Yay: Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian leaving UOB$ programme

For as long as I can remember, Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian have been fixtures of the UOB$ programme. Therefore, you have to be extra careful about using UOB cards here, because depending on which card you have, it either means fewer miles than usual, or no miles at all!

But there’s some good news. From 1 November 2024, you won’t need to worry about this anymore, as the trio leave the UOB$ programme.

Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian leaving UOB$ programme

Currently, UOB cardholders earn 1% UOB$ cashback with a minimum spend of S$50 at Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian. For example, if you spend S$100, you’ll get S$1 worth of UOB$ cashback (hooray).

But this comes at the expense of UNI$ (or KrisFlyer miles, in the case of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card). In short: 

• For UOB cards where base and bonus points are credited at the time of transaction (e.g. UOB Preferred Platinum Visa), you earn 0 UNI$ + UOB$
• For UOB cards where base points are credited at the time of transaction, and bonus points in the following month (e.g. UOB Lady’s Card), you earn 9X UNI$ (3.6 mpd) + UOB$

From 1 November 2024, this will change as Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian leave the UOB$ programme. 

Per an update on the UOB website:

This merchant will discontinue their participation in UOB$ Cashback Programme. UOB$ will not be awarded for this merchant’s transactions from 1 November 2024 onwards.

Existing UOB$ cashback can still be redeemed at the respective outlets before the UOB$ expiry date or by 30 April 2025, whichever is earlier.

To redeem, a valid physical UOB Mastercard/Visa Debit or Credit Card with valid UOB$ balance must be used for payment.

-UOB

What this means is that UOB cardholders will soon earn UNI$ as per normal here, just like any other merchant. 

💳 Earn Rates at Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian
Card	Till 31 Oct 24	From 1 Nov 24
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	3.6 mpd	4 mpd^
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	3.6 mpd	4 mpd^
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	3.6 mpd	4 mpd*
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	No miles	4 mpd*
UOB PRVI Miles AMEX Apply	1.4 mpd#	1.4 mpd
UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard Apply	No miles	1.4 mpd
UOB PRVI Miles Visa Apply	No miles	1.4 mpd
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card Apply	No miles	1.4 mpd
KrisFlyer UOB Card Apply	No miles	1.2 mpd
^With Family selected as your quarterly bonus category *Use mobile contactless payments (UOB Preferred Platinum Visa) or contactless payment (UOB Visa Signature) #The UOB PRVI Miles AMEX does not participate in the UOB$ programme

As the table above shows, you’ll be earning more miles with every UOB card compared to now. 

If you wanted to find something to be upset about (and believe me, internet people do), I guess you could say that if you have a UOB Lady’s Card, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card or UOB Visa Signature, then the incremental 0.4 mpd earned is outweighed by the loss of 1% UOB$ cashback. Perhaps, but my counterpoint would be that there’s a S$50 minimum spend required to earn that 1% UOB$ cashback, so you wouldn’t be earning it in every scenario anyway. 

I prefer to look at the bigger picture, which is that three of the biggest supermarket/pharmacy retailers no longer need special precautions with UOB cards. 

But there’s yuu…

DBS yuu Card
Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
	Earn Rate	Remarks
Non-yuu merchants	Base: 1 pt/S$1 0.28 mpd	No min. spend or cap
yuu merchants	Base: 10 pts/S$1 2.78 mpd	No min. spend or cap
	Bonus: 26 pts/S$1 7.22 mpd	Min. S$600 spend per c. month, cap at 15,600 points per c. month

As good as this news is, it’s somewhat overshadowed by the fact that UOB cards, even in their full 4 mpd glory, aren’t the best option to use at Cold Storage, Giant or Guardian.

That crown would go to the DBS yuu Card, which now earns 10 mpd here and at other yuu merchants, subject to a minimum spend of S$600 per calendar month (and also capped at S$600 per calendar month). Assuming the minimum spend isn’t a problem, then there’s no reason not to use it, especially since the minimum conversion amount is a mere 200 yuu Points (56 miles).

But look. We all know that this kind of generosity can’t last forever, and when it does end, we’ll be glad to have the UOB cards back to their full strength.

Conclusion

From 1 November 2024, Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian will leave the UOB$ programme, which means no more concerns about using UOB cards here. If you have existing UOB$, for whatever reason, you have until expiry or 30 April 2025 to spend them, whichever is earlier. 

Of course, the DBS yuu Card remains the best option for spending at these merchants, but it’s always good to have a backup for when that ends. 

(HT: @timtoddau)