Here’s the MileLion’s review of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, the Blue and Pink duo that’s won a place in many miles chasers’ wallets ever since its 2016 relaunch.
While not quite the Swiss Army knife that the Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World Card are, it’s still got solid use cases- especially for those with big ticket purchases.
 OCBC Titanium Rewards | |
| ★★★★ | |
| It’s not as essential as the Citi Rewards or DBS Woman’s World Card, but the OCBC Titanium Rewards is still an excellent option for big ticket purchases | |
| 👍 The good | 👎 The bad |
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Overview: OCBC Titanium Rewards
Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card.
| Apply Here | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Points Validity | 2 years |
| Annual Fee | S$192.60 (2 Years Free) | Min. Transfer | 25,000 OCBC$ (10,000 miles) |
| Miles with Annual Fee | None | Transfer Partners |
|
| 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 online and offline shopping | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
There are two variants of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card: the Blue and the Pink. Both cards are identical in every way except colour.
Curb your stereotypes: men are perfectly at liberty to apply for the Pink, and women the Blue. In fact, you might even want to swing both ways and get both, because each card has its own bonus cap; more on that below.
How much must I earn to qualify for an OCBC Titanium Rewards Card?
The OCBC Titanium Rewards card has an income requirement of just S$30,000 p.a.
If you do not meet the minimum income requirement, it’s possible to get a secured version of the card by depositing S$10,000 in a fixed deposit with OCBC. Visit any OCBC branch to do the necessary paperwork.
How much is the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card’s annual fee?
| Principal Card | Supp. Card | |
| First 2 Years | Free | Free |
| Subsequent | S$192.60 | S$96.30 |
The OCBC Titanium Rewards Card has an annual fee of S$192.60 for the principal cardholder, and S$96.30 for each supplementary card. These fees are waived for the first 2 years. A fee waiver will be automatically granted if you spend at least S$10,000 in a membership year.
No points are awarded for the payment of the annual fee.
How many miles do I earn?
| 🇸🇬 SGD Spend | 🌎 FCY Spend | ➕ Bonus Spend |
| 0.4 mpd | 0.4 mpd | 4 mpd on online and offline shopping |
SGD/FCY Spend
OCBC Titanium Rewards Card members earn 5 OCBC$ for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars or foreign currency (FCY). 1 OCBC$ is worth 0.4 airline miles, so that’s an effective earn rate of 0.4 mpd for both local and FCY spending.
All transactions in FCY attract an FCY fee of 3.25%.
Online and Offline Shopping
OCBC Titanium Rewards Card members earn 50 OCBC$ for every S$5 spent on online and offline shopping, whether in local or FCY spend.
This is an effective earn rate of 4 mpd, capped at S$13,335 per membership year. The cap was previously thought to be S$12,000, but I’ve clarified with OCBC directly that S$13,335 is the correct figure. For the full details, refer to the article below.
PSA: The OCBC Titanium Reward’s 4 mpd cap is not what you think
Note that the cap is applied per membership year. If you were approved for the card in March, your cap will be reset on 1 March every year.
Most of the other 4 mpd cards on the market apply a monthly cap, which makes the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card a superior option for big ticket purchases. For example, if you wanted to buy a S$3,000 laptop online, the Citi Rewards would award 4 mpd on the first S$1,000 only, and 0.4 mpd for the remaining S$2,000. In contrast, the OCBC Titanium Rewards would give you 4 mpd on the full S$3,000.
Caps are applied on a per card basis. If you have both the Blue and Pink versions of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, you’ll enjoy a combined annual cap of S$26,670 (13,335*2).
OCBC defines shopping as purchases made at any merchant with the following MCCs:
| MCC | Examples (non-exhaustive) |
| MCC 5311 Departmental Stores | Takashimaya, TANGS, Isetan, OG, Metro, BHG, Marks & Spencer |
| MCC 5611 Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Accessories Stores | Benjamin Barker, Timberland, Edit Suits, Berluti |
| MCC 5621 Women’s Ready to Wear Stores | Zara, H&M, Mothercare |
| MCC 5631 Women’s Accessory and Speciality Stores | Tory Burch, Love Bonito, Pandora |
| MCC 5641 Children’s and Infants’ Wear Stores | Kiddy Palace, Mummys Market, Pupsik, Motherswork |
| MCC 5651 Family Clothing Stores | Uniqlo, ASOS, Club 21, Burberry, Yoox |
| MCC 5661 Shoe Stores | Skechers, Charles & Keith, Bata, Foot Locker, Pazzion |
| MCC 5691 Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores | Ezbuy, Zalora, Fartech |
| MCC 5045 Computers, Peripherals, and Software | Apple, Aftershock, Prism Plus, Dell |
| MCC 5732 Electronics Stores | Best Denki, Harvey Norman, Gain City |
| MCC 5699 Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessory Shops | Qoo10, Cotton On, Reebonz |
In addition to this, transactions at the following websites are also eligible for 4 mpd:
- Alibaba
- AliExpress
- Amazon
- Courts
- Daigou
- Ezbuy
- IKEA
- Lazada
- Mustafa Centre
- Qoo10
- Shopee
- Taobao
The above list is not exhaustive, and OCBC maintains an active presence on the HWZ forums, answering questions about merchant eligibility. If you’re unsure about a specific merchant, that’s your best shot of getting an answer.
Historically speaking, the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card has runs some fantastic bonus points promotions, which are a great way to pick up a few more miles. Unfortunately, these have since dried up, and the last one we saw was in October 2020.
- 2017 and 2018: 4 mpd on all mobile payments
- January 2018: 4 mpd on dining
- March 2018: 12 mpd at IKEA
- May 2018: 8 mpd on Emirates
- July 2018: 12 mpd at ZALORA
- November 2018: 12 mpd on public transport
- April 2019: 8 mpd on Deliveroo, foodpanda, Netflix
- October 2020: 8 mpd on Amazon, Qoo10, Shopee
Do note that some of these promotions are targeted; to receive these alerts, ensure you’ve given consent to receive marketing messages from OCBC (you can opt in via ibanking).
When are OCBC$ credited?
Not all your OCBC$ are credited immediately. Base points will be awarded when the transaction posts (typically in 1-3 working days), and bonus points will be received by the end of the next calendar month.
| Base Points (1X) | Credited when transaction posts |
| Bonus Points (9X) | Credited by the end of the next calendar month |
How are OCBC$ calculated?
Here’s how you can work out the OCBC$ earned on your OCBC Titanium Rewards Card:
| Base Points (1X) | Round down transaction to nearest S$5, then divide by 5 and multiply by 5 |
| Bonus Points (9X) | Round down transaction to nearest S$5, then divide by 5 and multiply 45 |
On 1 June 2020, OCBC started awarding credit card points in blocks of S$5. This means you’ll be penalized should your transaction not be in a block of S$5. For example, a S$9.90 transaction will earn the same number of points as a S$5 transaction, and a S$4.90 transaction will earn zero points. In other words, the minimum transaction to earn points is S$5.
Here’s how this policy affects the miles you earn on the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, compared to another 4 mpd card like the Citi Rewards.
 OCBC Titanium Rewards |  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$29.99 | 100 miles | 116 miles |
If you’re an excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points:
| Base Points (1X) | =ROUNDDOWN (X/5,0)*5 |
| Bonus Points (9X) | =ROUNDDOWN (X/5,0)*45 |
| Where X= Amount Spent | |
For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:
What transactions aren’t eligible for OCBC$?
A full list of transactions that do not earn OCBC$ can be found in the T&C. I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:
- Charitable Donations
- Education
- GrabPay top-ups
- Government Services
- Insurance
- Non-profit and government hospitals
- Real Estate Agents & Managers
The OCBC Titanium Rewards will not earn 4 mpd on platforms like CardUp, ipaymy and RentHero. You can earn points with SimplyGo, but there’s no reason to settle for 0.4 mpd when much better options exist.
What do I need to know about OCBC$?
OCBC$ expire after 2 years. OCBC$ pool across all cards that earn OCBC$, but not with OCBC’s other rewards currencies (Travel$, VOYAGE Miles).
For example, if you have 20,000 OCBC$ on both the Blue and Pink versions of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, you can redeem 40,000 OCBC$ at one shot and pay a single conversion fee. However, you cannot redeem Travel$ together with OCBC$.
| 👍 Protip: Enjoy free OCBC$ transfers |
| If circumstances permit, get an OCBC Premier Banking Visa Infinite. This OCBC$ earning card offers free transfers to KrisFlyer, and since OCBC$ pool, your OCBC Titanium Rewards Card will be an indirect beneficiary. |
Since OCBC$ pool, you do not need to transfer them out before cancelling your OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, assuming it’s not your last OCBC$-earning card.
One key weakness of OCBC cards is that they only have a single transfer partner: KrisFlyer. OCBC$ transfer at a 5:2 ratio, with a minimum transfer block of 25,000 OCBC$.
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (OCBC$: Miles) |
 | 25,000: 10,000 |
Transfers cost S$25 per programme, regardless of how many points are transferred.
OCBC$ can also be traded on STACK, OCBC’s loyalty exchange platform. This allows you to convert OCBC$ into other rewards currencies, or spend them on rewards vouchers (usually at a poor rate).
STACK currently offers points conversions between the following programs:
- OCBC$
- Travel$
- VOYAGE Miles
- Great Eastern Rewards
- Frasers Experience
- My Millennium
Unfortunately, there are no real arbitrage opportunities available- it’s not like you can grow your OCBC$ by trading them for Travel$. STACK is more intended for cashing out orphan points that would otherwise go to waste. For example, I may not normally stay at Millennium Hotel properties, but on the odd occasion I do, there’s still value in collecting the loyalty points so I can trade them for a currency I actually use.
Summary Review: OCBC Titanium Rewards Card
As far as 4 mpd cards come, the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card isn’t quite as no-questions-asked as the Citi Rewards or DBS Woman’s World Card. While the latter two earn 4 mpd on almost all online transactions, the OCBC Titanium Rewards confines the bonus to a smaller range of MCCs. You’ll need to be careful not to use it for online groceries, or food delivery for example.
That said, it covers all your essential e-commerce merchants (not to mention offline department stores and boutiques), and the annual (instead of monthly) 4 mpd cap makes it a great choice for big ticket purchases. The frequent bonus points promotions are just the icing on the cake.
For large spenders, getting both the Blue and Pink versions doubles your 4 mpd cap to S$26,670 per membership year, or 106,680 miles. That’s an excellent return, equivalent to a one-way Business Class ticket from Singapore to Europe.
So that’s my review of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card. What do you think?
| Overall Score | |
| ★★★★ | |
| Ratings Guide | |
| 5 Stars ★★★★★ | An essential card for miles chasers, with few viable alternatives |
| 4 Stars ★★★★ | A very good card, although other equally good alternatives may exist |
| 3 Stars ★★★ | A decent card to round out your collection, but not absolutely essential |
| 2 Stars ★★ | Very limited use cases, and outperformed by most other cards |
| 1 Star ★ | Paperweight. Use for picking teeth or ninja stars |
Overall a solid card. I think it would be 4.5* if OCBC had a greater range of transfer partners.
Was careful to rate it a step below wwmc, because of xfer partners + More restricted 4 mpd
Personally, I feel that they cater to different use cases, although I see where you’re coming from. This would be the card I use if I had a purchase costing more than $2K.
“For example, if you have 20,000 OCBC$ on both the Blue and Pink versions of the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card, you can redeem 40,000 OCBC$ at one shot and pay a single conversion fee.” I think the example is slightly misleading as you cannot redeem 40,000 OCBC$ at one shot since you must convert in multiples of 25,000 OCBC$. Also, it seems from OCBC rewards redemption website that it is possible to transfer OCBC$ from one principal cardholder to another principal cardholder for 2,300 OCBC$ which may be useful if you have less than 25,000 OCBC$ and wish… Read more »
Hi, anyone knows if there’s a way to track how much I’ve spent in the membership year?
I had to call them to check and confirm. Other way is pretty manual i.e. going through the statements (can do on their app) but only for up to 180 days
Does this work when you link the card to the Amaze card?
Think it does. But unsure how it will work overseas, cos now cannot find the MCC of merchants easily, let alone overseas.
Let’s say I’m going to Uk/France, any tips on finding out whether I can get 4mpd on shops like Primark or even boutiques like Chanel/LV?
Recently used the OCBC Titanium Rewards card at Goyard in Paris and was suprised to learn that the MCC for Goyard is 7631 – Clock, Jewellery and Watch Repair from the OCBC CSO so no bonus points. I did point out to the CSO that the MCC doesn’t seem correct because Goyard does not sell clocks, jewellery or watches? Anyway, it doesn’t seem to make any difference for the bonus. I wished there were a comprehensive list/warning list which stores (local & overseas) will not get bonus with OCBC Titanium Rewards but also it would be great if OCBC would… Read more »
All’s good until they refuse to waive off annual fee…
exactly. ocbc gives 0 customer leeway.
Just to clarify that we won’t get the bonus points if we buy airline tickets such as Singapore Airlines, or buy cruise packages with this card since no related MCC could be found in the T&C?
Can’t recall the annual spending requirements for wavier but mine seems to get have annual fee waived off automatically so it’s been a no brained for me to keep this card.
@aaron do you put annual fee cost and waivers into rating consideration
due to the MCC issue, Was not given bonus point last i swiped it in LV store in MBS, learnt the lesson hardway
wow must be painful! what was LV’s MCC?
Based on data points, LV should be 5948 – uggage and leather goods. Would be good if there is a crowd source consolidated list of data point for shopping boutiques
but you don’t need to guess anymore….
https://milelion.com/2022/10/08/how-to-check-merchant-category-codes-mccs-before-spending/
Big purchase coming up, car downpayment of at least 12k, but dont think this card earn any bonus points at car dealers?
Do you know if we’re getting the bonus if we shop on Amzon fresh?
for the 9x bonus points, it will be eligible if I buy something from Apple online store or Courts online store via apple pay using OCBC titanium credit card?
Hello, i am new to the miles game so trying to understand all the benefits/limitations. I have a question for points validity. I am someone who intends to keep my points/miles to hopefully redeem an upgrade for a flight in the future – i can see that the citipremier miles has no expiry so for this purpose it would be good, but it is 1.2 mpd. Does that mean that, for this purpose (keep points for future flight upgrade), cards that have points expiry (e.g. womans card that is 4mpd but validity of 1 year) will not be of use… Read more »
Effective timeline for your exame would be 1 year as reward points + 3 years (assuming krisflyer) as frequent flyer points after transfer
Does anyone know if Shopee pay top ups are eligible for bonus OCBC$? Thanks!
could you kindly try top up a bit and see how it goes? Kindly share with us here!
@Aaron Wong, do you know of any card that gives 4mpd for watch purchases in boutique shops? Seems like they fall under MCC5944, which does not fall under the OCBC titanium or Citi Rewards shopping categories? Amaze would only cover the first 1K…
@Aaron: I assume this card is no good for Airline ticket purchase (eg: Business class to Europe). I struugle currently with monthly spending caps of Citi Rewards and HSBC Revo when I have to buy business class tickets
you can use the DBS altitude visa for 3mpd capped at $5k per month