If you’re visiting Singapore, tapping your foreign-issued Visa or Mastercard on buses and the MRT comes with an extra daily fee. Easy to miss when you’re just tapping your way around town.
S$0.60 for each day you use it
SimplyGo’s official FAQ lists a S$0.60 Foreign Bank Card Admin Fee per day of use for foreign-issued Mastercard or Visa debit and credit cards.
It’s in the footnote of the answer about which cards are accepted:
The fee is fixed for each day you use the card, regardless of how many rides you take. Even a day with just 1 short ride incurs the S$0.60.
Use the card on 5 days of your trip and that’s S$3 in admin fees, before any fees from your card issuer.
Check the full day’s fares
SimplyGo groups Visa fares daily. Mastercard charges can cover up to 5 days, or S$15 in fares, whichever comes first. A card deduction may cover several rides.
You can check the breakdown of fares and admin fees in the SimplyGo app. Match that with the settled card charge, which may cover more than your last journey.
This is SimplyGo’s admin fee. Any currency conversion fees charged by your card issuer are separate, so a card with 0% FX still incurs it.
I still recommend Jupiter’s Claynosaurz card for its 2% cashback and FX fee rebates through the end of 2026. It’s one of the foreign-issued cards this applies to, and its FX rebate doesn’t refund SimplyGo’s admin fee. Budget the extra 60 cents on days you use it for transport.