From 1st July 2025, the BOC Elite Miles card will offer 1.4 mpd for local spend and 2.8 mpd for FCY spend, while dropping Asia Miles as a transfer option and adding CardUp and ipaymy to its exclusion list.
Bank of China (BOC) made its debut onto Singapore’s frequent flyer credit card scene in mid-2018, with the BOC Elite Miles card. The launch was promising – offering an impressive 2 mpd on local spend and 5 mpd on foreign currency transactions, competitive rates for an entry-level card with a modest annual fee.
While these promotional rates were temporary, the card settled into still-attractive “permanent” rates of 1.5 mpd locally and 3 mpd on foreign spend, with minimal exclusion categories, making it broadly rewarding for everyday use, despite more than a few strange administrative hoops to jump through!
However, the card’s appeal took a significant hit in early 2020 when BOC slashed earning rates to just 1 mpd locally and 2 mpd overseas.
The devaluation was particularly controversial because it was implemented by reducing the points-to-miles transfer ratio, rather than adjusting earning rates directly – effectively devaluing points that cardholders had already accumulated, as well as ones they would subsequently earn.
This move essentially knocked the BOC Elite Miles card out of contention in Singapore’s crowded miles credit card landscape, where it has since struggled to compete against better-earning alternatives despite a few promotions here and there.
Earn rates hiked to 1.4 mpd – 2.8 mpd from 1st July 2025
In an interesting development, BOC has announced that it will be increasing the earn rates on its Elite Miles card, effective from 1st July 2025 onwards.
- Local Spend:
1 mpd1.4 mpd (7 BOC Bonus Points per S$1) - FCY Spend*:
2 mpd2.8 mpd (14 BOC Bonus Points per S$1)
* Card transactions charged overseas, including card transactions made overseas and effected / charged in foreign currencies, and online transactions effected in foreign currencies at merchants with payment gateways outside of Singapore.
These rates don’t quite bring the card back to its former 1.5 mpd / 3 mpd earn rate pairing, but they do bring it back into contention as a competitive miles-earning option in Singapore.
The new earn rates are based on a revised BOC Bonus Points to KrisFlyer miles conversion ratio of 50,000:10,000 (currently 45,000:10,000) – in other words 50,000 BOC Bonus Points will give you 10,000 KrisFlyer miles from 1st July 2025 onwards.
That change means you’ll get more KrisFlyer miles from any accrued BOC Bonus Points on your account transferred on or before 30th June 2025 than you’ll get for them from 1st July 2025, but then the accrual rate will improve thereafter.
Each miles conversion from BOC Points to KrisFlyer will cost S$30.56 including GST, the same as the current rate, which will likely need to factor into your thinking here if you have an existing balance in the programme.
And yes, BOC still has paper-based conversion forms for miles transfers, and weeks-long waits for the process to be completed!
A competitive card once again
The new earn rates for the BOC Elite Miles card arguably make it one of the most competitive in the market for a low annual fee general spend option in Singapore from 1st July 2025.
Here’s how it stacks up against the competition.
Earn rates (general spend cards)
(Best to worst, July 2025)
* During June and December only, otherwise the local spend rate applies
In terms of foreign currency transactions, BOC applies a 3% fee, so using your BOC Elite Miles card overseas with a 2.8 mpd earn rate means buying miles at 1.14 cents each, quite a decent proposition compared to some other cards, even including a 0.3% ‘spread’ over money changer rates.
Asia Miles conversions ending
Currently BOC Elite Miles cardholders can transfer their BOC Points to two frequent flyer programmes; Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
Once these new earn rates take effect on 1st July 2025, only KrisFlyer miles conversions will be supported, removing Asia Miles from the equation and making BOC the only bank in Singapore not to offer transfers into Asia Miles.
That makes your BOC Points quite inflexible and exposed to potential future devaluation of the KrisFlyer programme, especially given the bank’s ridiculous “14 to 21 working days” transfer time. Changes to KrisFlyer award rates tend to come with only 1 months’ notice.
Until 30th June 2025, you can transfer 27,000 BOC Bonus Points into 6,000 Asia Miles, with same-sized blocks thereafter.
More spend exclusions
Aside from the removal of Asia Miles as a transfer partner, there’s more bad news for BOC Elite Miles cardholders alongside the earn rate hike – with the bank adding to its spend exclusion list for miles-earning.
Crucially, both CardUp and ipaymy transactions will no longer earn miles. Earning with these two would have been a much more attractive proposition at the 1.4 mpd local earn rate in conjunction with regular offers from those card payment providers for expenses like property rental and taxes – but it will sadly no longer be possible.
Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) that will be added to the exclusion list are:
- 5199: Non-Durable Goods Not Elsewhere Classified
- 5965: Direct Marketing–Combination Catalog and Retail Merchant
- 5993: Cigar Stores and Stands
- 6381: Insurance Premiums
- 6529: Remote Stored Value Load, Financial Institution
- 6530: Remote Stored Value Load, Merchant
- 6534: Money Transfer, Financial Institution
- 7349: Cleaning and Maintenance, Janitorial Services
- 7511: Quasi Cash – Truck Stop Transactions
- 7523: Automobile Parking Lots and Garages
- 8651: Political Organisations
- 8699: Organisations, Membership – Not Elsewhere Classified
- 8999: Professional Services – Not Elsewhere Classified
The full list of transactions not eligible for BOC Bonus Points from 1st July 2025 is available in the latest updated Terms and Conditions document for the card, which also includes examples of affected merchants.
BOC points still expire
One important aspect to consider about the BOC Elite Miles card that isn’t changing is its points expiry policy.
Here the card is less generous than others on the market with points expiry ranging from 1 to 2 years, depending on the date of your transaction.
Points expiry happens on 30th June each year for the transactions conducted between 1st July two years beforehand and 30th June the previous year. Sounds a bit complicated so here’s a table with examples to help you.
| BOC Rewards Points Expiry | |
| Points Earned Between: | Expire On: |
| 1 Jul 2024 – 30 Jun 2025 | 30 Jun 2026 |
| 1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026 | 30 Jun 2027 |
| 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 | 30 Jun 2028 |
As you can see in the worst case scenario points earned from a transaction made on 30th June will expire exactly one year later. That’s the shortest validity period however because if you make a transaction the following day on 1st July the points associated with that one will now last almost exactly 2 years.
As you make transactions between 1st July and 30th June in each subsequent earn period, the points validity for the respective transaction progressively decreases from almost 2 years back towards 1 year again before resetting on the following 1st July.
Remember once you transfer points to KrisFlyer they then have a further three years validity, while Asia Miles never expire provided you earn or redeem at least one mile every 18 months.
Earn miles down to the cent
Credit where credit’s due – the BOC Elite Miles card keeps things refreshingly simple when it comes to calculating your points accrual.
Multiply your spend by 7 (local) or 14 (FCY) and that’s your points haul. The lack of rounding means you’re earning on every cent, not losing points to mathematical quirks like with other banks, many of whom now offer zero miles for transactions of less than S$5.
The BOC Elite Miles card has been largely irrelevant since 2020’s controversial rate cuts, but the bank is finally attempting a comeback with improved earn rates of 1.4 mpd locally and 2.8 mpd on foreign spend from 1st July 2025.
While these rates restore some competitiveness, many compromises remain. The elimination of Asia Miles transfers creates programme exposure risk to KrisFlyer alone, new exclusions block CardUp and ipaymy transactions, and the card still suffers from restrictive points expiry and lengthy transfer times.
The BOC Elite Miles card is now back in contention as a straightforward earning option, but Singapore’s credit card market still offers more flexible and rewarding alternatives for serious miles collectors.
