Is The UOB One Credit Card The Best Cashback Card For Dining and Shopping?—MoneySmart Review 2024

Alright, so here’s the deal: loads of credit cards out there offer cashback rates that are barely scratching the 2% mark. And then you’ve got these other ones that lure you in with sweet deals for specific partners, only to give you peanuts for everything else you buy.

 

Plus, redeeming that cashback? It’s like trying to untangle a ball of yarn while blindfolded. So, what happens? You end up with a wallet full of cards, each with its own set of rules and expiration dates. But fear not, my friend. Is there a card out there that can give you awesome cashback on your favourite everyday brands and still hook you up with fat rewards for everything else? 

Good news, there is! The UOB One Credit Card is one of the best credit cards for cashback benefits, letting you get up to 10% cashback on daily spend and up to 3.33% cashback on all retail spend.

Let’s see what the UOB One Card looks like in 2024 and if it’s still worth the effort.

UOB One Card Review—Is it MoneySmart?
Overall: ★★★★☆ Best for: Folks who spend more at merchants like McDonald’s, Shopee, Giant, and SimplyGo. Also, you need to consistently spend $500, $1,000 or $2,000 a month for the entire quarter to hit the minimum spends to receive the cashback.
Pros—What we like		Cons—What we don’t like
– Wide range of categories eligible for cashback. – Access to over 13,000 deals via UOB TMRW mobile app, weekly UOB Coupons up for grabs and dining inspirations within Rewards+. – Complimentary travel insurance with coverage for spouse and dependent children (if applicable).		– Minimum spend required per month. – Insurance, healthcare, and education don’t earn you cashback—unlike other cashback cards like the AMEX True Cashback and UOB Absolute Cashback Card. – Advertised $540 cash credit is only for a limited time. – $500 cashback cap per quarter.
Category	Our rating	The deets
Earn rates: Cashback	★★★★☆	– Up to 10% cashback at selected merchants for UOB cardmembers: McDonald’s, Grab, Shopee, SimplyGo, 7-Eleven, Guardian, UOB Travel, and more. – View how the additional and enhanced cashback mechanisms work. It’s kinda tricky. – Up to 3.33% quarterly (base) cashback on other retail spend. – Up to 4.33% cashback on Singapore Power utilities bill. – Cashback is given quarterly, i.e. you need to hit the minimum spends for 3 consecutive months in the same quarter to qualify for a certain cashback tier.
Earn categories	★★★★☆
Annual fees and charges	★★★★☆	S$196.20 annual fee (first year waived) First Supplementary Card free, $98.10 for subsequent Supplementary Cards.
Accessibility	★★★★☆	Minimum income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans and PRs, salaried workers) / $40,000 (Singaporeans and PRs who are self-employed or commission-based; non-Singaporeans)
Extras/periphery rewards	★★☆☆☆	– At SPC Stations, up to 22.66% savings on fuel purchases – At Shell Stations, up to 21.15% savings on fuel purchases – Enjoy up to 50% off with UOB dining privileges (e.g. 1-for-1 buffet at Marriott Café Buffet, Orchard Café and Café Mosaic) – Complimentary travel insurance coverage: Public Conveyance Personal Accident coverage of S$500,000; Emergency Medical Assistance, Evacuation & Repatriation coverage of up to S$50,000 due to an accident or illness (including due to COVID-19)
Sign-up bonus	★★☆☆☆	$350 cash credit with minimum spend of $1,000 per month for the first 2 consecutive months, only for the first 200 new-to-UOB cardmembers who successfully apply for this card in April 2024.

See our credit card ranking rubric to find out how we rank credit cards.

Don’t miss our ultimate list of credit card reviews for the low-down on credit cards in Singapore.

 

UOB One Card—MoneySmart Review 2024

1. 1. UOB One Card: Summary
   2. UOB One Card: Annual Fee, Minimum Income
   3. UOB One Card Quarterly Cashback & Minimum Spend
   4. UOB One Card Enhanced and Additional Cashback
   5. UOB One Card Exclusions
   6. How do I maximise my UOB One Card?
   7. What happens to the cashback I earn on the UOB One Card?
   8. Does UOB One Card earn UNI$ reward points?
   9. Should I get the UOB One Card?
   10. UOB One Card Sign-Up Promotion
   11. Alternatives to the UOB One Card

 

1. UOB One Card: Summary

The UOB One Credit Card is a cashback credit card that offers cashback on almost all types of daily spending.

In theory, this sounds great. No need to worry about spending categories because the card just gives you cashback on pretty much anything you buy. Right? Well, not exactly.

To qualify for the cashback, you need to watch out for the minimum spending requirements. You’ve gotta meet certain requirements for all three months in a quarter in order to snag that sweet, sweet cashback.

One other thing: The UOB One Card is not to be confused with the UOB One Account (a savings account) and the UOB One Debit Card (which offers less generous cashback). You don’t need to have either of those to use the UOB One Credit Card.

 

2. UOB One Card: Annual Fee, Minimum Income

UOB One is an entry level credit card, so you can sign up for it with a salary of $30,000 per year. Here are the card’s main terms and conditions.

	UOB One Credit Card
Annual Fee	$196.20
Annual Fee Waiver	First year
Supplementary Card Annual Fee	Free for first card, $98.10 for additional cards
Interest Free Period	21 days
Annual Interest Rate	27.8%
Late Payment Fee	$100
Minimum Monthly Repayment	3% or $50, whichever is higher
Foreign Currency Transaction Fee	3.25%
Cash Advance Transaction Fee	8% with minimum fee of $15
Overlimit Fee	$40
Minimum income	$30,000
Card Association	Visa
Contactless Payment	Visa Contactless, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay

 

3. UOB One Card Quarterly Cashback & Minimum Spend

Before we get into the 10% cashback (which used to be 15%) that everyone has their eyes on, let’s talk about the UOB One Card’s base/quarterly cashback rate. The card used to offer up to 5% cashback on all spending, but its glory days are over. These days, the maximum cashback rate you can earn on uncategorised spending is 3.33%.

Here’s how it works. In order to qualify for cashback, you need to meet a minimum spending requirement every month in a quarter. The first quarter of the year runs from January to March. So, you would need to meet the minimum spending requirement in January, February and March to qualify in that quarter.

If you manage to do that, you will get a lump sum of cashback for that entire quarter.

There are 3 tiers of cashback, depending on how much you spend, as follows:

Tier	Minimum spend for the quarter	Minimum card transactions for the quarter	Cashback for the quarter	Maximum cashback %
1	$500	5	$50	3.33%
2	$1,000	5	$100	3.33%
3	$2,000	5	$200	3.33%

Let’s say you spend exactly $2,000 in January, February and March. You will receive $200 cashback for that quarter, which translates to a cashback rate of 3.33%.

If you meet the minimum spending requirement of $2,000 only in January and February and then spend only $500 in March, your cashback for that quarter will fall to $50.

The only exception is the very first quarter you have your UOB One Card. According to their UOB One Card cashback T&Cs, clause 4.2, UOB will pro-rate your cashback only for this first quarter. For example, if you hit the minimum spend for the first 2 months but not the third month, UOB will be nice and give you two-thirds of the quarterly cashback. After the first quarter, no such niceties.

 

4. UOB One Card: Enhanced and Additional Cashback

The UOB One Card is probably feeling a bit self-conscious about the fact that its quarterly cashback has fallen from 5% to 3.33%. To continue making itself look attractive, it now offers additional cashback in several categories.

Basically, when you spend in one of these categories, your cashback gets bumped up. The actual amount of additional cashback depends on the spending tier you hit that quarter.

You’ve probably heard about the UOB One Card giving cardholders a fat 15% cashback rate. It’s true—but how you get there is pretty complicated. Stay with us now, we’ll take you through it.

This is a summary of how the UOB One Card’s cashback works:

1. Quarterly Cashback: This is what we talked about in the previous section. You get 3.33% when you spend $500, $1,000, or $2,000 in a month, for all the months in a quarter.
2. Additional Cashback: Extra cashback on top of the base/quarterly cashback when you spend at certain merchants, including McDonald’s, Shopee, and Giant. You get 6.67% if you spend $2,000 per month, and 5% if you only hit $500 or $1,000 in spending.
3. Enhanced Cashback: An extra promotional cash credit of $350 only for new-to-UOB folks who apply for the UOB Card and get it approved by 30 April 2024.

5. UOB One Card: Spend exclusions

You can earn UOB One cashback on almost all spending, but there are a few exceptions. Here’s a selection of what you cannot earn cashback on:

• Wire transfer/remittance
• Insurance
• Banking services and payments
• Rent
• Stored value card purchase or loading
• Property management
• Parking
• Gambling
• Hospitals
• School fees and services
• Religious organisations
• Political organisations
• Court costs
• Fine
• Bail and bond payments
• Tax payments
• Government postal services
• Government purchases and services

These exclusions are pretty typical of credit card cashback programmes. Basically, don’t expect to earn cashback when you pay hospital bills, insurance bills, your kids’ school fees, NETS transactions, fines or your latest Singapore Pools bets.

 

6. What happens to the cashback I earn on the UOB One Card?

According to the UOB One Card cashback T&Cs, clauses 4.7 and 5.4, the cashback you earn can’t be redeemed for rewards or withdrawn as cash. Instead, it’ll be used to offset your UOB One Card credit card bill for the next month, after a qualifying quarter. This applies to the quarterly, additional, and enhanced cashback.

Also note that the cashback also only offset the principal cardmember’s transactions, and not any of the supplementary cardmembers’ bills, if any.

 

7. How do I maximise my UOB One Card?

The UOB One’s mechanism is different from that of most cashback cards which just give you back a percentage of your spending in cashback.

Instead, you get your cashback in a lump sum. Once you’ve hit the minimum spending requirement in your desired tier, you don’t get any extra cashback by spending more that much—doing so will just lower your cashback percentage. 

So, if you’re aiming to spend $2,000 every month in the quarter to qualify for Tier 3 cashback, don’t go overboard and charge a $30,000 Rolex watch to your card. 

You should also take pains to track your spending and be aware of how much you’ve spent in the quarter. Be careful when it comes to spending that takes place close to the end of the month, as it might be carried over to the next month. When in doubt, call the bank to enquire about your recorded spending for the present or past month.

Also, don’t forget that you need to make at least 5 transactions on the card each month in a quarter in order to qualify for the cashback!

 

8. Does UOB One Card earn UNI$ reward points?

The UOB One Card gives cashback, so apparently wanting to earn rewards points as well is too much to ask—your spending on the UOB One Card will not contribute to your store of UNI$.

If you want to earn UNI$, you can turn to these UOB rewards cards instead:

• UOB Lady’s Card
• UOB Preferred Platinum Visa card
• UOB Visa Signature Card
• UOB PRVI Miles Card
• UOB Infinite Visa Card

 

9. Should I get the UOB One Card?

The UOB One Card’s biggest drawback is its mechanism. Having to hit the minimum spending requirement for 3 months in a quarter is quite a burden, and in order to maximise your card you need to monitor your spending to ensure you don’t exceed the minimum spending requirement in your tier by too much.

If you’re the meticulous type and don’t cringe at the thought of having to monitor how much you’ve spent on the card each month, the maximum cashback rate of 3.33% is actually decent considering it’s doled out regardless of spending category. The first tier only requires you to spend $500 per month (every month in a quarter) and still entitles you to up to 3.33% base cashback.

The card is probably still the most generous cashback card for miscellaneous spending, and the bonus interest on things like Grab rides and our McDonald’s meals makes it even more attractive.

However, if you find that you tend to spend overwhelmingly on just a few types of things like dining or petrol, you might be better off with a card that gives you a higher cashback rate in these spending categories.

 

10. UOB One Card Sign-Up Promotion

If you’re thinking of signing up for the UOB One Card and happen to be one of the first 200 customers to sign up in April 2024, you can get up to S$350 cash credits. To qualify, you’ll have to spend $1,000 per month for the first 2 consecutive months from your card approval date. Promotion valid till 30 Oct 2024.

Check the UOB One Card page for the latest promotions!

 

11. Alternatives to the UOB One Card

If the UOB One’s cashback mechanism makes your head spin, we don’t blame you. Check out these cards instead:

Citi Cash Back Mastercard: Get 6% cashback on dining worldwide, 8% at supermarkets and grocery stores worldwide and up to 20.88% fuel savings at Esso and Shell. Minimum spending requirement is $800 per month.

American Express True Cashback Credit Card: 1.5% cashback on all spending with no minimum spending and no cashback cap.

HSBC Platinum Credit Card: 5% cashback on dining, groceries and petrol, with $250 cash rebate cap per quarter. Minimum spending requirement is $600 per quarter.

 

P.S. Here’s our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric

In case you’re wondering, here’s how we decide on our credit card rankings.

Is that credit card MoneySmart? Our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric
Category	Our rating
Overall	The average rating for the credit card on the whole, calculated from the ratings for the individual categories below. Plus, we’ll give you a one-liner on who we think the credit card is best suited for.
Earn rates: Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points	Air miles ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️ / Cashback / Rewards points . This category looks at the depth rather than breadth of earn rates. 5 stars means this card’s got the highest earn rates within that credit card type. 3-4 stars mean it’s average 1-2 stars reflect earn rates that are below average.
Earn categories	This category looks at the breadth rather than depth of your earnings. 5 stars: Earn with ANY spend. 3-4 stars: Earn on a large number of categories (e.g. all dining, transport and retail, but not telco bills) OR earn on 1 very broad category (e.g. all contactless/mobile payments). 1-2 stars: Earn a decent rate only on selected categories, such as fast food only.
Annual fees and charges	5 stars: $0  4 stars: $1-200 3 stars: $201-500 2 stars: $501-$999 1 star: $1,000 and up We dock a star if fee waiver is NOT allowed.
Accessibility	Minimum income requirements: 5 stars: $0 4 stars: Up to $30k a year for Singaporeans and up to $45k for non-Singaporeans 3 stars: $30-60k a year for Singaporeans, $45-70k for non-Singaporeans 2 stars: $60-120k a year for Singaporeans, $70-120k for non-Singaporeans 1 star: $120,000 and up for either, or both  Exclusivity: We dock 1-2 stars if there is/are another category/categories that make the card exclusive and very specific to a certain clientele.
Extras/periphery rewards	These include: Travel benefits, such as airport lounge access Lifestyle benefits, such as spa privileges Dining benefits, such as complimentary AMEX Love Dining or Entertainer with HSBC subscriptions We count the number of benefits and award between 0.5 to 2 stars for each, depending on how good the perk is.
Sign-up bonus	5 stars: The gift(s), cash, or miles are the highest we see out there compared to other credit cards of the same type (miles, cashback, etc). Also easy to attain these welcome bonuses. 3-4 stars: Average but not disappointing sign-up bonus compared to other credit cards. You aren’t losing out. 1-2 stars: You are probably losing out in terms of the welcome bonus you’re getting; there are other similar credit cards with sign-up bonuses that are better or easier to attain.

 

Finally understand the UOB One Card’s mind-boggling cashback mechanism? You’re welcome. Enlighten others by sharing this article with your friends and family!