Review: UOB Lady’s Card & UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card

Here’s the MileLion’s review of the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, and what a journey we’ve been on since I last updated this in 2023!

As you no doubt know, these cards received one heck of an enhancement in April 2023, when their 4 mpd bonus rate was upsized to 6 mpd for a whole year (later extended to 13 months). Even better, in June 2023 membership was opened to men as well, matching the gender-neutral policy of the DBS Woman’s World Card.

But now things have cooled down a bit. The earn rate has reverted to 4 mpd, the bonus cap on the Solitaire Card has been parred down to S$2,000 per month, and the new card design is…well, let’s just say sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.

So, all things considered, are the UOB Lady’s Cards still worthy of a place in your purse/wallet?

UOB Lady’s Card & Lady’s Solitaire Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
While it’s not quite the halcyon days of 2023, the UOB Lady’s Cards still have plenty to offer miles chasers.
What do these ratings mean?
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Earn 4 mpd on a choice of beauty & wellness, dining, entertainment, family, fashion, transport or travel Card spending qualifies for bonus interest on the UOB One Account Extra 2-6 mpd possible with UOB Lady’s Savings Account	Bonus cap for Lady’s Solitaire reduced to S$2,000 per month The standard UOB shenanigans, like S$5 earning blocks, automatic UNI$ deductions and overseas payment gateway clauses
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: UOB Lady’s Cards

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the UOB Lady’s Cards.

Apply
Apply
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a. (Lady’s)	Points Validity	2 years
	S$120,000 p.a. (Solitaire)
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (Lady’s-FYF)	Min. Transfer	5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)
	S$414.20 (Solitaire-FYF)
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 your choice of 1 or 2 bonus categories	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

There are multiple Lady’s Cards!

UOB actually has four different Lady’s Cards (there’s also a debit card, but we’ll ignore it here):

• UOB Lady’s Classic Card
• UOB Lady’s Platinum Card
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card

The UOB Lady’s Classic and UOB Lady’s Platinum Cards are basically identical. They have the same annual fee (S$196.20), and enjoy one quarterly bonus category, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.

The UOB Lady’s Solitaire and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card both enjoy two quarterly bonus categories, capped at S$2,000 per calendar month.

However, the Metal Card is a more premium, invite-only card with a higher annual fee of S$589.99. You must spend at least S$45,000 in a 3-month period on the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card for an invitation to upgrade, and even then it’s not guaranteed. 

Cardholders enjoy additional benefits such as one complimentary airport transfer and six lounge visits per year, as well as World Elite Mastercard perks (covered later in this post). I personally think it’s not worth the non-waivable annual fee, but you’ll need to assess the benefits for yourself and decide.

Can I hold multiple UOB Lady’s Cards?

By right, you cannot hold both the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card at the same time.

UOB says (at point 20 of the T&Cs) that any existing card will be automatically terminated within one month of upgrading (from UOB Lady’s Card to Lady’s Solitaire Card) or downgrading (UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card to UOB Lady’s Card).

In practice, it seems like some customers fly under the radar and end up holding both. But even if that happens, there’s no upside because the bonus earn rate is still capped at S$2,000 per calendar month, and you can still pick a maximum of two bonus categories.

How much must I earn to qualify for a UOB Lady’s Card?

The UOB Lady’s Card is positioned at the entry level, with a S$30,000 annual income requirement. If you do not meet the minimum annual income, you can place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with UOB to get a secured version of the card. 

The UOB Lady’s Solitaire has a much higher income requirement of S$120,000, putting it in the so-called mass affluent tier. If you do not meet the minimum annual income, you can place a S$30,000 fixed deposit with UOB to get a secured version of the card.

UOB used to be less strict with the income requirement for this card, approving applications from customers who fell short of the S$120,000 requirement. However, more recent data points suggest they’re tightening the requirements. 

One protip to improve your chances of approval is to apply via SMS instead of via the website (this only works if you’re an existing UOB cardholder). This may work for customers who are shy of the minimum income requirement, but YMMV.

How much is the UOB Lady’s Card annual fee?

UOB Lady’s Card
	Principal Card	Supp. Card
First Year	Free	First 1 Free, S$98.10 after
Subsequent	S$196.20	First 1 Free, S$98.10 after
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card
	Principal Card	Supp. Card
First Year	Free	First 2 Free, S$196.20 after
Subsequent	S$414.20	First 2 Free, S$196.20 after

The UOB Lady’s Card 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.

The UOB Lady’s Solitaire has an annual fee of S$414.20, also waived for the first year. The fee for the two supplementary cards is waived in perpetuity, with the third card onwards charged at S$196.20 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 either be charged: 

	UOB Lady’s Card	UOB Lady’s Solitaire
Full Waiver	UNI$6,500	UNI$10,000
Half Waiver	UNI$3,250 + S$98.10	UNI$5,000 + S$207.10

If you have sufficient UNI$ for a full waiver, the full waiver option will be automatically selected, and if you only have sufficient UNI$ for a half waiver, the half waiver option will be automatically selected. If you don’t have sufficient UNI$ for either, the annual fee will be billed in pure 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?

SGD/FCY Spend

UOB Lady’s Card and Lady’s Solitaire both earn 1 UNI$ for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars or foreign currency (FCY). 1 UNI$ is worth 2 airline miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 0.4 mpd for both local and FCY spending.

All foreign currency transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee. This is par the course for the market.

Bonus Spending

The UOB Lady’s Card and Lady’s Solitaire earn a bonus 10 UNI$ for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars or FCY on a choice of seven bonus categories. That’s an equivalent earn rate of 4 mpd, capped at:

• UOB Lady’s Card: S$1,000 per calendar month
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire: S$2,000 per calendar month

Bonus categories are listed below. UOB Lady’s Card members can pick one, while Lady’s Solitaire members can pick two. 

For avoidance of doubt, the S$2,000 cap on the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card is shared between both bonus categories.

All bonus categories are defined with explicit MCC ranges, except for travel. Fortunately, I’ve obtained greater clarity from the UOB team regarding the MCCs which qualify:

• Airlines (MCC 3000-3299, 4511, 4582)
• Cruise liners (MCC 4411)
• Duty-free stores (MCC 5309)
• Hotels (MCC 3500-3999, 7011)
• Online and offline travel agencies (MCC 4722)

Bus liners, rental cars, trains and private hire cars are not included in travel. 

Explained: Which MCCs are included in the UOB Lady’s Card “Travel” category

Bonus categories can be changed every calendar quarter, which is a fantastic feature because it means the card can be different things to you at different times.

For example, if you’re shelling out for an expensive beauty package this quarter, pick “Beauty Wellness”. If you’re going on an overseas trip, pick “Travel”. There’s no other card in Singapore that gives this kind of flexibility.

For a more detailed discussion on which bonus categories you should choose, refer to this post.

Selecting bonus categories

Choose bonus categories

In terms of the selection mechanics:

• The first time you choose your bonus categories, they are effective immediately
• Bonus categories can be re-selected every calendar quarter, up till 2359 hours (SGT) the day before the first calendar date of the following calendar quarter
• The bank will take the most recent entry submitted as the bonus category for the following quarter. For example, if you submit ‘Fashion’ on 15 April, then submit ‘Dining’ on 21 June, your bonus category for 1 July to 30 September will be ‘Dining’ 
• If you do not manually re-select your bonus categories, the choices from the previous quarter will be automatically carried over
• If you upgraded from the Lady’s Card to the Lady’s Solitaire Card, your additional bonus category will only be effective from the following calendar quarter

UOB$ merchants

UOB cardholders (with the exception of UOB PRVI Miles AMEX, which does not participate in the UOB$ scheme) do not earn any base UNI$ at UOB$ merchants.

In the case of cards like the UOB PRVI Miles or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, this means walking away empty handed. However, the impact is less severe on the UOB Lady’s Card, because you’ll still earn the bonus UNI$ (3.6 mpd) on such transactions.

Read more about this in the post below.

Confirmed: UOB$ merchants qualify for bonus miles with UOB cards

When are UNI$ credited? 

The base 1 UNI$ per S$5 is credited when the transaction posts, usually in 1-3 working days. The bonus 9 UNI$ per S$5 is credited at the start of the calendar month after the transaction.

How are UNI$ calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the UNI$ earned on your UOB Lady’s Card:

Even though UOB rounds transactions down to the nearest S$5 before awarding points, the Lady’s Card is less punitive because rounding for bonus points takes place only once, as opposed to on each transaction.

To illustrate, suppose you make three transactions on your bonus category in a month: S$4.50, S$18.99 and S$22.70. Here’s how many points you’ll earn.

A total of 88 UNI$ will be earned, or 176 miles. Notice how the S$4.50 transaction earns no 1X base points, but still counts towards the aggregated 9X bonus points calculation. Notice also how S$3.99 of the S$18.99 transaction and S$2.70 of the S$22.70 transaction are wasted for 1X base points, but count towards 9X bonus points. 

For more details on how UOB’s rounding works, refer to the article below.

Is UOB’s points rounding policy as bad as it seems?

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

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 transactions, but not ipaymy. However, you will only earn 0.4 mpd on such transactions, so this isn’t the right card to use. 

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 Lady’s Card, assuming it’s not your last UNI$-earning card. 

Transfer Partners & Fees

UNI$ can be transferred to KrisFlyer or Asia Miles 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 programme, 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. 

Other card perks

Bonus miles from UOB Lady’s Savings Account

From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, UOB Lady’s Cardholders will be able to earn bonus UNI$ if they have a UOB Lady’s Savings Account, as summarised in the table below.

The maximum bonus UNI$ you can earn from the Lady’s Savings Account is capped at:

• UOB Lady’s Card: S$1,000 per calendar month
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card/Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card: S$2,000 per calendar month

The problem is that the Lady’s Savings Account has a miserable interest rate of just 0.05% p.a., so you’re basically trading interest for miles. That said, I’ve written a detailed post on why S$10,000 may be the sweet spot deposit, provided you’re a UOB Lady’s Solitaire Cardholder and confident you’ll max out the S$2,000 cap each month.

You’ll basically be maintaining the 6 mpd earn rate that existed prior to 1 April 2024, at the cost of interest on the S$10,000 deposit. The additional 4,000 miles per month should more than make up the difference, though it boils down to how much you value a mile. 

The UOB Lady’s Savings Account is currently for women only, but men will be able to apply from 1 May 2024 onwards. 

Complimentary travel insurance

UOB Lady’s Solitaire Cardholders enjoy complimentary travel medical insurance when they charge the entire cost of their common carrier ticket (any land, sea or air travel arrangement) to their card and register here prior to their trip.

UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Cardholders enjoy complimentary travel insurance when they charge the entire cost of their common carrier tickets (any land, sea or air travel arrangement) to their card. No registration is required.

Where award tickets are concerned, coverage will apply if entire cost of ticket is redeemed with airline mileage program associated with the card (i.e. Asia Miles or KrisFlyer miles) and the card is used to pay the taxes and surcharge component.

UOB One Account

The UOB One Account is one of the best bank accounts for miles chasers because it pairs so well with a miles card strategy.

Unlike other hurdle accounts, which require you to spend on a cashback card, buy overpriced insurance or investment products, or take out a mortgage with the bank, the UOB One Account only requires you to do two things:

• Spend at least S$500 per calendar month on selected UOB cards
• Credit a salary of at least S$1,600 per month

Spending on all the UOB Lady’s Cards is eligible for bonus interest, and you can earn up to 5% p.a. on up to S$100,000 (4% p.a. on up to S$150,000 from 1 May 2024).

World Elite Mastercard benefits

The UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card is a World Elite Mastercard, the highest tier of Mastercard there is.

World Elite Mastercard cardmembers are entitled to the following privileges:

• GHA Titanium status
• IPrefer Titanium status and 25,000 points
• Swiss-Belexecutive Platinum Connoisseur status
• Wyndham Rewards Diamond status
• HoteLux Elite Plus membership and 2,000 points
• Avis President’s Club status
• One 3GB Flexiroam data package per year
• Complimentary golf games

Summary Review: UOB Lady’s Card

Apply

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🦁 MileLion Verdict

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

Yes, the UOB Lady’s Cards aren’t nearly as awesome as they were prior to April 2024. The formidable 6 mpd rate has reverted to “just” 4 mpd, and the bonus cap on the Lady’s Solitaire is now S$2,000 per month. 

However, I hardly think that either change is a deal-breaker. The UOB Lady’s Cards can more than hold their own against any competition out there, and the ability to choose your preferred bonus category each month means that this could be a dining card, or a travel card, or a shopping card, depending on your needs at the time. 

Don’t forget that you can also earn an extra 2 mpd by depositing S$10,000 in the Lady’s Savings Account, which restores the overall earn rate to 6 mpd and brings us back to pre-April 2024 days.

So that’s my review of the UOB Lady’s Cards. What do you think?