I secretly love it when the Cold Storage cashier asks, “Girl, PAssion card member?” WHY, YES I AM! (Proceeds to fumble in wallet)
The PAssion card may look unimpressive – okay, it’s borderline embarrassing – but you know what? I don’t care, because it’s one of the most power membership cards a Singaporean can have.
For $12 for a 5-year membership (essentially $2.40 a year!), you get discounts/privileges with tons of merchants, helping you save money on everything from travel (Scoot) to movies (Cathay) to KTV (Party World) to bubble tea (LiHo). I don’t know about you but I feel like I can earn back the cost of membership from froyo at Yoguru alone.
Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post – I’m just very auntie.
What is a PAssion card exactly?
The “PA” in “PAssion” stands for People’s Association, which makes it sound a lot like a gahmen membership card of sort. But that’s actually not entirely true: The PA is actually a statutory board (so they are part of the government), but don’t blur blur – they’re not the PAP.
The PAssion card entitles cardholders to discounts and privileges at these PA-run outlets:
But it’s not limited to discounts off Zumba classes and cooking courses at your neighbourhood CC. The PAssion card also gets you discounts at participating PAssion merchants (which we’ll go into later).
There are 3 types of PAssion cards:
PAssion card
First of all, there’s the regular red and white PAssion card. There’s nothing special about it, but it does have CEPAS technology so it can be used as an EZ-Link card too.
POSB PAssion card
Introduced in 2014, the POSB Passion card is a debit card that doubles as proof of your PAssion membership. In addition to its ATM, NETS, MasterCard and EZ-Link functions, you get all the PAssion perks and privileges without having to tote along a separate card.
You need a POSB/DBS account to apply for this card and you usually have to pay the $12/5 year membership fee. However, the membership fee is waived for now.
PAssion Silver card
The PAssion Silver card merges the old purple senior citizen concession card with the PAssion card. It’s exclusively for Singaporean citizens above 60 years old, and you can use it to get cheaper transport fares and longer crossing time at pedestrian crossings.
If eligible, there is no need to manually apply for the card. Instead, you will receive an invitation via mail during your birthday month. Make sure to follow the enclosed instructions and apply for it by the stipulated deadline. If you miss it, you will receive the PAssion silver card WITHOUT the public transport concession and perks.
PAssion card benefits for all members
Listed here are the main benefits for all PAssion cardholders.
TapForMore points
The TapForMore (TFM) programme has 5 participating partners – Cold Storage, Jasons, Marketplace, Guardian and Giant. It’s sort of a cash rebate system. Every $1 earns you 1 point, and once you get 150 points you will get $1 off your purchases.
If you shop at Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian, it’s super worth it to get the POSB PAssion card, because you can earn 6X the rewards for each dollar spent if you hit a monthly minimum spend of $400. It takes just $25 of spending to get $1 off your next purchase – effectively 4% cashback.
Also, if you’re both a KrisFlyer and TFM member, you can convert your TFM points and miles between the two loyalty programmes. You read that right, your PAssion Card is actually a miles card of sort (you can use your CapitaStar points to “earn” KrisFlyer miles!).
CapitaStar $ (CapitaLand points)
Those who shop at CapitaLand malls will appreciate this perk. You earn 1.5X CapitaStar rewards points when you register your PAssion card to your CapitaLand account (you can link it via the the CapitaStar mobile app). Read more about it on CapitaLand’s FAQ page here.
CapitaStar points (STAR$) are used to redeem shopping deals on the CapitaStar mobile app, as well as CapitaVouchers (duh).
Extended NLB membership
You can use your PAssion EZ-Link card to borrow books at the National Library.
It comes bundled with 5 years of free National Library Board membership, and you are allowed to borrow up to 10 items (including 4 audio visual materials without additional fees). That’s 2 more than the current limit of 8 items.
PAssion card EZ-Link facility
As mentioned above, every PAssion card has incorporated CEPAS technology so it can be used as an EZ-Link card for public transport and contactless payment.
Senior citizen privileges (PAssion Silver Card only)
If you have the PAssion silver card, you enjoy the concession elderly fares on public transport and longer crossing time at green-man lights and pedestrian crossings. You also get discounted rates for community centre courses and activities.
PAssion card promotions at merchants
That’s not all. PA also has a ton of tie-ups with their merchant partners.
The list changes from time to time, here are the best discounts at the time of writing (Aug 2018). This list is far from exhaustive – take a look at the PAssion merchants page for the full list of PAssion card discounts.
| PAssion card partner | Promotion | Expiry |
| Cathay Cineplexes | Movie package (1 ticket + $5 F&B voucher) at $11.50 on (Mon to Thu) / $14.50 (Fri to Sun) | 30 Apr 2019 |
| Dunkin Donuts | 10% off (min. $10 spend, Mon to Thu only) | 31 Aug 2018 |
| Emirates | 10% off Economy Class (Flex & Flex Plus Fares) & 5% off Economy Class (Saver Fares) | 31 Dec 2018 (travel by 31 Mar 2019) |
| Garrett’s | 5% off | 31 Dec 2018 |
| KFC | $1 off 2-pc Chicken Meal | 31 Aug 2018 |
| LiHo | 5% off | 31 May 2019 |
| Madame Tussauds | 20% off (U.P. $42 per adult & $32 per child) | 30 Sep 2019 |
| NeNe Chicken | 5% off | 31 May 2019 |
| NuBox | 5% off accessories | 31 Aug 2018 |
| New Balance | 10% off | 30 Apr 2019 |
| Orchid Bowl | $4.10 (off-peak) / $4.90 (peak) per game at all outlets except SAFRA Punggol. $26/hour (peak) at all Orchid Bowl outlets | 31 May 2019 |
| Party World KTV | 10% off package rates (U.P. $10++ to $33.80++) | 31 Dec 2018 |
| Pet Lovers Centre | 3% off (min. $15 spend) | 30 Jun 2019 |
| Scoot | Free board-me-first priority boarding (worth $6) & 5kg upgrade for FLYBAG and FLYBAGEAT bundle with purchase of 20kg or 25kg baggage bundle (worth $14) | 31 Oct 2018 |
| Shopee | 10% off with promo code PASSION10EX (capped at $4, existing users only) / $7 off with promo code PASSION7NEW (min spend $10, new users only) | 30 Jun 2019 |
| Singtel | 20% off 2-year subscription for Combo 2 Mobile Plan and above (new lines only) | 30 Apr 2019 |
| Teo Heng | 15% off non-package rates | 28 Feb 2019 |
| Trick Eye Museum | 20% off (U.P. $25 per Adult, $20 per Child/Senior) | 31 Dec 2018 |
| WE Cinemas | $1 off (U.P. $8.50 – $12.50, excludes 3D) | 31 Jan 2019 |
| Wildlife Reserves Singapore | 10% off admission to Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari & Jurong Bird Park | 31 Mar 2019 |
| Yoguru | 10% off (min. $10 spend) | 31 Oct 2019 |
PAssion card application & renewal
OMG, sign me up already!!
You can apply for a PAssion card at any of the community centres or Water Venture outlets. Occasionally, PA also holds roadshows for membership recruitment.
If you are lazy to head down, you can also complete your PAssion card application online via the OnePA Portal. Log in or sign up for an account and submit your application through the website.
Here’s a summary of the current PAssion card membership fees:
| Membership type | Age group | Fee for 5-year PAssion card membership |
| Principal card | 18 to 59 years old | $12 |
| Principal card | Ages <18 years & ≥ 60 years old | $10 |
| Supplementary card | Below 18 years old | Free when tagged to parent’s principal card (no card issued) |
For the POSB PAssion card, you need to be at least 16 years old. You can sign up at any of the POSB/DBS branches, during seasonal roadshows and via the same OnePA Portal.
Those eligible for the PAssion silver card (Singaporean citizens age 60 and up) don’t need to do much – just wait for the invitation to pop in your mailbox and follow the instructions.
Once your 5 years of auntie deals are up, you will have to renew your PAssion card membership. PAssion card renewal can be done online through the same OnePA Portal, or just pop down to any CC and fork over your fees for (dare we say) the most worth-it membership programme in Singapore.
Are you also rocking the PAssion card? Share your favourite discounts and deals with us in the comments below!
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