OCBC has launched a new promotion for sign-up offer on the OCBC 90°N Visa Card that runs from now till 31 August 2022.
- New OCBC cardholders who apply for an OCBC 90°N Visa Card and spend at least S$5,000 by the end of the third month will receive a bonus of 10,500 miles
- Existing OCBC cardholders who apply for an OCBC 90°N Visa Card and spend at least S$5,000 by the end of the third month will receive a bonus of 2,500 miles
This is limited to the first 10,000 eligible applicants, either new or existing (the cap is so high, I wonder why they even bothered putting one in the first place- all it does is deter would-be applicants).
The current offer is certainly better than the previous one which ended on 31 May, which required new cardholders to spend S$10,000 in foreign currency for 20,000 Travel$, and existing cardholders to spend S$9,000 in local or foreign currency for 2,500 Travel$.
However, the key issue is that the core value proposition of the OCBC 90°N Visa remains weak, due to its S$5 earning blocks and mediocre earn rates.
OCBC 90°N Visa Sign Up Offer
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| Apply Here | ||
| T&Cs |
To be eligible for this offer, customers must apply and be approved for an OCBC 90°N Visa Card from 1 June to 31 August 2022.
They must also be among the first 10,000 applicants to meet either one of the criteria below.
New-to-bank customers
New customers who spend at least S$5,000 by the end of the third month after approval will receive 15,500 Travel$ (1 Travel$= 1 KrisFlyer mile), broken down as follows:
- 5,000 base Travel$ (based on S$5,000 @ 1 mpd)
- 500 bonus Travel$ for spending S$10
- 10,000 bonus Travel$ for spending S$5,000
| ❓ New-to-bank definition |
| New-to-bank customers are described as those who do not currently hold a principal OCBC credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months |
Existing customers
Existing customers who spend at least S$5,000 by the end of the third month after approval will receive 7,500 Travel$ (1 Travel$= 1 KrisFlyer mile), broken down as follows:
- 5,000 base Travel$ (based on S$5,000 @ 1 mpd)
- 2,500 bonus Travel$ for spending S$5,000
It’s basically an incremental 0.5 mpd, which makes the overall earn rate 1.5 mpd. But you could already earn 1.4 mpd from competing cards like the UOB PRVI Miles, with no minimum spend required!
When must the spending be made by?
The minimum spend requirement must be met by the following dates:
| Card Approval Month | Qualifying Spend End Date |
| June 2022 | 31 August 2022 |
| July 2022 | 30 September 2022 |
| August 2022 | 31 October 2022 |
Therefore, you’ll have anywhere from 2-3 months to meet the minimum spend, depending on when the approval comes through.
What counts as qualifying spend?
Qualifying spend refers to in-person or online retail transactions, excluding transactions such as:
- Charitable Donations
- Education
- Government Transactions
- GrabPay top-ups
- Hospitals
- Insurance
- Utilities
The full list of non-qualifying spend can be found in the OCBC 90°N Visa’s overall T&Cs.
When will the bonus miles be credited by?
Bonus miles will be credited 2 months after the qualifying spend end date. Cardholders who were approved in June can expect to receive their miles by 31 October 2022, those approved in July can expect to receive their miles by 30 November 2022, and those approved in August can expect to receive their miles by 31 December 2022.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs for this offer can be found here.
Recap: OCBC 90°N Visa
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| Apply Here | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Points Validity | No expiry |
| Annual Fee | S$53.50 (first year free) |
Min. Transfer |
1,000 Travel$ (1,000 miles) |
| Miles with Annual Fee |
Pay S$192.60 for 10,000 Travel$ | Transfer Partners |
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| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | None |
| Local Earn | 1.0 mpd | Points Pool? | Yes (with other Travel$ cards) |
| FCY Earn | 2.0 mpd | Lounge Access? | No |
| Special Earn | 3.0 mpd on streaming, 1.5 mpd on food delivery, online shopping, groceries | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
The OCBC 90°N Visa earns a rather mediocre 1 mpd on local spend and 2 mpd on foreign currency spending. This makes it the lowest-earning miles card on the market right now (other entry-level miles cards have local earn rates of 1.1-1.4 mpd).
There are some bonus categories such as 3 mpd on streaming services, and 1.5 mpd on online food delivery, online shopping and groceries, but you could always earn up to 4 mpd with alternatives like the Citi Rewards or DBS Woman’s World Card.
To be sure, there’s some bright spots: Travel$ never expire, and can be transferred to KrisFlyer with no conversion fees and a minimum of just 1,000 Travel$.
But considering the annoying S$5 earning blocks (which means a $9.99 transaction earns the same miles as a $5 transaction, and a $4.99 transaction earns nothing at all) and weak earn rates, it’s far from my first choice.
Conclusion
New-to-bank OCBC 90°N Visa cardholders can earn up to 15,500 miles with S$5,000 spend. It’s an OK return, assuming you wouldn’t be able to earn 4 mpd on that spend in the first place.
The existing customer offer is more clear cut: don’t bother. An incremental 0.5 mpd which requires at least S$5,000 of spending to trigger is asking too much, and you’d be better off just using a superior miles card to begin with.
Hello – I got a credit card application denied recently despite meeting the minimum salary x6. They mentioned that is it due to the fact that I have applied to too many cards over the last 18th months. Is there a way around this?