Get the ultimate guide to earning rewards from credit cards bill payments in one read! Everyday expenses like utilities, tuition fees, insurance premiums, and various miscellaneous fees can earn you rebates or air miles when you choose the right credit card and pay through autopay or online banking. Want to know which credit card earns the most rewards or air miles? Which payment method offers the most benefits? Find out more now!
Best bill payment cards in Hong Kong 2024
- Credit card bill payment strategy: Understanding payment methods
- Overview of Alipay HK, WeChat Pay HK, and UnionPay handling fees
- Recommended credit cards for bill payments
- EarnMORE UnionPay Diamond Card: 2% cashback on payments
- Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard: Pay electricity and gas bills via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile
- DBS Bank’s DBS Black World Credit Card: Pay via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile
- Citi Credit Card Payment Offer: Citi PayAll
- Citibank Citi Prestige Credit Card: Earn miles for payments to Hong Kong Electric, CLP, and Towngas
- Citi PremierMiles Credit Card: HK$8/mile for local consumption
- CCB (Asia) eye Credit Card: Earn points for water, electricity, gas, tuition, and insurance payments
- Things to consider when paying bills
- Pay bills and taxes through PayMe: A new way to earn credit card rewards
- Related articles
Credit card bill payment strategy: Understanding payment methods
There are several ways to pay with a credit card. Understanding these payment methods can help you find the most suitable credit card payment method to earn rewards!
- Pay on the merchant’s website: Go directly to the merchant’s website to make a payment. For example, some school fees can be paid on the school’s website.
- Pay in person: Go to the school, insurance company, or water and electricity company to make the transaction.
- Autopay: The merchant accepts automatic transfers from banks and credit cards. If possible, you only need to provide your credit card information to the merchant to set up an automatic transfer.
- Online banking: Make payments through the bank’s online banking system.
- Alipay HK, WeChat Pay HK, UnionPay, and other mobile wallets: Some credit cards offer rewards for transactions in e-wallets.
Generally speaking, binding a credit card to pay with Alipay HK, WeChat Pay HK, UnionPay, and other mobile wallets can earn more rewards under the category of digital wallet.
Overview of Alipay HK, WeChat Pay HK, and UnionPay handling fees
Although there are handling fees for mobile wallet payments, as long as you choose the right credit card and payment methods, the handling fee can be as low as 0% that you can maximize credit card rewards.
| Payment Method | Handling Fee |
|---|---|
| AlipayHK | 1.5%-2.5% |
| Paying electricity, gas, LPG, property management fee, school bills, rental estate rent with Visa/MasterCard | 2.5% |
| Paying government bills (including tax bureau, water bills, rates and ground rent, etc.) with Bank of China credit card, Hang Seng credit card, Standard Chartered credit card, and other credit cards Visa/MasterCard | 1.5% |
| Telecom category / autopay | No handling fee |
| WeChat Pay HK | 1-2% |
| Paying via UnionPay card | 1% |
| Other Visa/Master cards | 2% |
| UnionPay (paying with UnionPay card) | No handling fee |
Recommended credit cards for bill payments
Most bills can be paid through digital wallets at present. As long as everyone is clear with the fees incurred when they pay the bills through those payment tools. Here are the recommended credit cards for payments and related payment tools:
| Comparison of credit cards for water, electricity, gas/miscellaneous/rates payments | |
| Credit Card | Reward |
| Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard | Pay HK Electric or Towngas via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile. Pay tax or bills via PayMe for HK$6/mile |
| DBS Black World Mastercard | Pay HK Electric or Towngas via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile. Pay tax or bills via PayMe for HK$6/mile |
| Citibank Prestige Credit Cards | HK Electric, CLP, and Towngas all have HK$6/mile. Pay bills via Citi PayAll for HK$6/mile. Pay tax or bills via PayMe for HK$6/mile. Pay bills via WeChat Pay HK for HK$6/mile |
| EarnMORE UnionPay Card | Use EarnMORE UnionPay Diamond Card to bind UnionPay to pay bills and earn 2% cashback, and no handling fee is incurred. |
| CCB (Asia) eye Card | HK$15/mile Or 0.4% cashback |
EarnMORE UnionPay Diamond Card: 2% cashback on payments
- Min. Annual Salary
- HK$0
- Cash back on overseas spend
- 2%
- Cash back on local spend
- 2%
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When it comes to credit cards for making payments, using the EarnMORE UnionPay Diamond Card linked to UnionPay can earn a 2% cashback, with no handling fee. UnionPay can be used to pay for water, electricity, gas, management fees, and university/college fees, and you can earn up to HK$1,500 of cashback each year. If you exceed the limit, there’s still an unlimited 1% cashback!
Features:
- Electronic wallet payments enjoy 2% cashback, with no minimum spending requirements
- No handling fee for using UnionPay
- Minimum annual income: HK$0
Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard: Pay electricity and gas bills via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile
- Miles Conversion(Eligible spending on Cathay and HK Express)
- HK$2=1 mile
- Miles Conversion (Eligible spending on dining, online and overseas category)
- HK$4 = 1 mile
- Bank Welcome Offer
- 60,000 miles
【Free BRUNO Oval Hot Plate!】From now until 30 April 2024, new Cardholders who successfully apply for for Standard Chartered Cathy Mastercard now via MoneySmart to get BRUNO BOE053-BGY Oval hot plate (Value: $1,598) or $900 ParkNshop vouchers / $900 Apple store gift card / AirSim sim card with $900 value!
Whenever we talk about earning miles, we always think of the Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard. This card originally had no benefits for payments, but fortunately, Hong Kong Electric Company and Town Gas now accept Alipay HK / PayMe for payments, giving us more choices when making payments.
Using the Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard now allows you to earn miles at HK$6/mile for paying electricity, gas, and daily consumption and adding value to your Octopus card, which is very convenient! But please note, if the payment amount exceeds the monthly limit of HK$3,000 for the handling fee waiver, an amount exceeding the limit will be charged a 2.5% handling fee.
Features:
- Dining, online and overseas transactions can enjoy HK$4/mile
- Automatic miles redemption with no handling fee
- Minimum annual income: HK$96,000
DBS Bank’s DBS Black World Credit Card: Pay via Alipay HK for HK$6/mile
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- Welcome Offer
- Up to 42,000 miles
- Upon meeting local and overseas spending goal*
- HK$3/mile
- Miles Conversion (overseas spend)
- HK$4/mile
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DBS Black World Credit Card also benefits from PayMe, WeChat Pay, and Alipay. You can pay via these platforms and earn HK$6/mile (Quite tempting!) However, note that starting from December 1, 2023, cardholders’ first HK$5,000 retail spending per calendar month will be counted as eligible, and any spending exceeding HK$5,000 will not be eligible.
In simple terms, as long as the e-wallet spending does not exceed HK$5,000, you can earn miles!
Features:
- DBS$ can be redeemed for various mileage plans such as Asia Miles, Avios, KrisFlyer, and Phoenix Companion
- Add value to PayMe at HK$6 = 1 mile
- Minimum annual income: HK$240,000
Citi Credit Card Payment Offer: Citi PayAll
When it comes to credit card payment offers, you have to mention Citibank’s Citi PayAll payment function! You can use Citi PayAll to pay various fees with a credit card, whether it’s water, electricity and gas fees, premiums, tuition fees, phone bills, etc., all can be easily paid! However, note that when using Citi PayAll to pay fees, remember to choose the option with a handling fee in order to enjoy the basic credit card rebate or points.
The Citi PayAll handling fee is 1%, which means that every HK$100 payment requires a handling fee of HK$1. As long as the rebate is higher than 1%, you can earn rewards by using Citi credit card to pay!
Citibank Citi Prestige Credit Card: Earn miles for payments to Hong Kong Electric, CLP, and Towngas
- Minimum Income Requirements
- HK$600,000
- Miles Conversion (local spend)
- HK$6 = 1 Mile
- Miles Conversion (overseas spend)
- HK$4 = 1 Mile
Citi Prestige Credit Card is very versatile, especially after Hong Kong Electric accepts Alipay HK / PayMe for payment, this card can earn HK$6/mile at Hongkong Electric, CLP, and The Hong Kong and China Gas Company.
Through the Citi PayAll function in the Citi Mobile App, you can pay miscellaneous fees such as rent, tuition, management fees, and parking lot monthly rent, and earn points, but each transaction requires a handling fee (Up to 4% of the payment amount). However, the annual salary requirement of this card is relatively high, requiring up to HK$600,000, not everyone can benefit.
Features:
- Free unlimited use of Priority Pass membership global airport lounge service
- Enjoy Citi Prestige concierge service
- Minimum annual income: HK$600,000
Citi PremierMiles Credit Card: HK$8/mile for local consumption
- Minimum Income Requirements
- HK$120,000
- Miles Conversion (local spend)
- HK$8 = 1 mile
- Miles Conversion (overseas spend)
- HK$3 = 1 mile
If you want to pay fees to earn miles, Citi PremierMiles Credit Card is undoubtedly the best choice. Every HK$8 spent earns 1 mile! At any time, the total amount of fees paid in one year can earn more than one flight!
Features:
- Overseas spending HK$3/mile
- Local spending HK$8/mile
- Minimum annual income: HK$120,000
CCB (Asia) eye Credit Card: Earn points for water, electricity, gas, tuition, and insurance payments
Although Bank of China (Asia) eye Credit Card only has basic points for payments (i.e., HK$15/mile or 0.4% rebate), online banking payment can also earn you points for tuition, insurance fees. However, note that the maximum points that can be earned from online payments are 12 times the credit limit.
Features:
- Basic sign-up HK$1=1 point, HK$15 point/mile or 0.4% rebate
- Online shopping or contactless payments can earn 5 times points
- Join the “Instant Travel Club” to earn an extra 3x for travel and foreign currency sign-up
- Minimum annual income: HK$240,000
- Permanent fee waiver
Things to consider when paying bills
Not all bills can be paid through digital wallets, especially paying electricity and gas bills. Then, you may consider using the following credit cards for automatic transfer:
| Utility Company | Credit Card Options |
|---|---|
| CLP | BEA, BOC / BOC Dual Currency Credit Card, Dah Sing, Citibank, American Express Card |
| HK Electric | DBS, BOC, American Express Card |
| Towngas | BOC, Citibank, American Express Card, BEA Towngas Card |
Other than that, here are some the notes for paying bills with credit cards:
- Water bills can only be paid using credit cards through online banking, while autopay requires a linked bank account.
- For other utilities, paying in person can also earn you rebates.
- Some credit cards, such as those from DBS, do not offer rewards for insurance premium payments.
- Generally, there are no rebates for tax payments. Rewards are only offered when banks have special offers for paying taxes with credit cards.
- Paying for “banks and credit card services,” “financial services,” “credit services,” and other finance-related bills may incur handling fees and will not earn Miles or rebates.
- AlipayHK / WeChat Pay HK can be used to pay HKE and CLP electricity bills, Hong Kong and China Gas water and gas bills, taxes, rates, and rent.
Pay bills and taxes through PayMe: A new way to earn credit card rewards
PayMe has added a payment feature that allows you to pay your bills. Simply slide left on the PayMe homepage or tap ‘Pay’ to open the scanner, then scan the QR code on your government and utility bills to make payment.
At present, you can pay the following bills through PayMe:
- Water Supplies Department
- Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd.
- Government General Demand Notes: Salaries Tax, Personal Assessment, Business Registration Fee, Branch Registration Fee, Stamp Duty, Court Fees, Tax Reserve Certificates, Property Tax, and Interest on Judgment Debts
- Rates and Valuation Department
Generally, apart from the time-limited tax payment offers by banks during tax season, there are no rewards for paying taxes online. However, with PayMe, you can add value to your PayMe account with a credit card that offers rewards, then use PayMe to pay your taxes, effectively earning rewards for paying taxes with your credit card. Please note, the current monthly credit card top-up limit for PayMe is HK$1,000.
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