UOB Yolo- life is too short for cashback cards

The UOB YOLO Card is what happens when you let marketing groupthink run amok. “Hey guys, let’s create a new offering for the millennial group. And let’s call it yolo because millennials.”

As someone who falls into the “millennial” category, I am constantly bemused as to what marketers think about my behavior. Apparently, I don’t like desks, I’m self-absorbed and I’m the sort of person who would lie about a friend’s funeral just so I can go build a treehouse (and then blog and tweet about it so everyone in the office knows I lied).  Every time I read what people have to say about my generation, I cringe and die a little inside.

But it is a slow news week (unless you’re keeping up with the Anbang/Marriott will they won’t they courtship of Starwood) so what the heck, let’s look at this new card.

Key Features

The UOB YOLO card features

• 8% cash rebate on weekend dining and entertainment (in SG and outside)
• 3% cash rebate on weekday dining and entertainment (spending at bars, taverns, lounges, nightclubs, transactions made at all cinemas in Singapore as well as Ticketing Servicing Providers), online fashion, online travel, payments via UOB MIGHTY
• 0.3% cash rebate on all other spend
• 1 for 1 movie tickets at Cathay Cineplexes

And the fine print

• 8% and 3% cash rebate subject to min $600 spend per month, otherwise 0.3% cash rebate on all spending
• 8% is a promotional rate, until 1 Oct 16 after which it drops to 6%
• Cashback capped at $60 per month (meaning that $750 of weekend dining and entertainment will max it out)
• Online travel limited to Agoda, AirAsia, Airbnb, Cathay Pacific, Expedia, Hotels.com, Jetstar, Scoot, Singapore Air, Tiger, UOB Travel
• The 1 for 1 movie tickets are only valid on Sat and Sun, only at The Cathay, limited to 100 per day
• Various other 1 for 1 dining promotions

My stance on cashback cards has been well documented, so it won’t surprise you to know that I do not approve of this card.  There is some limited use if you’re using it solely for dining (but you could earn miles! Valuable, valuable miles!), but I suppose on some level I am ideologically opposed to getting a card which suggests that life is too short for anything else than cash rebates. Perhaps they believe that cash rebates are something that instant gratification seeking millennials crave more than miles, the accumulation of which is a bit of a long game. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather build miles and enjoy nice things like this and this, than have a little more cashback each month.

I also found it very funny that this is being touted as an innovation-

Apparently not being able to read your card digits quickly was such a big problem the resolution of such deserved a mention in the press release.

The card also features Southeast Asia’s first ‘quick read’ card face. Instead of the 16-digit card number laid out in a horizontal line, the card numbers are laid out in a 4-by-4 stack on the top right hand corner of the card, making it easier for customers to read when conducting online transactions.

This is a bit like the Kuvee wine bottle in that it offers to solve a problem you didn’t know you had.

The income requirement is $30,000 for Singaporeans ($40,000 for foreigners) and interestingly enough it has been tiered as a Visa Signature card. I remember when the Visa Signature card was launched in Singapore a long time back it was meant for the $50,000 income bracket and above, but as with all things that’s migrated downwards as time passed. Visa Signature gives you access to the Visa Luxury Hotels collection which is worth a look if you’re not into hotel loyalty programs.

Remember kids- yolo means life is too short for cash rebates.