What counts as a contactless payment?

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature are two of the easiest cards to use in the miles game.

Why? There’s no need to fret over MCCs. So long as you make contactless payments, you’ll earn 4 mpd, whether it’s a restaurant, supermarket, department store, hairdresser, or anywhere else. It’s an idiot-proof solution to pass to a disinterested spouse or family member, especially since the UOB$ merchant issue is now a thing of the past!

However, based on the emails I receive and questions I see in the Telegram community, “contactless” can still be a source of confusion. Tapping your phone to pay in a store? OK, sure. But what about making in-app payments with Apple or Google Pay? What about on websites which support the feature? Aren’t they both contactless payments too?

Not quite— but that doesn’t mean you can’t earn bonuses still.

Recap: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and Visa Signature contactless bonuses

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa earns 10X UNI$ for every S$5 (equivalent to 4 mpd) spent on contactless transactions, capped at S$1,110 per calendar month. 

Cardholders will receive the base 1X UNI$ (0.4 mpd) and bonus 9X UNI$ (3.6 mpd) together, at the time the transaction posts.

The UOB Visa Signature also earns 10X UNI$ for every S$5 (equivalent to 4 mpd) spent on contactless transactions. This is subject to a minimum spend of S$1,000 in SGD per statement month, and capped at S$2,000 per statement month.

Cardholders will receive the base 1X UNI$ (0.4 mpd) separately from the bonus 9X UNI$ (3.6 mpd). The base component is credited when the transaction posts, and the bonus component is credited (as a lump sum) at the start of the following statement month.

How are contactless payments defined?

Contactless payments refer to in-person transactions made using one of the following payment methods.

	UOB PPV	UOB VS
	✅	✅
	✅	✅
	✅	✅
Tapping physical card	❌	✅

The main difference between the two is that tapping the physical UOB Preferred Platinum Visa card will not earn you the contactless bonus, while tapping the physical UOB Visa Signature card will. 

To keep things simple, digitise your UOB Preferred Platinum Visa or UOB Visa Signature into your mobile wallet and tap your device to pay. This ensures you’ll earn 4 mpd everywhere contactless payments are accepted (except merchants on the general exclusion list, of course).

What is not a contactless payment?

SimplyGo

While tapping your phone at the bus or MRT gantry may appear to meet the definition of a contactless payment, it actually doesn’t.

UOB explicitly excludes SimplyGo transactions from its definition of contactless, so use a different card for these transactions instead.

In-app or online payments

Certain apps and websites support in-app or in-browser payments via Apple or Google Pay. These do not count as contactless payments, because they fail to satisfy the “in-person” requirement.

However, it may still be possible to earn 4 mpd on in-app or in-browser payments nonetheless- but not because of the contactless payments bonus.

Remember, the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature don’t just reward contactless payments. The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa also earns 4 mpd on online shopping and entertainment under the following MCCs.

Likewise, the UOB Visa Signature also earns 4 mpd on petrol and FCY spend, assuming the minimum spend criteria I mentioned earlier is met.

To illustrate some scenarios:

📱In-app Apple/Google Pay Transactions
.
	UOB PPV	UOB VS
Kris+ restaurant (5812) in AUD	✅	✅
DoorDash (5812) in USD	✅	✅
Kris+ restaurant (5812) in SGD	✅	❌
Deliveroo (5814) in SGD	✅	❌
FairPrice (5411) in SGD	✅	❌
Shopee (5399) in SGD	✅	❌
Grab ride (4121) in IDR	❌	✅
Turo (4789) in USD	❌	✅
Airbnb (7011) in SGD	❌	❌
Klook (4722) in SGD	❌	❌

I’m not going to list everything, but I hope you get the idea by now.

If the MCC falls under the bonus whitelist, you can earn 4 mpd with the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa even for in-app Apple/Google Pay transactions. If the transaction is in FCY, you can earn 4 mpd with the UOB Visa Signature even for in-app Apple/Google Pay transactions.

Either way, you’re not earning the bonus because it’s “contactless”; you’re earning it because you’ve triggered another bonus category for the card.

How different are the two cards?

While the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature both offer 4 mpd on contactless transactions, they differ in many important ways like minimum spends, other bonus categories, points crediting and rounding. 

I’ve written a detailed guide breaking down the differences. 

Head-to-head: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa vs UOB Visa Signature

Conclusion

“Contactless payments” is a term that can trip up first-timers to the miles game. Although it’s pretty intuitive that tapping your phone to pay in a store earns bonuses, many don’t understand why in-app and website transactions are hit and miss. 

The answer to this apparent inconsistency can be found in the fact that the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature have other bonus categories too. In-app and website transactions aren’t contactless — at least by UOB’s definition of the term — but you can still earn 4 mpd if the MCC or payment currency is right. 

The easiest way of avoiding confusion is to ask yourself this: do I hear a beep sound when I pay? If you don’t, it’s not a contactless payment. If you do – and you’re not standing at a bus or MRT gantry- it is.