UOB x Amaze nerf: How I’m dealing with it

DBS became the first bank to nerf Amaze transactions back in June 2022, and at the time I remarked that it wouldn’t be the last. 

At the risk of sounding like a latter-day Cassandra, there’s a certain inevitability to such predictions, because sure enough, just two years later we find ourselves staring down the barrel of another big bank nerf.

From 1 October 2024, UOB will exclude Amaze transactions from its rewards programme altogether. While this doesn’t mean game over — though I feel like I’ve been saying that an awful lot in recent months — there will be a significant impact nonetheless. Frankly, I’d consider it something of a minor miracle if we make it till the end of 2024 without further Amaze-related nerfs. 

But enough doom-mongering. It is what it is, and we can either:

1. Complain on the internet
2. Come up with a revised game plan for Amaze going forward

Or, you know, both.

Pairing Amaze with specialised spending cards

Card options

💳 Amaze x Specialised Spending Cards
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd1	Max S$1K per s. month
OCBC Rewards Apply	4 mpd2	Max S$1.1K per c. month
1. Excludes travel (airlines, cruises, car rental, hotels, tour agencies) 2.  Clothes, bags, shoes and shopping

Once the UOB nerf comes into effect, there will only be two specialised spending cards you can pair with Amaze: the Citi Rewards Card and OCBC Rewards Card.

For obvious reasons, the Citi Rewards Card will become my first-choice Amaze pairing, since its blacklist approach grants 4 mpd on everything except travel and general exclusions. Unfortunately, it has a relatively low cap of S$1,000 per statement month.

The OCBC Rewards is a much harder peg to fit, because its bonus whitelist is a lot more restrictive, covering just department stores, fashion boutiques, duty free and factory outlets. I suppose it would come in handy for those who regularly go on overseas shopping sprees, but keep in mind the cap is just S$1,110 per calendar month, so you can’t get too carried away. 

What is highly annoying is that there will no longer be an 4 mpd Amaze option to use for air tickets, car rentals, cruises, hotels and tour agencies, given the Citi Rewards’ blacklist on travel-related transactions. 

That’s not to mention the loss of an uncapped 3 mpd with the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, which was basically a license to print miles for those who bought big ticket items like designer handbags or fancy watches.

The upshot is that barring the launch of a new non-DBS/UOB specialised spending Mastercard, the maximum 4 mpd you can earn through Amaze each month is S$2,110. That may very well be enough for some people, but keep in mind slightly over half of that is highly MCC-restricted.

Cost per mile

In terms of cost per mile, given Amaze’s implicit FCY transaction fee of 2%, you’re looking at 0.5 cents. That’s well within acceptable parameters for me. 

Card	Cost Per Mile (with Amaze @ 2% FCY fee)
Citi Rewards Apply	0.50¢
OCBC Rewards Apply	0.50¢

Pairing Amaze with general spending cards

Card options

💳 Amaze x General Spending Cards
Card	Earn Rate
Citi ULTIMA Apply	1.6 mpd
Citi Prestige Apply	1.3 mpd
OCBC 90°N MC Apply	1.3 mpd
Citi PremierMiles Card Apply	1.2 mpd
HSBC TravelOne Card Apply	1.2 mpd

Once the specialised spending cards are exhausted, you can consider pairing Amaze with general spending cards instead. However, given the rather elevated requirements of the Citi ULTIMA, the best uncapped rate you could realistically hope for is 1.3 mpd with the Citi Prestige or OCBC 90°N Card.

Cost per mile

There is a trade-off involved in pairing general spending cards with Amaze. Amaze will let you save on the FCY transaction fee, but since amounts are converted into SGD, you’ll be earning at the local general spending rate instead.

The maths is summarised in the table below.

	Cost Per Mile (with Amaze @ 2% FCY fee)	Cost Per Mile (naked @ 3.25% FCY fee)
Citi ULTIMA Apply	1.25¢	1.63¢
Citi Prestige Apply	1.54¢	1.63¢
OCBC 90°N MC Apply	1.54¢	1.55¢
Citi PremierMiles Card Apply	1.67¢	1.48¢
HSBC TravelOne Card Apply	1.67¢	1.35¢

The rule is that where a general spending card has a generous FCY earn rate and an average SGD earn rate (like the HSBC TravelOne Card at 1.2/2.4 mpd), using the card naked makes more sense. Where a general spending card has a generous SGD earn rate and an average FCY earn rate (like the Citi ULTIMA at 1.6/2 mpd), using Amaze makes more sense.

But a better question is whether you should be using a general spending card with Amaze in the first place, which brings us to the third option…

Non-Amaze specialised spending cards

Card options

💳 Incompatible Amaze Cards
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd Online Spend	Max S$1.5K per c. month
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd Online Spend Selected MCCs	Max S$1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd Selected MCCs	S$1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd Selected MCCs	S$2K per c. month
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	4 mpd*	S$1.1K per c. month
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	4 mpd	Min S$1K, max S$2K per s. month
Maybank World MC Apply	3.2 mpd^	Min. S$4K spend per c. month
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd Online Spend Selected MCCs	Min. S$800 spend on SIA Group
Maybank Horizon Apply	2.8 mpd	Min S$800 per c. month
*Online spend: Selected MCCs only. In-person mobile contactless spend: All MCCs except exclusions ^2.8 mpd with min. S$800 spend per calendar month. 0.4 mpd otherwise

There still exist plenty of credit cards which can earn up to 4 mpd on foreign currency spending, at least in particular categories or for particular mediums of spending.

Some of these are obviously better than others (the HSBC Revolution has been nerfed to the brink of oblivion), but given their combined caps, most people should find be able to cover most of their spending with these unless you’re dealing with a non-whitelisted MCC, or a very big ticket purchase.

Cost per mile

Given a 3.25% FCY fee, you’re looking at a cost per mile starting from 0.81 cents apiece. This isn’t as good as Amaze x specialised spending cards, but is still much better than Amaze x general spending cards.

Card	Cost Per Mile (naked @ 3.25% FCY fee)
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	0.81¢
HSBC Revolution Apply	0.81¢
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	0.81¢
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	0.81¢
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	0.81¢
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	0.81¢
Maybank World MC Apply	1.02¢
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	1.08¢
Maybank Horizon Apply	1.16¢

For instance, I would sooner use the UOB Visa Signature for my overseas spending after the bonus caps on my Amaze x specialised spending cards are exhausted, since the 0.81 cents per mile figure is better than the 1.5 cent+ prices on Amaze x general spending cards. 

My overall FCY strategy

Therefore, my overall rule order of preference, when it comes to FCY spend, is:

1. Amaze + specialised spending card
2. Non-Amaze specialised spending card
3. Amaze + general spending card

Amaze x Citi Rewards will be the first port of call, with Amaze x OCBC Rewards hopping in where possible. After that I’d focus on maxing out the bonus cap on my UOB Visa Signature Card and other specialised spending cards, before using the Maybank World Mastercard to mop up the rest.

I basically don’t see any scenario where I’d have to resort to (3), Amaze + general spending card, so long as I can earn an uncapped 3.2 mpd with the Maybank World Mastercard. And even if I can’t reach the minimum S$4,000 monthly spend required for 3.2 mpd, I can earn 2.8 mpd with a minimum monthly spend of S$800, which would still result in cheaper miles than Amaze + general spending card. 

Conclusion

UOB will be nerfing rewards for Amaze transactions by the end of the month, so there’s only a short while left to make hay on overseas travel, or big-ticket shopping. 

For what it’s worth, there are replacements, however imperfect they may be. You can still pair Amaze with the Citi Rewards (though it excludes travel) or OCBC Rewards Card (though its bonus whitelist is very limited), or use cards like the Maybank World Mastercard for an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spend (though it requires a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month).

The upshot is that the cost per mile will creep upwards, but it should still be comfortably below the threshold I base my decisions on.