Review: UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card

Here’s the MileLion’s review of the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, which seems determined to make me sound fickle.

When I first reviewed it in 2020, it was overpriced and underwhelming, one of the most expensive cards in the $120K segment, yet only offering a fraction of the benefits. “Don’t bother”, I said.

But UOB revamped the card in June 2023, dramatically improving the value position by adding unlimited lounge visits for the cardholder plus a guest, boosting the overseas earn rate, and throwing in a very generous sign-up offer. “Get it”, I said.

And now, another twist. 2024 has not been kind to the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. Key benefits have been nerfed, the sign-up offer isn’t as good as before, and though it’s not without its charm, I’m now squarely in the “take it or leave it” camp. 

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
After an excellent 2023, this year sees the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card slipping back into more mediocre territory.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Unlimited lounge visits for cardholder and one guest Still earns miles for hospitals and education expenses Free conversions of UNI$ to miles	S$5 earning blocks and UOB$ merchants to watch out for No airport limo benefit No more 50% off dining with Pan Pacific Hotels Group  Welcome and monthly Grab vouchers have been nerfed
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card

Apply
Income Req.	S$120,000 p.a.	Points Validity	2 years
Annual Fee	S$654	Min. Transfer	5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	Waived
Local Earn	1.4 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.4 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes
Special Earn	N/A	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, as the name proudly reminds you, is made out of metal. However, it’s one of the lighter metal cards on the market, and only marginally heavier than a standard plastic card.

Despite this, you should be aware that UOB is the only bank (other than OCBC) to charge for replacement metal cards. Should you lose your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, you’ll pay a S$150 replacement fee.

How much must I earn to qualify for a UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card?

When the original UOB Visa Infinite Card first launched back in 2003, it carried an income requirement of S$350,000, making it one of the most exclusive cards in Singapore.

Fast forward a decade and a half and its successor, the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, has an income requirement of “just” S$120,000– still substantial, but nowhere as high as it used to be. The mantle of UOB’s most extinguished (sic) card has been passed to the UOB Reserve, and the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card now competes in the so-called “$120K segment”. 

How much is the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card’s annual fee?

The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card has an annual fee of S$654, which is strictly non-waivable. The first supplementary card is free for life; the second card onwards costs S$293.38 per year.

Cardholders receive 25,000 miles each year the annual fee is paid. That’s a fairly unattractive 2.61 cents per mile, but remember, we need to factor in the value of the other card benefits as well.

What sign-up bonus or gifts are available?

UOB is currently running an uncapped sign-up offer for the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, valid for applications till 30 June 2024.

Cardholders who spend at least S$4,000 within 30 days of approval and pay the S$654 annual fee will receive:

• New-to-UOB customers: 80,000 miles
• Existing UOB customers: 40,000 miles

For avoidance of doubt, the miles quoted above already include the 25,000 miles that cardholders get for paying the annual fee each year. While it’s not a bad offer in and of itself, it’s weaker than in 2023 because the S$200 GrabGift vouchers previously offered to new and existing UOB customers have been removed.

The T&Cs of the welcome offer can be found here.

Read the full details below.

Extended: UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card 80,000 miles welcome offer

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spending

The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card earns:

• UNI$3.5 for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars (1.4 mpd)
• UNI$6 for every S$5 spent in foreign currency (FCY) (2.4 mpd)

Compared to the rest of the $120K pack, these are very solid earn rates. However, UOB has S$5 earning blocks, which means your actual earn rate could be lower, especially on small transactions (see below for details).

💳 Earn Rates for General Spending Cards (income req.: S$120K)
Card	Local Spend	FCY Spend
SCB Visa Infinite	Up to 1.4 mpd*	Up to 3 mpd*
DBS Vantage	1.5 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC VOYAGE	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
HSBC Visa Infinite	Up to 1.25 mpd^	Up to 2.25 mpd^
UOB VI Metal Card	1.4 mpd	2.4 mpd
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd	2 mpd
Maybank Visa Infinite	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
AMEX Plat. Reserve	0.69 mpd	0.69 mpd
*Min. S$2,000 spend per statement month, otherwise 1 mpd for both SGD and FCY ^From second year onwards, with min S$50,000 spend in the previous membership year, otherwise (or if first year) 1 mpd (SGD) and 2 mpd (FCY)

All overseas transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, so using your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.35 cents each. 

Unfortunately, there’s another UOB quirk here. While other banks define overseas transactions simply as those charged in currencies other than Singapore Dollars, UOB further requires that the payment gateway be overseas. As per the T&Cs:

For the avoidance of doubt, card transactions made overseas but effected/charged in Singapore dollars and online transactions effected in Singapore dollars or in foreign currencies at merchants with payment gateway in Singapore will not be treated as overseas transactions and will earn UNI$3.5 per S$5 spend

In other words, if you’re shopping on an online website which bills you US$100 (~S$140), but processes the payment within Singapore (Hotels.com is an example), you’ll earn miles at the local spending rate of 1.4 mpd. 

For what it’s worth, this will only be an issue with online transactions; if you’re spending at brick-and-mortar stores overseas, you can rest assured you’ll receive the FCY earn rate so long as you’re not charged in SGD (watch out for DCC!)

UOB$ merchants

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders will not earn any UNI$ at UOB$ merchants. 

UOB$ is UOB’s card-wide cashback programme and includes Cold Storage, Crystal Jade, Giant, Guardian, Starbucks and Toast Box, among others. For the full list, refer to this link.

I’ve written about some potential workarounds in the following post.

Workarounds: How to earn miles at UOB$ merchants with UOB cards

Pairing with a KrisFlyer UOB account

It is possible to earn a bonus 5-6 mpd on your spending if you open a KrisFlyer UOB deposit account, but I’d strongly advise you against doing this. This account pays a measly 0.05% p.a. interest, and caps the bonus miles you can earn at a mere 5% of your monthly average balance.

For example, if you put S$50,000 inside the account, the maximum bonus miles you could earn each month is just 2,500 (5% of 50,000), which you’d hit after spending just S$500 on your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. Keep in mind, you’d be earning 0.05% interest on your S$50,000 balance too. 

When are UNI$ credited?

UNI$ are credited when your transaction posts, which generally takes 1-3 working days. 

How are UNI$ calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the UNI$ earned on your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card

Unfortunately, UOB has one of the most punitive rounding policies in the game, which can adversely affect your earn rates especially on smaller transactions.

UOB first rounds your transaction down to the nearest S$5, divides it by 5, then multiplies the amount by 3.5 UNI$ (assuming it’s a Singapore Dollar transaction). This UNI$ figure is then rounded down again to the nearest whole number. 

So imagine you spent S$9.99 on your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. You might figure that’s 14 miles (S$9.99 @ 1.4 mpd), but…

• The S$9.99 is rounded down to S$5
• S$5 is awarded 3.5 UNI$
• 3.5 UNI$ is rounded down to 3 UNI$

You actually earn 3 UNI$ (6 miles), an effective rate of just 0.6 mpd!

This is an extreme example, of course, and the effect of rounding gets smaller as your transaction size increases. But it’s exactly why you should think twice about using your UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card for small transactions that aren’t in S$5 blocks- in fact, the minimum spend required to earn miles is S$5. 

This means that despite having a higher headline rate, you may earn fewer miles on the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card than the Citi Prestige Card depending on transaction size. Consider the following: 

	UOB VI Metal  Earn Rate: 1.4 mpd	Citi Prestige Earn Rate: 1.3 mpd
S$5	6 miles	6.4 miles
S$9.99	6 miles	11.6 miles
S$15	20 miles	19.6 miles
S$19.99	20 miles	24.8 miles
S$25	34 miles	32.4 miles
S$29.99	34 miles	37.6 miles

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

Don’t forget that UOB makes it super easy to check your points breakdown thanks to the TMRW app, which will show transaction-level points for the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card.

UOB TMRW: Get transaction-level credit card rewards points breakdowns

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 at point 1.5 of the T&Cs. 

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Charitable Donations
• Government Services 
• ipaymy 
• Prepaid account top-ups (e.g. GrabPay, YouTrip)
• Real Estate Agents & Managers
• Utilities

However, the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card is somewhat unique among UOB cards in that it does not exclude hospital bills nor education-related expenses from earning points.

While UOB excluded hospital bills in February 2021 and education-related expenses in September 2019, special exemptions were carved out for the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. This alone could be a big selling point, since it’s almost impossible to find a decent miles-earning card for schools and tuition fees.

For avoidance of doubt, CardUp transactions will also earn miles with the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, even though ipaymy does not.

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 Visa Infinite Metal Card, you can redeem 15,000 UNI$ at one shot.

It also means that you don’t need to transfer your UNI$ out before cancelling the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, assuming it’s not your last UNI$-earning card. 

Transfer Partners & Fees

UNI$ transfer to frequent flyer programs at a 1:2 ratio, 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

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders enjoy a waiver of the usual S$25 conversion fee. And since UNI$ pool, you can use the Visa Infinite Metal Card as a conduit to convert UNI$ earned on other UOB cards for free too.

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

Unlimited lounge visits (+1 guest)

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders used to receive a measly four free lounge visits per membership year. That was woefully inadequate, considering other cards in its segment were offering unlimited visits.

Thankfully, that’s now been rectified, and cardholders now receive unlimited visits (+1 guest) to DragonPass lounges worldwide.

Card	Lounge Network	Free Visits (Per Year)
		Main	Supp.
HSBC Visa Infinite	LoungeKey	∞	∞
UOB VI Metal Card	Dragon Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
Citi Prestige	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Dragon Pass	∞	N/A
DBS Vantage	Priority Pass	10	N/A
SCB Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	6	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	4	N/A
AMEX Plat. Reserve	N/A	N/A	N/A

15,000 miles loyalty bonus

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders who spend at least S$100,000 in a membership year will receive 15,000 bonus miles when they renew their card for the following membership year. This is on top of the usual 25,000 miles awarded each year the annual fee is paid. 

The bonus miles will be awarded two months after the annual fee is posted. 

I wouldn’t get too excited about this, however,  since 15,000 bonus miles for S$100,000 spend is not much of an incremental. There’s really no reason why you should be putting so much spend on a general spending card in the first place. But hey, if you’re going to do it anyway…

Dining discounts

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders enjoy 30% off a la carte orders at the following restaurants in the Pan Pacific Hotels Group:

Sadly, this benefit has been nerfed compared to 2023, when cardholders would get 50% off weekday lunch orders when dining with a guest. 

They will also save 30% off a la carte dining at the following Sheraton Towers restaurants:

• The Dining Room
• Lobby Bar
• Li Bai: Valid for dinner from Sundays to Thursdays, for dine-in only

30% off a la carte dining is also offered at the following Fullerton Hotels Group restaurants

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders also enjoy the Infinite Dining programme, which offers specially-curated menus from celebrity chefs

Complimentary travel insurance

The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card offers complimentary travel insurance.

Cardholders are covered for up to US$1,000,000 for accidental death or dismemberment while traveling on a scheduled public conveyance, with further coverage also for travel inconvenience like lost luggage or flight delays. However, there is no coverage for medical expenses or evacuation, so you’ll definitely want to get separate protection there. 

It is unclear from the policy wording whether coverage applies in the case where an airline ticket is redeemed with miles and the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card is used to pay for taxes and surcharges.

Buy miles with UOB Payment Facility

UOB Payment Facility

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card members have access to a “no questions asked” Payment Facility that lets them buy unlimited miles at 2.2 cents each, subject to their credit limit.

How it works is that cardholders fill out an online form and specify how much they’d like to charge to the facility, e.g. S$5,000. UOB will then:

• Deposit S$5,000 into their designated bank account
• Charge S$5,110 to their card (S$5,000 + 2.2% fee)
• Award UNI$ at a rate of UNI$2.5 per S$5, or 2,500 UNI$ in total (5,000 miles; the payment facility fee doesn’t earn miles)

Cardholders are then out of pocket S$110, for which they purchased 5,000 miles. This works out to 2.2 cents per mile.

Frankly speaking, 2.2 cents per mile is way above what you should be paying, when you can find cheaper alternatives with services like CardUp and Citi PayAll. 

The only situation where the UOB Payment Facility would make sense is to top off your UNI$ balance to the next 5,000 UNI$ block needed for a transfer.

UOB runs periodic promotions for the UOB Payment Facility which reduce the fee for UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders to 2% (there’s one going on right now which ends on 30 June 2024), but even at that price it’s not really worth considering.

Pan Pacific DISCOVERY Platinum status

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders will receive a complimentary upgrade to Pan Pacific DISCOVERY Platinum status.

This provides benefits including:

• Early check-in from 9am and late check-out until 3pm, when available
• Guaranteed room availability up to 24 hours prior to arrival, except during blackout dates
• Double room upgrade when available
• Personal choice of local amenity
• 10% off best available rate and members exclusive offers

There was a brief period where Visa Infinite was offering GHA Titanium status, but that offer has since closed. 

Generic Visa Infinite benefits

UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders enjoy the following additional perks, provided by Visa:

• Avis President’s Club status
• 50% off weekday golf at 50 participating golf clubs across Southeast Asia
• 50% off weekday golf at Sentosa Golf Club
• Visa Luxury Hotel Collection

For more information on how these perks work, refer to the post below.

Is a Visa Infinite Card still worth having?

Summary Review: UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card

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🦁 MileLion Verdict

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

Last year, the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card was almost certainly worth a one-year punt at the very least.

With up to 80,000 miles and S$200 Grab vouchers as a joining gift, a further S$120 Grab vouchers drip fed over the course of a year, unlimited lounge visits and up to 50% off dining, it should have been fairy straightforward to recover the first year’s S$648 fee, and then some. 

This year? Much less certain. Don’t get me wrong, those who regularly spend big on education and/or hospital bills will be pleased with this card, and for those who use other UOB credit cards like the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa , UOB Visa Signature and UOB Lady’s Card, adding the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card to the mix allows you to enjoy free UNI$ conversions. 

I just don’t think it’s the no-brainer it was before, with the rest of its benefits middling at best. You could get a Citi Prestige for a lower annual fee and enjoy superior perks, and unless you’re hoping to use this as a springboard to a UOB Reserve Card sometime down the line, I’m not seeing the upside for most. 

So that’s my review of the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. What do you think?