OCBC has launched a new promotion for OCBC 90ยฐN Mastercard and Visa cardholders, who can earn 2.5 mpd on foreign currency transactions up till 30 June 2022 instead of the usual 2.1 mpd (Mastercard) or 2.0 mpd (Visa).
It’s capped at a relatively modest S$2,000 of spend, but if you’re determined to use one card for everything, and that card happens to be the 90ยฐN…
Earn up to 2.5 mpd on overseas spend
From 25 May to 30 June 2022, OCBC 90ยฐN Mastercard or Visa cardholders will earn up to 2.5 mpd on overseas spend as follows:
| Card | FCY Earn Rate | Bonus | Overall |
 OCBC 90ยฐN MC |
2.1 mpd | 0.4 mpd | 2.5 mpd |
 OCBC 90ยฐN Visa |
2.0 mpd | 0.5 mpd | 2.5 mpd |
Mastercard/Visa cardholders will earn the regular 2.1/2.0 mpd on FCY spending initially, with a bonus 0.4/0.5 mpd credited within two months after the promotion has ended (i.e. by 31 August 2022).
No registration is required, and the bonus component is capped at the first S$2,000 of eligible spending during the promotion period. Therefore, the maximum bonus you’re looking at is a relatively small 800/1,000 miles for Mastercard/Visa cardholders.
The full T&Cs of this offer can be found here.
What counts as eligible spending?
All foreign currency spending is eligible (whether online or in-person), with the usual rewards exclusions such as insurance, government transactions, charitable donations and prepaid account top-ups.
The full list of spending exclusions can be found in the card’s regular T&Cs:
What can you do with Travel$?
Bonus miles are awarded in the form of Travel$, which can be converted into miles at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum transfer block of 1,000 Travel$, and no conversion fees.
Unfortunately, OCBC only partners with KrisFlyer, so you’re limited in terms of where you can transfer your points.
What alternatives are there for overseas spending?
Is 2.5 mpd an attractive rate for overseas spending? Not really.
By using the right cards, you could easily earn up to 4 mpd on foreign currency transactions, resulting in a lower cost per mile (CPM)
| Card | FCY Earn Rate | FCY Fee | CPM |
 UOB Visa Signature |
4.01 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 SCB Rewards+ |
4.02 | 3.5% | 0.88 |
 SCB VI |
3.03 | 3.5% | 1.17 |
| OCBC 90ยฐN MC |
2.54 | 3.25% | 1.3 |
| OCBC 90ยฐN Visa |
2.54 | 3.25% | 1.3 |
| 1. Min. spend S$1,000 per statement month, cap at S$2,000 per statement month 2. Cap at S$2,222 per membership year, must have SCB Visa Infinite or SCB X Card otherwise 2.9 mpd 3. Min. spend S$2,000 per statement month, otherwise 1 mpd 4. Promo period only, cap at S$2,000 |
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One annoying thing about OCBC cards (though to be fair you could say the same thing for UOB) is that they award points in blocks of S$5, which means a S$9.99 transaction earns the same number of points as a S$5 transaction, and a S$4.99 transaction earns no points at all.
But rounding can also push up the CPM significantly on smaller overseas transactions. Suppose I spend the equivalent of S$24.99 overseas. This will be rounded down to S$20 for the purposes of awarding Travel$, which means I’ll earn 50 Travel$ (S$20*2.5 mpd) for a fee of S$0.81 (3.25% of S$24.99). That increases the cost per mile to 1.62 cents.
If you’re clocking FCY spend on particular categories, the cards below could also be options.
| Card | Earn Rate | Fee | CPM |
 Citi Rewards |
4.01 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 DBS WWMC |
4.02 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 OCBC Titanium Rewards |
4.03 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 UOB Pref. Plat. Visa |
4.04 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 UOB Lady’s Card |
4.05 | 3.25% | 0.81 |
 HSBC Revolution |
4.06 |
2.8% | 0.7 |
| 1. Department store, apparel, or online transactions (excluding travel). First S$1K per statement month. 2. Online transactions. First S$2K per calendar month. 3. Department stores, apparel, electronics. Full list here. First S$12K per membership year. 4. Apparel, electronics, dining, food delivery, entertainment. Also applies to overseas mobile payments. Full list here. First S$1.1K per calendar month. 5. Depends on your selected bonus category. Full list here. First S$1K (Lady’s) or S$3K (Lady’s Solitaire) per calendar month. 6. Airlines, hotels, department stores, apparel, supermarkets, transport. Must be online or via contactless payments. Full list here. First S$1K per calendar month. |
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However, the best option by far is still to use the Amaze Card. With Amaze, you’ll pay zero FCY fees (though the FX rates entail a small spread) while earning up to 4 mpd on your credit card plus up to 1% cashback.
| ๐ณ tl;dr: Amaze card |
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| Sign Up Here |
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Amaze transactions code as online spend, which means you’ll earn 4 mpd with the Citi Rewards Mastercard and DBS Woman’s World Card (until 31 May 2022), with a combined cap of S$3,000 each month.
Conclusion
OCBC 90ยฐN Mastercard and Visa cardholders can earn 2.5 mpd on foreign currency transactions made up till 30 June 2022, capped at S$2,000 for the entire promotion period.
If you’re dead set on using one card for everything, and that card happens to be the OCBC 90ยฐN, then by all means- you have nothing to lose. But I certainly wouldn’t switch my spending to the 90ยฐN just because of this promotion, since there’s so many better alternatives out there.
So far, OCBC offers plan for miles collection have never been attractive compare to others and usually they donโt waived annual fee, at least for my caseโฆ and once that happens, when you cancel the card, all the remaining OCBC$ or Travel$ gone caseโฆ
They have a very clear annual fee waiver structure, if you hit the minimum spend it is automatically waived. If you don’t use the card, it’s difficult to waive.
Just because it’s clear doesn’t mean it’s attractive. I’m waiting on a reasonable OCBC sign up bonus as I cancelled my OCBC cards a couple of years back when the annual fees hit. Seems like I’ll be waiting for Godot.
For my case, annual fee is not automatically waived even both of mine OCBC Titanium cc minimum spend hit. Need to call CS for waiver, really surprise me