OCBC 90°N Cards offering 5 mpd on foreign currency spend

If you’re an OCBC 90°N Cardholder, you might want to check your inbox to see if you’ve been targeted for a 5 miles per S$1 promotion on foreign currency spending, valid from now till 30 September 2024. 

No minimum spend is necessary to unlock this rate, but there is a S$5,000 spending cap, and perhaps more importantly, a 500 customer cap. 

Earn 5 mpd on foreign currency spending with OCBC 90°N Cards

Offer Page

From 6 May to 30 September 2024, OCBC 90°N Visa and Mastercard Cardholders can earn up to 5 mpd on in-person transactions made in foreign currency. 

Registration is required, and can be done by sending the following SMS to 72377:

Do note that this is a targeted offer, and you must have received an SMS or email from OCBC inviting you to participate.

Registered cardholders will earn the usual 2.1 mpd on foreign currency spending, plus a bonus 2.9 mpd on the first S$5,000 spent throughout the promotion period. 

	Base	Bonus	Total
OCBC 90°N Cards	2.1 mpd	2.9 mpd	5 mpd

If you have both the 90°N Visa and 90°N Mastercard, you can only register one card for the offer (though the T&C’s don’t say how you can tell which one it is!). 

Do remember that your transactions must be made in-person; any online transactions will not be eligible. This can be an issue at certain overseas restaurants where you order via QR code and pay online before getting your food, so take note! 

First 500 cap applies!

While a 5 mpd earn rate is welcome indeed, what’s not welcome is the customer cap.

Only the first 500 customers who meet the qualifying spend will earn the bonus, and it’s not clear whether successful registration guarantees you’ll earn anything (my guess is no, as I don’t think the system is smart enough to reject new entries after 500 registrations). 

This means you’ll have to take a gamble, and in a worst case scenario, you’ll only earn the regular 2.1 mpd.

To give you an idea of what that means for cost per mile, given OCBC’s 3.25% FCY fee:

• 2.1 mpd @ 3.25% FCY fee = 1.55 cents per mile
• 5 mpd @ 3.25% FCY fee = 0.65 cents per mile

When will bonus miles be credited?

OCBC 90°N Cardholders will earn the regular 2.1 mpd initially.

The remaining 2.9 mpd will be credited within three months from the end of the promotion period, i.e. by 31 December 2024. 

Terms & Conditions

The terms & conditions of this offer can be found here.

What can you do with 90°N Miles?

Back in July 2023, OCBC finally added its long-delayed new airline and hotel partners, which gave cardholders choices beyond just KrisFlyer. 

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (90°N Miles : Miles)
	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 900
	1,000 : 900
	1,000 : 750
	1,000 : 700
	1,000 : 500

Unfortunately, the transfer ratios for the new partners leave a lot to be desired. 

I would at the very least have expected Asia Miles to enjoy the same conversion ratio as KrisFlyer. That’s the way it is for every other bank on the market, and it effectively eliminates Asia Miles as a viable transfer partner. After all, why on earth would you take a 25% haircut on the value of your OCBC points (and therefore your card spending rebate) when no other bank forces you to do that?

Likewise, it’s disappointing to see that there’s a 10% haircut for British Airways Executive Club and Etihad Guest, when Citibank and the HSBC TravelOne Card offer transfers to both at the same ratio as KrisFlyer. 

As for hotel partners, the ratios for IHG and Marriott Bonvoy aren’t that appealing when you factor in the opportunity cost- you’re basically forgoing 1 KrisFlyer mile (~1.5 SG cents) for every IHG (~0.5 US cents/0.67 SG cents) or Bonvoy (~0.7 US cents/0.94 SG cents)

What about Accor? This is an easier comparison since Accor works like a cashback programme where 2,000 points = €40. This implies an opportunity cost of 1.5 SG cents per KrisFlyer mile, which is marginal, really. I would only consider it if Accor brings back one of its conversion bonuses.

As for conversion blocks:

• Transfers to KrisFlyer must be in blocks of 1,000 90°N Miles
• Transfers for all other programmes must be a minimum of 1,000 90°N Miles, but subsequent conversions can be in blocks of 100 90°N Miles

A S$25 fee applies to all conversions.

Overview: OCBC 90°N Card

Apply (Mastercard)
Apply (Visa)
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	No expiry
Annual Fee	S$54 (FYF)	Min. Transfer	1,000 90°N Miles (1,000 miles)
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$25
Local Earn	1.3 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.1 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	7 mpd on Agoda	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The OCBC 90°N Card offers 1.3 mpd on local spending, and 2.1 mpd on FY spending. 

Historically, there were big differences between the two versions; the Visa had lower general spend rates, but enjoyed a bonus (insofar as 1.5 mpd can be called a bonus) on groceries, online food delivery and shopping. The Mastercard has higher general spend rates, but lacked a bonus category. That’s no longer the case from early 2023, with the two cards now offering exactly the same value proposition. 

Cardholders do not enjoy any lounge access, but the 90°N Mastercard is eligible for a complimentary 3x 1GB 5-day FlexiRoam data plan per calendar year. 

Check out my full review below.

Review: OCBC 90°N Card

Conclusion

Targeted OCBC 90°N Cardholders can register to earn 5 mpd on their in-person foreign currency spending from now till 30 September 2024, capped at S$5,000. However, the presence of a first 500 cap means that you won’t know for sure if you’re eligible.

If I were you, I’d prefer to go with alternative options for overseas spending, where a guaranteed rate of up to 4 mpd is on offer.