Hi Anon,
I have only used Citi PayAll and not other platforms like CardUp, but here are my thoughts based on what I know about the 2 services.
- Admin fee
For Citi PayAll, a standard admin fee of 2% of the transaction amount is applicable. For other services (ie CardUp), the standard admin fee is usually higher than this amount. For CardUp, this is 2.6% of the transaction amount. However, CardUp tends to have frequent promotions to lower this admin fee. While Citi PayAll also has promotions occasionally, it's not as frequent as CardUp. So it's best to check for any ongoing promotions between the 2 before making a payment.
(Currently, both Citi PayAll and CardUp are running promotions, but be sure to check their t&cs to see if you will be eligibile for them - they often require recurring transactions for a few months in a row.)
- Eligible cards
For Citi PayAll, you are restricted to using only Citi cards, which are Citi PM, Prestige or Ultima. For other services, you are free to use miles cards from other banks such as UOB/HSBC/SC. Based on what cards you have access to, the earn rate of the cards you can use may differ, and thus the evaluation of Citi PayAll vs CardUp will have to account for both the earn rate and the admin fee, instead of just the admin fee alone. Check out this post to see the effective cost of miles for various cards & payment facilities.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
thefrugalstudent
Hi Anon,
I have only used Citi PayAll and not other platforms like CardUp, but here are my thoughts based on what I know about the 2 services.
For Citi PayAll, a standard admin fee of 2% of the transaction amount is applicable. For other services (ie CardUp), the standard admin fee is usually higher than this amount. For CardUp, this is 2.6% of the transaction amount. However, CardUp tends to have frequent promotions to lower this admin fee. While Citi PayAll also has promotions occasionally, it's not as frequent as CardUp. So it's best to check for any ongoing promotions between the 2 before making a payment.
(Currently, both Citi PayAll and CardUp are running promotions, but be sure to check their t&cs to see if you will be eligibile for them - they often require recurring transactions for a few months in a row.)
For Citi PayAll, you are restricted to using only Citi cards, which are Citi PM, Prestige or Ultima. For other services, you are free to use miles cards from other banks such as UOB/HSBC/SC. Based on what cards you have access to, the earn rate of the cards you can use may differ, and thus the evaluation of Citi PayAll vs CardUp will have to account for both the earn rate and the admin fee, instead of just the admin fee alone. Check out this post to see the effective cost of miles for various cards & payment facilities.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
thefrugalstudent