UOB adding hospitals to UNI$ rewards exclusion list on (almost) all cards

UOB has published a prospective update to its credit card rewards T&Cs that comes into effect early next year.

From 1 February 2021, payments to hospitals, automobile parking lots and garages will no longer earn UNI$, cash rebates or KrisFlyer miles on all UOB credit cards. An exception has been carved out for the UOB Reserve and UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cards, which will continue to earn UNI$ on hospital transactions. 

UOB’s latest rewards exclusion list

With the latest additions, UOB’s revised rewards exclusion list now reads as follows:

That’s a pretty extensive list of exclusions, although to be fair there isn’t anything here that other banks haven’t excluded too. Some of it boils down to Merchant Discount Rates (MDRs)- organizations like schools and non-profits tend to be accorded discounted MDRs, which makes rewards economically unviable. Others transactions such as gambling present an increased risk of fraud and chargebacks, hence their exclusion (although UOB, amusingly, still awards bonus points on porno).

What’s interesting is that the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card and UOB Reserve have both been spared from this change, and will continue to earn UNI$ as per normal. I can only surmise that UOB is afraid of angering its high net worth customers, who may well be charging hefty medical checkup packages to their cards. 

There’s been no mention of UOB’s other Visa Infinite cards, namely the “classic” Visa Infinite and the Privilege Banking version. If you’re holding on to one of these, it’s well worth checking with the bank (and getting a response in writing). 

Hospital classification explained

Hospitals in Singapore can be segmented into public, not-for-profit and private, further subdivided into acute and community facilities. Here’s how the MOH organizes things: 

This distinction matters because of MCC. There are two main MCCs that hospitals can code as:

• 8062: Hospitals
• 9399: Government Services Not Elsewhere Classified

Almost every bank excludes 9399 from earning points, but not every bank excludes 8062. 

Despite the government association, not all public hospitals code under 9399. Instead, most (but not all) fall under 8062, such as Changi General, NUH, and SGH. There is no comprehensive list of which hospitals code as what. When in doubt, always test a small amount first and check the MCC with the bank’s CSO. 

Based on past data points, polyclinics code as 8062 and not 9399. Stand-alone dental clinics code as 8021, which is not excluded by any bank. 

What cards still earn rewards for hospital transactions?

With these latest changes, here’s a summary of which banks still award points for hospital transactions:

	Awards Points?
	✓
	✕ Excludes Hospitals
	✓ Except 9399
	✕ Excludes Hospitals
	✓ Except 9399
	✓ Except 9399
	✓ Except 9399, and public & non-profit hospitals
	✓ Except 9399
	✓ Except 9399.  From 1 Feb 2021, hospitals will be excluded except on Reserve & Visa Infinite Metal Cards

Conclusion

You’ll notice I hardly mentioned the parking lot exclusion, because in the Singapore context it only really affects Parking.sg. Since UOB cards require a minimum spend of S$5 to earn any points, they were never good options for this in the first place. 

While it’s unfortunate that yet another bank is excluding hospitals wholesale, there are still (for the moment) other cards that you can switch to. Given how high the average hospital bill is, you certainly don’t want to get caught on your heels here.

For a more detailed analysis on which card to use at hospitals, refer to the guide below.

What’s the best credit card for hospital or medical bills?

(HT: Trazora)