Review: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, perfect for those of you with friends or family members who tune out every time you start lecturing them on which card to use where. 

All you need is to shove this card into their hands (or more accurately, add it to their mobile wallet) and send them on their way, because this is one of the most idiot-proof cards in the whole miles game. 

With some limited exceptions, it’s an easy route to 4 mpd everywhere, and a must-have in your collection.

UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
With 4 mpd on in-store mobile payments, online shopping & entertainment, the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa is an absolutely essential card.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
One of the easiest ways to earn 4 mpd almost everywhere No minimum spend required Bonuses not just for in-store spend, but selected online transactions too	S$5 earning blocks and UOB$ merchants
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa. 

Apply
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	2 years
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (First Year Free)	Min. Transfer	5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$25
Local Earn	0.4 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	0.4 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	4 mpd on mobile payments, online shopping & entertainment	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa is the last standing member of the UOB “Preferred Platinum” family, which includes such luminaries as the UOB Preferred Platinum AMEX (no longer available, sadly), and the UOB Preferred Platinum Mastercard (no longer available, happily).

All three cards have very different features, so don’t mix them up:

• The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa earns 4 mpd on mobile contactless payments, and online shopping & entertainment
• The UOB Preferred Platinum AMEX no longer exists, having been replaced by the UOB Absolute Card
• The UOB Preferred Platinum Mastercard is best used for removing spinach and other debris from between teeth after you’ve used your UOB Preferred Platinum Visa to settle the bill

But again, since the latter two are no longer issued, it’s unlikely you’ll have issues. 

How much must I earn to qualify for a UOB Preferred Platinum Visa?

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa is positioned at the entry level, with a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 per annum.

If you do not meet the minimum income requirement, it may be possible to place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with UOB to get a secured version. Contact your nearest UOB branch for more details.

How much is the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa’s annual fee? 

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa has an annual fee of S$196.20, which is waived for the first year. The fee for the first supplementary card is waived in perpetuity, with the second card onwards charged at S$98.10 per year.

Waivers are fairly easy to get in my experience, but be warned that UOB’s default behaviour is to automatically deduct your UNI$ to cover the annual fee.

How do UOB’s automatic UNI$ deductions for annual fees work?

When the time comes for renewal, you will be charged either:

1. 6,500 UNI$ for a full waiver
2. 3,250 UNI$ + S$98.10 for a half waiver

If you have at least 6,500 UNI$ in your account, you will be charged (i). If you have less than 6,500 UNI$ but more than 3,250 UNI$, you will be charged (ii). And if you don’t have at least 3,250 UNI$, you’ll be charged the S$196.20 annual fee in cash.

It’s up to you to monitor your statement and request a fee waiver when this happens. Look at the expiry date on your credit card- the month corresponds to the month your annual fee will be charged. 

For what it’s worth, if UOB subsequently grants you a fee waiver, the reinstated UNI$ will have a fresh 2-year validity, so that’s something I guess!

How many miles do I earn?

Regular SGD/FCY Spending

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa earns:

• 1 UNI$ for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars (0.4 mpd)
• 1 UNI$ for every S$5 spent in FCY (0.4 mpd)

All foreign currency transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee. 

Mobile Contactless

UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Cardholders will also earn 10X UNI$ per S$5 (4 mpd) on mobile contactless payments, whether in Singapore Dollars or FCY.

No minimum spend is required, but a cap of S$1,110 per calendar month applies. Any spend in excess of this cap earns 0.4 mpd.

UOB defines mobile contactless payments as in-store payments using the following methods:

Payment Method	Eligible?
	✅
	❌
	✅
	✅
Excludes MST	✅
Tapping physical card	❌

Again, note the “in-store” requirement. Using Apple Pay or Google Pay for an in-app transaction will not trigger the mobile contactless bonus (though you may still be eligible for 4 mpd if the MCC falls under the online whitelist; see the next section for more details).

This flexibility makes the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa the Swiss Army knife of the miles & points game. So long as the transaction doesn’t run afoul of the UOB rewards exclusion list (e.g. education, government services), you’ll earn 4 mpd. Dentist’s appointment? Hairdresser? Stationery shop? Mini-mart? Car repairs? If there’s a contactless payment terminal, 4 mpd is yours.

A few important points to note:

• Tapping the physical UOB Preferred Platinum Visa card at a contactless terminal will only earn 0.4 mpd instead of 4 mpd, ever since May 2020. Once you get your card, add it to your mobile wallet and put it in the drawer!
• SimplyGo transactions (i.e. bus/MRT) will only earn 0.4 mpd, as they’re not considered mobile contactless transactions, even if paid with your mobile device
• The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa will not earn any UNI$ at UOB$ merchants. UOB$ is UOB’s card-wide cashback programme and includes Cold Storage, Crystal Jade, Giant, Guardian, Starbucks and Toast Box, among others. Memorise the bigger names and don’t use your card here

Online Shopping & Entertainment

UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Cardholders will also earn 10X UNI$ per S$5 (4 mpd) on online shopping and entertainment, whether in Singapore Dollars or FCY.

This is capped at S$1,110 per calendar month, and any spend in excess of this cap earns 0.4 mpd. Do note that cap is shared with mobile contactless payments.

Online shopping and entertainment covers the following MCCs:

This includes online or in-app transactions at:

• Department and Retail Stores: Amazon, Book Depository, Courts, Harvey Norman, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, and Taobao
• Supermarkets, Dining and Food Delivery: Deliveroo, NTUC FairPrice, foodpanda, GrabFood, WhyQ
• Entertainment and Ticketing: Golden Village, SISTIC, Ticket Master

Since 5814 is also on the whitelist, you can use this card at XNAP merchants to earn 4 mpd at QR-code only places like hawker stalls.

However, my preferred strategy would be to use the DBS Woman’s World Card or Citi Rewards Card for such transactions, and save the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa’s 4 mpd cap for in-person contactless spending.

When are UNI$ credited? 

Both base and bonus UNI$ are credited when the transaction posts, usually within 1-3 working days.

How are UNI$ calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the UNI$ earned on your UOB Preferred Platinum Visa: 

Do note that UOB rounds your transactions down to the nearest S$5 before awarding points, which means a S$9.99 transaction earns the same as a S$5 one, and a S$4.99 transaction earns no points at all. 

To illustrate the effect of rounding, consider the following:

	UOB Pref. Plat Visa	Citi Rewards
S$5	20 miles	20 miles
S$9.99	20 miles	36 miles
S$15	60 miles	60 miles
S$19.99	60 miles	76 miles
S$25	100 miles	100 miles
S$29.99	100 miles	116 miles

For what it’s worth, the impact of rounding gets less severe as your transaction size increases, though you’ll definitely want to take care with smaller transactions.

If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate your points: 

Don’t forget that UOB makes it very easy to check your points breakdown thanks to the TMRW app, which will show transaction-level points for the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa.

UOB TMRW: Get transaction-level credit card rewards points breakdowns

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for UNI$?

A full list of transactions that do not earn UNI$ can be found in the T&Cs. 

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Charitable Donations
• Education
• Government Services 
• Insurance
• Prepaid account top-ups (e.g. GrabPay, YouTrip)
• Real Estate Agents & Managers
• Utilities

UNI$ will be awarded for CardUp, but not ipaymy. However, the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa will only earn 0.4 mpd on such transactions, so you’re much better off using the UOB PRVI Miles or another general spending card instead.

What do I need to know about UNI$?

Expiry

UNI$ expire 2 years from the last day of each periodic quarter in which the UNI$ was earned.

Each UNI$ period is calculated commencing from January to December of each calendar year. Expired UNI$ cannot be replaced or reinstated.

Pooling

UNI$ pool across cards. If you have 10,000 UNI$ on the UOB Lady’s Card, and 5,000 UNI$ on the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, you can redeem 15,000 UNI$ at one shot and pay a single conversion fee.

It also means that you don’t need to transfer your UNI$ out before cancelling the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, assuming it’s not your last UNI$-earning card. 

Transfer Partners & Fees

UNI$ transfer to frequent flyer programs at a 1:2 ratio, with a minimum transfer block of 5,000 UNI$ (let’s ignore AirAsia, because converting points there is like throwing them away):

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (UNI$: Partner)
	5,000: 10,000
	5,000: 10,000
	2,500: 4,500

Transfers cost S$25 per conversion, regardless of how many points are transferred.

UOB also has an auto-conversion option for KrisFlyer, which costs S$50 per year. UNI$ will be automatically converted on the last day of the calendar month, in blocks of UNI$2,500 (half the regular conversion block).

FAQs

T&Cs

Read Point 53-55

However, you’ll need to keep a minimum balance of UNI$15,000 (30,000 miles) in your account at all times. This is a hefty working capital balance! Make what you will of UOB’s reason for this policy…

Cardmembers who wish to make ad-hoc conversions can still do so, subject to the payment of the usual S$25 fee per conversion, in standard blocks of 5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles).

Here’s the pros and cons of the automatic transfer scheme: 

Pros

• Pay a single fee for 12 automatic conversions a year
• Reduces the minimum conversion block from 5,000 UNI$ (10,000 KrisFlyer miles) to 2,500 UNI$ (5,000 KrisFlyer miles)

Cons

• The 3-year expiry on your KrisFlyer miles starts as soon as they are converted. Had you kept your UNI$ on the UOB side, you’d enjoy two extra years of validity
• Ad-hoc conversions still cost you S$25
• Only balances in excess of 15,000 UNI$ are converted
• Effectively locks you into KrisFlyer, as opposed to UOB’s other transfer partners (you can still make ad-hoc conversions to Asia Miles between quarters, but it’s likely you’ll need to end participation in the automatic conversion programme to acquire a critical mass)

Transfer Times

UOB transfers to KrisFlyer are typically completed within 48 hours.

If you need your points credited instantly, you can do so via Kris+. 1,000 UNI$ can be transferred to 1,700 KrisPay miles, which can then be transferred to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio with no fees. 

S$5 for new Kris+ Users

Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction

However, those 1,000 UNI$ would normally have earned you 2,000 KrisFlyer miles, so you effectively take a 15% haircut. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend taking this option, unless you need a small top-up to redeem a flight, or have an orphan UNI$ balance (<5,000 points). 

If you choose to do so nonetheless, do remember that it’s a two-step process:

1. Transfer UNI$ to KrisPay miles
2. Transfer KrisPay miles to KrisFlyer miles

Do not forget the second step! If you wait more than seven days, or spend any of the converted KrisPay miles via Kris+, the entire balance will be stuck in the Kris+ app. KrisPay miles expire after six months, and can only be spent at a poor ratio of 150 miles = S$1. 

Summary Review: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa

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🦁 MileLion Verdict

☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa may not be marketed as a miles card, but it’s one of the best out there. 

Simply put, there’s no other card on the market that offers what the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa does (I suppose you could make a case for Amaze + Citi Rewards, though that involves two cards instead of one). Given the ubiquity of contactless terminals, this is pretty much a 4 mpd anywhere solution, making it suitable for those who struggle to memorize what card to use where.  

Used judiciously, a cardholder could earn slightly over 53,000 miles per year with ~S$13,000 spending, enough for a one-way Singapore Airlines Business Class flight to Japan or South Korea.

The fact that UOB pools points makes the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa even more useful, because you can pair it with a UOB Lady’s Card and/or UOB Visa Signature, creating a card portfolio that earns 4 mpd on a large proportion of your overall spending.