Review: DBS Woman’s World Card

Most people see the DBS Woman’s World Card, and immediately assume by the name that its appeal is limited to 50% of the population. But that would be a mistake- judge a book by its cover (card by its cardface?) and you’ll be missing out on one of the best-kept secrets in Singapore. 

In fact, this is pretty much an essential card for all miles chasers, whatever your plumbing, thanks to its excellent bonuses on online spending.

DBS Woman’s World Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
Don’t let the name fool you. The gender-neutral DBS Woman’s World Card is a must-have option; an easy 96,000 miles per year with just S$2,000 monthly spend
👍 The good	👎 The bad
4 mpd on up to S$2,000 of online spend per month Open to both genders Points pool with other DBS cards	Points only valid for one year Bonus points credit one month later No points for Amaze transactions
Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: DBS Woman’s World Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the DBS Woman’s World Card. 

Apply
Income Req.	S$80,000 p.a.	Points Validity	1 year
Annual Fee	S$194.40 (First Year Free)	Min. Transfer	5,000 DBS Points (10,000 miles)
Miles with Annual Fee	None	Transfer Partners	SIA Cathay Pacific Qantas Air Asia
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$27 (per xfer) S$43.20 (per yr.)
Local Earn	0.4 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	1.2 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	4 mpd on online spending	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

Do note that DBS has two different Woman’s cards: the Woman’s Platinum Mastercard (left), and the Woman’s World Card (right). 

We will be focusing on the DBS Woman’s World Card in this post, since there’s really no reason to get the Woman’s Platinum Mastercard (don’t worry about the income requirement- see below).

Dude, I’m a guy…

Good for you. Pump more iron and console yourself that applying for a lady’s card does not make you less of a man in any way shape or form. 

Unlike the gender-exclusive UOB Lady’s Card, the DBS Woman’s World Card is open to both men and women. Don’t believe me? Scroll up and look closely at the name DBS put on the card art. 

How much must I earn to qualify for a DBS Woman’s World Card?

The DBS Woman’s World Card has an S$80,000 annual income requirement, but don’t let that put you off applying- as I’ve laid out before, any income requirement above the MAS-mandated minimum of S$30,000 is purely arbitrary. 

The fact of the matter is, plenty of people who earn S$30,000 per year get approved for a DBS Woman’s World Card with no drama whatsoever. It helps if you already hold an existing DBS credit card. Click through this link, then select the DBS Woman’s World Card.

Select “Yes” when asked if you already have a DBS card, and login to your ibanking. You should then receive an instant decision, and from the data points I’ve seen so far, earning less than S$80,000 has never been an issue.

How much is the DBS Woman’s World Card annual fee?

The DBS Woman’s World Card has an annual fee of S$194.40 for the principal cardholder, and S$97.20 for each supplementary card. This is waived for the first year, and subsequent years’ annual fees can be waived when you spend at least S$25,000 a year. 

Don’t take this as a hard and fast rule: I’ve got my annual fee waived many times before despite spending nowhere near S$25,000. It’s extremely easy to request an annual fee waiver via DBS’s online channels or hotline, so don’t be afraid to try. 

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spending

DBS Woman’s World Card members earn 1 DBS Point for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars, and 3 DBS Points for every S$5 spent in FCY.

1 DBS Point is worth 2 airline miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 0.4 mpd for local spending, and 1.2 mpd for FCY spending. 

A 3.25% FCY transaction fee applies to all foreign currency transactions.

Bonus Spending

This is where the DBS Woman’s World Card really shines, because cardholders will earn 10 DBS Points for every S$5 spent online (4 mpd), whether in SGD or foreign currency.

This is capped at S$2,000 per calendar month.  Any spend in excess of this cap earns 0.4 mpd. 

Some (non-exhaustive) examples of online transactions include:

• shopping at sites like Amazon, eBay, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, Taobao
• buying air tickets or booking hotels (provided the transaction is processed online)
• booking movie or attraction tickets
• taking Grab or gojek rides
• ordering food delivery
• buying books on Book Depository or Kinokuniya
• paying for streaming services like Netflix and Spotify

It’s a very wide range, so you can see why this card is useful. Just think of how many online transactions you do in a typical week, and imagine earning 4 mpd on that instead of the usual 1.1-1.4 mpd with general spending cards. 

For avoidance of doubt:

• if a transaction is both online and in foreign currency, you’ll earn 4 mpd, and not 1.2 mpd. 
• in-app spend via Apple Pay or Google Pay (e.g. Kris+) is eligible to earn 4 mpd
• in-store spend via Apple or Google Pay is not eligible to earn 4 mpd

When are DBS Points credited? 

It’s important to know that DBS Points on the DBS Woman’s World Card are not all credited at once. Depending on the type of transaction you’re doing, some will be credited when the transaction posts, the rest will be credited at the end of the next calendar month following the transaction. 

How are DBS points calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the DBS Points earned on the DBS Woman’s World Card:

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

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

As with all bonus-earning credit cards, it’s important to periodically check your points and make sure they’re crediting properly. Refer to the article below for more details.

How to check credit card points breakdowns

What transactions aren’t eligible for DBS Points?

The following transactions are ineligible for DBS Points, as per the general DBS rewards T&Cs. 

The T&Cs of the DBS Woman’s World Card state some further exclusions as to what counts as online spending.

To summarise, this is not the card to use for CardUp/ipaymy, education, government transactions, insurance, charitable donations, utilities, hospitals or GrabPay top-ups. Even if these are processed online, you won’t earn 4 mpd. 

Amaze transactions have also ceased to earn DBS Points, effective 1 June 2022. 

Nerfed: DBS adds Amaze to rewards exclusion list from 1 June

What do I need to know about DBS Points?

Expiry

While some DBS Points never expire (e.g. those earned on the DBS Altitude Card), those earned on the DBS Woman’s World Card expire after one year. This is a relatively short expiry period, so you’ll want to monitor your points balance closely.

Pooling

DBS Points earned on different cards pool together for the purposes of redemption. If I have a 12,000 points on the DBS Altitude and 8,000 points on the DBS Woman’s World Card, I’ll be able to redeem 20,000 points at one shot, paying a single conversion fee. 

However, DBS Points are not pooled when it comes to card cancellations. If I have a DBS Altitude and DBS Woman’s World Card and decide to cancel the latter, I’ll need to transfer my points out before cancelling or forfeit them. 

Partners and Transfer Fee

DBS partners with the following frequent flyer programmes, and a minimum conversion block of 5,000 points is required (let’s ignore AirAsia, because converting points there is like throwing them away):

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (DBS Points: Miles)
	5,000: 10,000
	5,000: 10,000
	5,000: 10,000
	500: 1,500

Transfers cost S$27 per programme, regardless of how many points are transferred.

For KrisFlyer miles specifically, DBS offers an alternative “auto conversion programme”. This charges a flat fee of S$43.20 per membership year, and automatically converts DBS Points to KrisFlyer miles each calendar quarter in blocks of 500 points. However, this is only available to DBS Insignia, DBS Black Treasures Elite, and DBS Altitude cardholders. 

Transfer Times

DBS tells customers to expect points to be credited in 1-2 weeks, but in reality it usually takes about 1-3 working days at the very most (at least for KrisFlyer, transfer times to other programmes can be longer)

If you need your points credited instantly, you can do so via Kris+. 100 DBS Points can be transferred to 170 KrisPay miles, which can then be transferred to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio. 

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

Transfers are immediate, but those 100 DBS Points would normally have earned you 200 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 DBS Points balance (<5,000 points). 

Other card perks

There’s no lounge or airport limo benefits with the DBS Woman’s World Card, but by virtue of its World Mastercard tier, it’s eligible for certain generic Mastercard benefits. These include:

• discounted airport transfers
• discounted airport lounge access
• fast track status offers

Otherwise, you’ll have access to the usual generic DBS benefits, which can be found here. 

Terms and Conditions

• DBS Woman’s World Card Terms and Conditions
• DBS Rewards Terms and Conditions

Summary Review: DBS Woman’s World Card

Apply

Given the sheer number of online transactions performed on a daily basis, you absolutely need to have a dedicated online spending card. With an earn rate of 4 mpd, the DBS Woman’s World Card is one of the best options for this category. The monthly 4 mpd cap of S$2,000 is also higher than other cards which offer bonuses on online spending, like the Citi Rewards or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa. 

The main drawback is the one year points expiry, which means you’ll have to commit to transferring your points at least once a year- hardly a deal-breaker, but annoying nonetheless. 

So that’s my review of the DBS Woman’s World Card. What do you think?