Heymax Review: Making Missed Credit Card Rewards A Thing Of The Past

Credit card rewards are awesome, but earning them can be tricky. But with heymax, you’ll never miss another credit card reward again.

Don’t you hate it when you pay with the wrong credit card and end up with less rewards than you could have gotten? Or barely miss the month’s minimum spend because that last transaction wasn’t the right merchant category? And also, why can some credit cards produce a higher air miles earning rate than a dedicated air miles card? What’s up with that? 

Anyone who holds several credit cards will know that keeping up with all the different rewards schemes, spending requirements, merchant categories and whatnot is a task and a half. Also, while having multiple credit cards is great for flexibility, sometimes you just can’t be bothered with the mental gymnastics involved when deciding which card to pay with. 

What if there’s a way to automatically choose the best credit card for maximum rewards every transaction? And what if you can receive additional miles on top of your usual credit card rewards?

Sounds too good to be true? Well, meet heymax.

Table of contents

• What is heymax?
• Perks and Benefits of using heymax
• What can Max Miles be used for?
• How does heymax compare to Kris+ and ShopBack?

What is heymax?

heymax is a rewards platform that helps you earn a free vacation every year using your everyday expenses. It does this in 2 ways. Firstly, it helps you maximise rewards on your credit cards by recommending the best card to use wherever you spend.

All you have to do is tell heymax what cards you have (without entering your card details). Then, when paying, heymax will suggest the best card to use to maximise your rewards based on the Merchant Category Code (MCC).

Read also: MCC: The Three Most Important Letters When Earning Air Miles (or Cashback)

The process is powered by AI and crowdsourced algorithms, keeping heymax up-to-date on important changes like T&C updates and rewards requirements. heymax can also track your transactions and loyalty programmes, and can even handle your credit card waivers for you!

Besides that, heymax has its own rewards programme known as Max Miles, where you can earn Max Miles when you transact through their platform. Think of it like ShopBack except you earn Max Miles instead of cashback. 

Max Miles earned will never expire and can be converted at a 1:1 transfer ratio into air miles or hotel points with no transfer fees!

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s first take a deep dive into how heymax could change the way you use credit cards.

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Perks and Benefits of using heymax

Optimise your credit card rewards effortlessly

By suggesting the best credit card to use, heymax helps you to optimise your credit card rewards effortlessly. 

You won’t have to keep tabs on whether you’ve hit your cashback limit for the month, or which merchants give you 10x points for 4 miles per dollar, beating out your regular air miles card (tricky, like we said).

Match to the right MCCs

MCCs are how credit card companies sort the myriad of retailers we interact with. Your card issuer will award your rewards based on the MCC the transaction is tagged to. 

The problem is, MCCs can sometimes be counter-intuitive. For instance, if you dine at a hotel and pay with a dining credit card, the transaction may be filed under a lodging MCC, and not dining. In this case, you won’t get your rewards from your dining credit card!

This isn’t on purpose, as your bank would only know that the credit card charge came from, say, St Regis, and not from on-site steakhouse, The Astor Grill. 

heymax solves this issue by matching to the right MCC every time, saving you from paying with the wrong credit card and missing out on your rewards.

Earn additional miles on top of your usual rewards

When you shop at heymax partners, you will earn Max Miles in addition to your credit card rewards. 

Here’s the exciting thing: as previously mentioned, Max Miles can be transferred to 20+ airlines and hotel loyalty programs starting from a 1:1 transfer ratio, with no conversion fees and no expiration date. The more you use heymax, the closer you get to your next staycation or overseas holiday!

Currently, there are over 300 merchants at which you can earn Max Miles, including:

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What can Max Miles be used for?

Airline and hotel loyalty programmes

Max Miles can be traded for miles or points at 20+ of the world's leading airline loyalty programmes at a 1:1 ratio, with no fees or expiry. Here’s the latest list.

For frequent flyer programmes listed under Direct Points Transfer, you will be able to convert your Max Miles into miles for your desired loyalty programme, which happens almost instantly for most transfer partners.

As for airlines and hotels listed under Cash-for-Miles, this means that your Max Miles will be redeemed for cash to purchase the miles directly from the relevant provider. Your redemption will be instant.

Gift cards

Alternatively, you can use your Max Miles to redeem gift cards, at a conversion rate of 100 Max Miles to S$1 gift card value. Not the best conversion rate, but might still make for a good way to mop up leftover Max Miles.

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How does heymax compare to Kris+ and ShopBack?

It is inevitable that heymax will invite comparisons to similar platforms such as Kris+ and ShopBack. While all three have some degree of overlap in terms of benefits, they are quite distinct in their own right.

heymax

heymax stands out for its airline frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programme, where you can convert your Mex Miles for corresponding miles or points at 1:1 conversion rate. This is a good way to enjoy benefits like free flights, and increase your privileges at your favourite hotel chain.

While KrisFlyer isn't an option at the time of publishing, you can transfer your Max Miles to 20+ transfer partners, including Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Etihad Guest, JAL Mileage Bank, British Airways Executive Club, AirAsia Rewards, and more.  

Kris+

As for Kris+, your benefits are focused around KrisFlyer, which may not be desirable if your preferred carrier isn’t Singapore Airlines or Scoot. However, if you’re a fan, you can enjoy generous KrisFlyer miles earn rates when you shop at partner merchants.

Another advantage is you can convert your rewards points from Citi, UOB and DBS and CapitaStar to Kris miles, which can then be transferred to your KrisFlyer account – as long as you do so within seven days of the conversion.

Shopback

Meanwhile, ShopBack has the greatest selection of merchants and shopping categories among the three, so you’re apt to find more choices here. However, instead of miles, you’ll be earning cashback, and the cashback rate can vary wildly between merchants. Some offers also give you fixed cash rewards, instead of a percent of your transaction.

ShopBack is also the most flexible, in the sense that the cashback you earn may be withdrawn to your bank account at any time, or be used to offset your future purchases. 

Having said all that, let’s not forget that only heymax automatically matches the best credit card to each transaction, so you need never again miss out on the rewards rightly due to you. 

That is a smart proposition that could go a long way in helping us unlock the full potential of our credit card collection. 

In comparison, with Kris+ and you’ll need to work out the best credit card for each transaction on your own.

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Read these next:
ShopBack Pay and ShopBack PayLater: How To Maximise Your Cashback With The Best Credit Card Pairings
Kris+ Guide: How to (Still) Maximise Miles With The Best Credit Cards Pairings After Its Nerf
The Kris+ App is My Secret Travel Hack to Scoring Miles, Here's Why
What to Do With Expiring KrisFlyer Miles?
Which Credit Card Should You Use For Year-End Travel?