PSA: The OCBC Titanium Rewards Card’s punitive retention clause

Earlier this month, the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card launched the first of what it says will be a quarterly 6 mpd promotion, with upsized rewards for spending at TANGS and SHEIN.

While the attractiveness of this promotion really boils down to how much you shop at those two merchants, it is a much-needed win for a card that had a wretched 2023 by most accounts.

But if you plan to take advantage of this offer, you should be aware of an unusual clause lurking in the T&Cs that sets a rather unwelcome precedent…

OCBC’s retention clause

By way of quick recap, OCBC Titanium Rewards Cardholders will enjoy an extra 2 mpd at TANGS and SHEIN up till 31 March 2024, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. This, stacked with the evergreen 4 mpd for shopping, adds up to 6 mpd. 

No registration is required, and this offer is open to all cardholders. 

But in the promotion’s T&Cs, OCBC has included the following clause:

If this sounds familiar, that’s because you’ve probably seen it in before in the T&Cs of welcome offers. And that’s fair enough. Banks want to avoid a situation where someone signs up for a card, spends the bare minimum to get the welcome gift, then cancels the card as soon as possible to reset their new-to-bank status for another round.

Most banks set a minimum holding period of 6-12 months, so OCBC’s six months is not unusual in that respect. What is unusual is to see the clawback provision applied to an offer for existing cardholders.

It’s something I’ve never seen before. Even with “too good to be true” promotions like the Citi-Apple Pay uncapped 8 mpd or UOB Lady’s Card 6 mpd, there’s never been any wording that suggested cardholders would be penalised if they cancelled their cards after the promotion ended.

This seemed so out of place I initially assumed it was a lazy cut and paste job from another set of T&Cs, and that it’d be corrected soon enough. But since it’s still there after 10 days, all we can do is take it at face value.

Implications

Read simply, this clause gives OCBC the right to clawback the extra 2 mpd should you cancel your Titanium Rewards card within six months from the promotion’s end date of 31 March 2024. It doesn’t matter whether you held the card for six weeks or six years, the clause applies to you equally.

So tl;dr: if you want to participate in this offer, you’re effectively agreeing to retain the card until 30 September 2024. 

If you planned to do that anyway, by all means carry on. But if you were thinking of jumping ship, you might want to reconsider your participation.

And if you think you’re being clever by redeeming all your points before cancellation so there’s nothing to deduct, think again. Banks can and do charge customers for negative points balances, and let’s just say the rate they use will make you reconsider your value of a mile.

Conclusion

The T&CS for OCBC’s 6 mpd offer with TANGS and SHEIN give the bank the right to clawback the extra 2 mpd, should you cancel your Titanium Rewards Card before 30 September 2024.

It sets a rather unwelcome precedent, one I hope we don’t see copied by other banks. While I can understand the need to include such language on welcome offers for new customers, adding it to promotions for existing customers feels a step too far.