The UOB One Card Now Offers up to 20% Cashback—but Here’s the Catch (MoneySmart Review 2024)

Does earning 20% cashback on a credit card sound like a dream? UOB’s just made that dream a reality with their UOB One Card.

The UOB One Card has always been one of the best credit cards for cashback benefits, previously letting you get up to 10% cashback on daily spend at popular merchants like Cold Storage, Shopee, and more. Now, it’s doubled the cashback to a whopping 20%!

It’s a very tempting offer, but—as with all offers—it’s important to understand the terms and conditions behind it. Is there a minimum spend for you to earn 20% cashback? (Yes.) And how does the cashback mechanism work? (It’s a very long story.)

Let’s unpack what the UOB One Card has to offer and if the 20% cashback carrot is worth the effort.

UOB One Card Review—Is it MoneySmart?
Overall: ★★★★☆ (3.8) Best for: Folks who spend more at merchants like McDonald’s, Shopee, Giant, and SimplyGo. The catch: You need to consistently spend $500, $1,000 or $2,000 per month for an entire quarter in order to receive the bonus cashback. If you’re eyeing the 20% golden prize, you have to spend $2,000 per month!
Pros—What we like		Cons—What we don’t like
– Good range of merchants eligible for cashback, including online shopping, groceries, fast food and more. – 20% cashback is sky-high, even if only for selected merchants!		– 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. – $500 cashback cap per quarter. – You only receive your cashback for a quarter in the month after the quarter has ended.
Category	Our rating	The deets
Earn rates: Cashback	★★★★★	– Up to 20% 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 tricky! – Up to 3.33% quarterly 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	★★★★☆	$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 24% 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 more)
Sign-up bonus	★★★★☆	Get $450 cash when you spend a minimum of $1,000 in 30 days and be the first 5 customers to submit the claim form at 2 pm or 9 pm daily. Alternatively, get an Apple AirPods Pro and AirTag (2 units) + $100 Cash Bonus (worth $556.50) when you spend a minimum of $1,000 within 30 days and pay the card annual fee. Valid till 30 Sep 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 full 20% cashback (which used to be 10%, and before that was 15% till Mar 2024) 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 general spending, but those 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 for 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’ll 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 (Tier 3) in January, February and March. You will receive $200 cashback (Tier 3) for that quarter, which translates to a cashback rate of 3.33%.

If you meet the minimum spending requirement of $2,000 (Tier 3) only in January and February and then spend only $500 (Tier 1) in March, your cashback for that quarter will fall to $50 (Tier 1).

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

No one’s going to care if the UOB One Card can only earn you 3.33% cashback. So to make itself look attractive, it also offers additional and enhanced cashback in several categories.

The additional and enhanced cashback both apply only to the same few selected merchants, but differ in when they are applicable and how permanent they are.

• The additional cashback has, as far as we know, always been there. It’s written into the UOB One Card’s terms and conditions. When you combine the quarterly and additional cashback, you get a cashback rate of up to 10% at selected merchants.  
• The enhanced cashback only appears for promotional periods to get you a maximum cashback rate above 10%. Currently, it’s up to 20% cashback for the promotional period lasting till 31 Dec 2024.

Why “up to” 20%? The actual amount of additional/enhanced cashback you get depends on the spending tier you hit that quarter. If you hit the maximum tier, you’re on track to snagging the 20% cashback rate everyone is after. If you’re only hitting Tier 1 or Tier 2, you earn a maximum of 13.33% cashback.

This is a summary of how you get to 13.33% or 20% cashback with the UOB One Card:

	Tier 1 (spend $500/month)	Tier 2 (spend $1,000/month)	Tier 3 (spend $2,000/month)
Quarterly Cashback	3.33%
Additional Cashback (selected merchants only, and capped at $100 per month)	5%	5%	6.67%
Enhanced Cashback (selected merchants only, and capped at $100 per month)	5%	5%	10%
Total cashback	13.33%	13.33%	20%

To recap the component cashback types that the UOB One Card offers:

1. Quarterly Cashback: This is what we talked about in the previous section. Think of it as a base cashback you get on general spending, barring the usual exclusions like taxes and insurance payments. 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 when you spend at certain merchants, including McDonald’s, Shopee, and Giant. You get 6.67% if you spend $2,000 per month (Tier 3), and 5% if you only hit $500 (Tier 1) or $1,000 (Tier 2) a month.
3. Enhanced Cashback: Extra promotional cashback of 5% (Tier 1 and Tier 2) or 10% (Tier 3) on your spend at the same merchants mentioned above. This is only for new-to-UOB folks who apply for the UOB Card and get it approved by 31 Dec 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
• Membership Organizations (Not Elsewhere Classified) (wef 1 October 2024)
• Professional Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) (wef 1 October 2024)
• 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 20% cashback T&Cs, clauses 4.7 and 5.4, the cashback you earn will be used to offset your UOB One Card credit card bill for the next month, after a qualifying quarter. It can’t be redeemed for rewards or withdrawn as cash. This applies to the quarterly, additional, and enhanced cashback.

Since you don’t manually redeem the cashback yourself, the only way to use it up is to spend. For example, let’s say you have $50 worth of cashback sitting in your credit card account. If you charge $500 to your card the next month, your credit card bill at the end of the month will be reduced to $450.

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

When will my cashback be credited on the UOB One Card?

With the UOB One Card, you will only see your cashback in the statement month after a quarter.

For the UOB One Card, a quarter is defined as a 3-month period from your card account opening date. That means it doesn’t have to coincide with the calendar quarters (Jan – Mar, Apr – Jun, and so on).

For example, if I apply and get approved for a UOB One Card in the middle of Nov 2024, UOB will consider my quarter as Nov 2024 to Jan 2025. UOB will award me my cashback after this quarter, i.e. in Feb 2025.

You might notice UOB used the term “Enhanced Cashback Period” in the table above. This is to refer to the 3-month period from when you successfully apply for the card during which, as the name suggests, you can earn Enhanced Cashback.

However, don’t let the term “Enhanced Cashback Period” confuse you into thinking it’s only for Enhanced Cashback. Functionally, the quarters for earning Quarterly, Additional and Enhanced Cashback all coincide. In fact, they kinda have to—you only earn Additional and Enhanced Cashback at the end of a quarter if you first qualify to earn your Quarterly Cashback for that quarter. If you hit the necessary minimum spends, you’ll receive the Quarterly, Additional and Enhanced Cashback together in the statement month following a quarter.

 

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 Quarterly Cashback in a lump sum once you unlock a certain spend tier. Once you’ve hit the minimum spending requirement in your desired tier, you don’t get any extra Quarterly 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 might want to swipe an unlimited cashback card like the Citi Cash Back+ Card for such a big one-off purchase instead.)

After you receive your Quarterly Cashback on the UOB One Card, you’ll earn Additional and Enhanced Cashback on the percentage basis you’re probably more familiar with. However, there is a cap of $100 for each per month.

If you’re serious about maximising your UOB One Card, you should 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, not rewards points. So, no—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 or miles cards instead:

• UOB Lady’s Card
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card
• UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card
• UOB Visa Signature Card
• UOB PRVI Miles Card (VISA/Mastercard/Amex)

 

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 Quarterly 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 3.33% Quarterly Cashback and up to 13.33% cashback in total when you include Additional and Enhanced Cashback.

If you spend $2,000 a month, you unlock a limited-time 20% cashback on things like your Shopee purchases, Grab rides, and McDonald’s meals. It doesn’t get higher than that. 

However, if you find that you tend to spend overwhelmingly on just a few types of things that the 20% cashback won’t apply to, like dining or food delivery, you’ll only earn up to 3.33% on most of your expenditure. You might be better off with a card that gives you a higher cashback rate in these spending categories. See our last section on alternative cards for some ideas.

 

10. UOB One Card sign-up promotion

In the whole of 2024 so far, never has there been a better time to get the UOB One Card.

Sign up for the UOB One Card via MoneySmart to enjoy the richest cash offer in the market right now—up to $450 cash! Qualify in 3 steps:

1. Apply for the UOB One Card.
2. Spend at least $1,000 on it within 30 days from card approval.
3. Be the first 5 customers to submit the claim form at 2 pm or 9 pm daily.

You don’t need to pay the annual fee to qualify for the above promotion.

Alternatively, get an Apple AirPods Pro and AirTag (2 units) + $100 Cash Bonus (worth $556.50) when you spend a minimum of $1,000 within 30 days and pay the card annual fee.

Additionally, don’t forget that the 20% cashback promotion is only for new-to-UOB customers who apply for the UOB One Card from now till 31 Dec 2o24. Ordinarily without this promotion, you’ll only get a maximum of 10% cashback with the UOB One Card on selected merchants.

Valid till 30 Sep 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.

Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card: For a limited time, earn 2% unlimited cashback when you spend above $500. Exclusively for MoneySmart customers!

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!