someone with 50,000 earned miles borrows 30,000 and repays at once, leaving 20,000 earned and 30,000 borrowed. A second round allows only 20,000 to be repaid, leaving 10,000 owed and the rest of the access fee parked with HeyMax until more miles are earned.
The odd consequence is that Silver is the best tier for this purpose. Cost per mile is the same everywhere, but a higher access fee lets each earned Max Mile support more card spend. Drawing 10,000 miles earns 1,236 card miles on Silver against 948 on Reserve, about 30% more. Bigger pools only matter for those willing to leave cash with HeyMax, since they cap how far ahead of your earnings you can draw.
Eight cards earn 4 mpd at MCC 5311, including the Citi Rewards, DBS Woman's World, HSBC Revolution, Maybank XL Rewards, OCBC Rewards and UOB Lady's cards. Their combined monthly caps total S$7,450, or up to 29,800 miles a month at the 0.73-cent cost. Higher rates of 6 mpd on UOB Lady's Cards and 8 mpd on the HSBC Revolution are possible with deposits of S$10,000 and S$50,000. Beyond the caps, the KrisFlyer UOB card gives KrisFlyer miles at 1.21 cents. Running S$7,450 through Silver would take about 241,000 repaid Max Miles a month, so for most people earned balances are the real limit. The method could also meet minimum spends for bonus interest on UOB One, OCBC 360 and Maybank SaveUp, each S$500.
The MileLion is wary of how long it will last. HeyMax's 3% fee should cover its card costs and the buyer gains, so the bank pays for the 4 mpd on what is effectively a round trip of cash. Card terms commonly let banks claw back rewards on spend that is not a genuine purchase. Banks usually respond by excluding the merchant, and because exclusions tend to be by merchant name, voucher purchases through HeyMax could be caught as well. Whether that happens, and how quickly, is the thing to watch.
Citações Notáveis
Banks usually respond by excluding the merchant; the only question is how long it takes.— The MileLion
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