Nerf: OCBC Titanium Rewards to cap bonus OCBC$ by month, remove bonus for electronics

While the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card does not offer as wide a range of bonus categories as the Citi Rewards Card or DBS Woman’s World Card, its biggest asset is the ability to spend the entire year’s bonus cap at one shot.

In other words, cardholders can charge up to S$13,335 at an eligible merchant and earn 4 mpd on the entire amount, making it ideal for big-ticket purchases such as luxury goods, electronics, or the latest iPhone 15 (which, I suppose, counts as both). 

However, OCBC is changing the rules from November 2023.

In addition to changing the list of MCCs and merchants eligible for 4 mpd, the Titanium Rewards Card will lose what’s arguably its biggest selling point by switching its bonus cap from annual to monthly.

Details: OCBC Titanium Rewards changes

From 1 November 2023, the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card will change the way it applies its 4 mpd bonus cap, and revise the list of MCCs and merchants eligible for bonus miles. 

Revised bonus cap

Instead of the current bonus cap of 120,000 OCBC$ per membership year, the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card will adopt a bonus cap of 10,000 OCBC$ per calendar month. 

This means that cardholders will no longer be able to utilise their entire 4 mpd bonus cap in a single S$13,335 transaction. Instead, they’ll need to break it into 12 monthly transactions of S$1,110 each (do note that the cap is S$1,110 and not S$1,000 because it’s the bonus OCBC$ which are capped at 10,000).

This is a huge blow to the OCBC Titanium Reward’s value proposition, if you ask me. It’s already playing second fiddle to competitors like the Citi Rewards Card and DBS Woman’s World Card, which offer a less restrictive “blacklist approach”- all online transactions earn 4 mpd, unless they’re on the exclusions list. 

In contrast, the OCBC Titanium Rewards is still sticking with its more restrictive “whitelist approach”- only specified MCCs and merchants earn 4 mpd. And even compared to other whitelist cards like the HSBC Revolution and UOB Preferred Platinum Visa (where online spend is concerned), the OCBC Titanium Reward’s whitelist is much more restrictive.

As before, both the Blue and Pink OCBC Titanium Rewards Cards will continue to have their own independent bonus OCBC$ caps.

Revised bonus categories

The OCBC Titanium Rewards Card’s 4 mpd whitelist will be changed as follows:

The key losses are computer and electronics stores such as Best Denki, Courts and Harvey Norman, as well as IKEA. Go figure that these are some of the places where you’re most likely to make big-ticket purchases…

New additions to the list include duty-free stores like King Power and KrisShop, sportswear stores like Adidas and Nike, leather goods retailers like Coach and LV, and the TikTok Shop (why?).

I’m also pleased to see the addition of Guardian, NTUC Unity and Watsons, though it does make me wonder why they just didn’t whitelist MCC 5912 Drug Stores and Pharmacies altogether!

The silver lining

While this is undoubtedly a negative change overall, I did think of one silver lining.

These changes take effect from 1 November 2023, so you have until 31 October 2023 to burn what remains of your 120,000 annual bonus OCBC$ allowance.

Here’s how OCBC puts it:

Your OCBC$ earned before 1 November 2023 will follow the annual cap of 120,000 OCBC$, depending on your card anniversary date. The monthly bonus cap takes effect from 1 November2023 for all cardholders, regardless of your card anniversary date

To illustrate, suppose my membership year runs from 1 April to 31 March each year, and I’ve already utilised 40,000 bonus OCBC$ so far. I have until 31 October 2023 to use the remaining 80,000 OCBC$, and from 1 November 2023, my monthly cap will be 10,000 bonus OCBC$, regardless of how many OCBC$ I’ve utilised in the months prior.

This means that my bonus OCBC$ for this particular membership year will actually be more than 120,000 OCBC$.

Terms and Conditions

• Current OCBC Titanium Rewards Card T&Cs
• Revised OCBC Titanium Rewards Card T&Cs (from 1 November 2023)

Conclusion

With the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card shifting its 4 mpd cap from annual to monthly, cardholders will no longer be able to earn their entire year’s bonus at one go and then chuck the card into the drawer- which I believe is the idea.

If it’s any consolation, the transition will allow cardholders to earn more than 120,000 bonus OCBC$ this current membership year. They will need to spend by 31 October 2023 to make the most of it, however, so don’t wait too long. 

For what it’s worth, I can still see use cases for the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card even after November. It’s just that I’ll need to squint harder than ever before.

(HT: Anthony)