UOB YOLO Credit Card – MoneySmart Review 2018

The UOB YOLO Card is a cashback credit card with eye-poppingly generous cash rebates of up to 18% on dining, entertainment, online shopping and travel – exactly what Singaporean millennials love to spend money on (and thereafter complain that we’re broke AF).

Well, with the UOB YOLO Card, you can get a bit of cash back at the end of the month so you have a little money left over for avocado toast. Here’s what the card offers:

 

UOB YOLO Card terms & conditions

UOB YOLO Card
Annual fee & waiver	$193 (waived for 1 year)
Supplementary annual fee	First supp card free
Interest free period	21 days
Annual interest rate	25.90%
Late payment fee	$90
Minimum monthly repayment	3% or $50, whichever is higher
Foreign currency transaction fee	2.8%
Cash advance transaction fee	6%
Overlimit fee	$40
Minimum income	$30,000 (Singaporean) / $40,000 (non-Singaporean)
Card association	Visa
Wireless payment	Visa payWave, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Mighty Pay

 

How the UOB YOLO Card works

The UOB YOLO Card has a rather complicated cash rebate structure that takes quite a bit of time to understand. We’ve broken it down into a table showing how much you get and when:

Spending category	Cash rebate (weekend)	Cash rebate (weekday)
Dining	8%	3%
Entertainment	8%	3%
Grab rides	8%	3%
Online shopping	3%	3%
Online travel bookings	3%	3%

If you’re new to UOB credit cards and sign up by 31 Dec 2018, UOB is offering an additional 10% cash rebate on online spending, which means your rebates will look something like this…

Spending category	Cash rebate (weekend)	Cash rebate (weekday)
Dining	8%	3%
Entertainment	8%	3%
Grab rides	8% + 10% = 18%	3% + 10% = 13%
Online shopping	3% + 10% = 18%	3% + 10% = 13%
Online travel bookings	3% + 10% = 13%	3% + 10% = 13%
Other online spending	10%	10%

To get these generous cash rebates, you need to hit the minimum spend of $600 each month.

Another restriction to look out for is the cashback cap of $60 (for regular rebates) + $20 (for the additional rebates you get during the first 3 months).

Since the rebates are so high, it’s probably easier than you think to burst the cap. Don’t go too wild on Lazada ’cause you effectively only have $200 to spend online before you hit the cap!

BTW, promo alert: UOB has a crazy $150 cashback promotion for those who sign up online and spend $1,200 in the first month. It’s only for the first 600 new-to-UOB signups though, and the offer closes 16 Oct 2018.

 

Who should use the UOB YOLO Card?

True to its name, the UOB YOLO Card is best for young Singaporeans with few financial commitments.

Think unmarried Singaporeans who are still living with their parents – this means there’s probably no need to pay rent or repay home loans, and a higher disposable income to spend on dining, entertainment, online shopping and travel.

The card’s cashback rates on these categories are very generous. You’ll be hard-pressed to find many other credit cards that offer a 8% cash rebate on offline spending.

What’s more, the minimum spending requirement of $600 a month isn’t too onerous, especially for the young, wild and free.

And of course, it wouldn’t really be a “YOLO” card if there wasn’t travel involved, so the added cash rebate on travel bookings is definitely a great bonus for young Singaporeans who can only say “I want to travel” when asked what their life goals are.

However, if you’re the sort of person who has a very atas lifestyle, then you’ll probably find it way too easy to burst the cap on this card.

 

UOB YOLO vs OCBC 365 vs other alternatives

Don’t get me wrong, this is an amazingly generous credit card. But there are a few other cards that give the UOB YOLO a run for the money.

OCBC 365 Credit Card – The UOB YOLO Card’s competitor is the OCBC 365, but it offers less attractive cashback on similar categories: 6% cashback on local weekend dining, 3% cashback on local weekday dining and everyday overseas dining, 3% on travel, fashion and movie tickets and 3% on supermarket spending. Minimum monthly spending of $600 is the same as UOB YOLO’s.

Citi Cash Back Card – This card is even more generous in terms of dining, with 8% cash back on all dining spending globally, as well as food and grocery delivery, Grab rides and petrol. The base cashback is slightly worse at 0.25%, but the main disadvantage vis a vis the UOB YOLO credit card is the higher minimum monthly spending of $888.

CIMB Visa Signature – This card is a close competitor of the UOB YOLO card, with 10% cashback on dining and foreign currency spending, including online shopping provided you spend at least $500 and make at least 8 transactions of $30 each in a month. It doesn’t offer such generous cashback on entertainment or local online shopping, though.

If you dine out a lot on weekdays, it might make sense to get the CIMB Visa Signature or Citi Cash Back Card to get better weekday dining rates. But otherwise, the UOB YOLO credit card is probably still the best of the lot, provided it’s a good fit for your lifestyle.

 

What is your go-to credit card for dining and entertainment? Tell us in the comments!

 

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Tags: Credit Cards