UOB Lady’s Cards now accept male applicants

The UOB Lady’s Cards are undoubtedly the hottest rewards cards on the market right now, with an unbeatable 6 mpd on up to two bonus categories including dining, travel, groceries, fashion and transport.

The catch? They’re strictly for women only. Unlike the gender-neutral DBS Woman’s World Card, men are not allowed to apply for a UOB Lady’s Card, whether as a principal or supplementary cardholder. 

Until now.

File this as a developing story, but UOB has removed the gender restriction on applications for the UOB Lady’s Card. 

I was first tipped off to this by aspiring heart-throb and occasional guest writer Ryan Chan, who managed to apply in-person at the UOB branch in Bukit Panjang. I later tried it myself via SMS, and was successful too (wait time: just over 1 hour). The card already appears on my UOB TMRW app and online banking portal.

UOB has now provided official confirmation by way of their website, which removed the “female only” requirement as of 1 July 2023.

UOB Lady’s Cards now accept male applicants

Here’s how to submit an application for the UOB Lady’s Card or UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card is by invitation only).

Online

Card	Income Req.	Annual Fee
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	S$30,000	S$194.40 (FYF)
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card Apply	S$120,000	S$410.40 (FYF)

If you’re a new or existing UOB customer, you can submit an application for the UOB Lady’s Card or UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card online. 

While the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card technically has a minimum income requirement of S$120,000, I wouldn’t let that deter you- there are numerous reports of approvals below this threshold, so it doesn’t hurt to try. 

SMS

If you’re an existing UOB cardholder, you can submit your application for a UOB Lady’s Card via SMS to 77672 in the format below.

📱 SMS to 77672
UOB Lady’s Card	Yeslady<space>Last 4 digits of any existing UOB Card<space>NRIC (Example: If the last 4 digits of your UOB card are 1234 and  NRIC is S1234567A, send “Yeslady 1234 S1234567A”)
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card	YesSolitaire<space>Last 4 digits of any existing UOB Card<space>NRIC (Example: If the last 4 digits of your UOB card are 1234 and  NRIC is S1234567A, send “YesSolitaire 1234 S1234567A”)

Branch

You can visit a UOB branch to submit your application (good luck competing with all the Swifties), but there really isn’t much reason to do this now that the online portal has been updated to accept applications from men (at the time this article was first published, online applications were not yet possible).

What are the implications?

I can’t overstate how exciting this is for male miles chasers, who until now were missing out on one of the best offers in recent memory.

As a reminder, UOB Lady’s Card and Lady’s Solitaire Cardmembers earn a total of 15 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 6 mpd, capped at:

• UOB Lady’s Card: S$1,000 per calendar month
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire: S$3,000 per calendar month

This rate is valid until 29 February 2024, after which it reverts to the regular 4 mpd.

Even with the caps, we’re talking, over the course of 12 months:

• 72,000 miles on the UOB Lady’s Card from S$12,000 annual spend (equivalent to a round-trip Business Class ticket to Taiwan)
• 216,000 miles on the UOB Lady’s Solitaire from S$36,000 annual spend (equivalent to a round-trip Business Class ticket to Los Angeles)

Yes, I know there’s only eight months left for men to hop onboard, but I’m not going to let that stop me.

What’s more:

• the first year’s annual fee is waived, and subsequent years’ fees are easy to waive too
• spending just S$500 on either card and crediting a minimum salary of S$1,600 per month is a straightforward way to earn 5% p.a. interest on up to S$100,000 in the UOB One Account
• the S$120,000 income requirement for the UOB Lady’s Solitaire is more “serving suggestion” than hard and fast rule; there have been numerous data points of customers getting approved way below that threshold

In fact, if your wife/girlfriend already has a UOB Lady’s Card, the two of you could team up and cover up to four bonus categories in total (or simply replicate the same bonus categories if you’re really heavy spenders on that particular category- just imagine what it could do for a wedding banquet!)

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

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

• Airlines (MCC 3000-3299)
• Cruise liners (MCC 4411)
• Duty-free stores (MCC 5309)
• Hotels (MCC 3500-3999)
• 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

For more details on how to get the most out of the UOB Lady’s Card, refer to my full review below.

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

Conclusion

At long last, the UOB Lady’s Cards are finally open to applications from men. This is an excellent development to say the least, with eight months left to enjoy the 6 mpd promotion. 

Needless to say, this will change the optimal miles strategy for a lot of people. Stay tuned for more on that in the days to come. 

Looks like Seth won’t need to get that sex change after all…