How to check where a merchant’s payment gateway is located

One of the most frustrating aspects of UOB cards is the “overseas payment gateway” clause, which can result in earning fewer miles than expected. 

For example, the UOB PRVI Miles Card earns 2.4 mpd on foreign currency (FCY) transactions— but only those processed overseas. If the payment is processed in Singapore, you’ll earn just 1.4 mpd, even if the transaction is in FCY.

If you’re physically overseas and making in-store purchases, you have little to worry about, as the FCY rate is guaranteed (unless of course you get tricked into DCC!). It’s online transactions where things get more uncertain. Just because a website charges you in FCY doesn’t necessarily mean they process payment outside of Singapore, and getting it wrong can be a costly mistake!

Fortunately, there’s a way to check the location of the payment gateway before making a purchase, taking the guesswork out of the equation.

What is the overseas payment gateway clause?

For other banks, an overseas transaction is defined as any transaction in a currency other than SGD.

With UOB, an overseas transaction is defined as:

• a transaction in a currency other than SGD, and 
• processed by a payment gateway outside of Singapore

Here’s an example from the UOB PRVI Miles T&Cs:

Depending on the card you’re using, this might not matter at all, or it can make all the difference.

For example, the UOB Lady’s Card earns 4 mpd on bonus categories, whether they’re in SGD or FCY. However, if you’re using the UOB Visa Signature, the difference between 4 mpd and 0.4 mpd could boil down to the location of the payment gateway. 

For instance, Agoda processes Visa payments via a gateway in Singapore. Should you pay with your UOB Visa Signature, you’ll earn 0.4 mpd even if the transaction is charged in FCY!

How to check payment gateway location

It’s possible to check the payment gateway location without making an actual transaction by using a blocked DBS card and the DBS digibot. If you’ve read my article on checking MCCs, you should already be familiar with this process because it’s basically the same.

The first step is to temporarily block a DBS card via the DBS digibank app. You can do this by tapping More on the bottom right hand corner, then scrolling down until you see Payment Controls under the Manage Cards & Loans section.

Scroll to the card you wish to block, then toggle the card lock option. The card will then be greyed out, with a lock icon appearing on top. 

Next, go to the merchant and attempt to make a transaction. Do the 2FA if necessary- it’s fine. The transaction will fail because the card is blocked, and that’s exactly what we want to happen.

Return to the DBS digibank app or login to DBS ibanking and summon the digibot. 

• For the app, tap the question mark on the top right corner and scroll down to tap “Ask digibot”
• For desktop, click the digibot icon at the bottom right corner

Type “check my recent transactions”, then tap on Check Transactions > Proceed to Check Recent Transactions > Credit Cards > Select Card > View Transaction History > Declined Transactions.

You can then see the MCC of the transaction, as well as the country code. What we’re looking out for is the three letter code, in particular SGP, which denotes Singapore.

For example, Airalo charges customers in USD, but processes transactions in Singapore (SGP). So if you pay with the UOB PRVI Miles Card, for example, you’ll earn miles based on the SGD equivalent multiplied by 1.4 mpd.

On the other hand, IcelandTours charges customers in EUR, and processes transactions in Lithuania (LTU). So if you pay with the UOB PRVI Miles Card, for example, you’ll earn miles based on the SGD equivalent multiplied by 2.4 mpd.

On a related note, this also explains why the posting amount of some transactions turns out slightly higher than anticipated. 

For example, if you shop on the Bellroy website, items are priced in SGD, but transactions are processed overseas. DBS subjects these transactions to a 1% dynamic currency conversion fee, so my S$104.30 transaction becomes S$105.34 on posting.

The same goes for Spotify, where subscriptions are billed in SGD, but processed in Sweden. 

If you want to avoid this 1% fee, you can pay through Amaze, though keep in mind this will only be an option for non-DBS, non-UOB cards. Otherwise, you’ll save the 1%, but also give up all the rewards in the process.

Should you always check?

The DBS blocked card method isn’t the quickest of things to do, so you might be asking whether it’s really necessary to check the payment gateway every time.

Well, that’s really up to you, but in general I’d say it depends on the size of the transaction, and how much time you have. 

If it’s a relatively small transaction, or if I’m quite sure the payment has no connection to Singapore (e.g. booking a domestic flight within Japan), I probably won’t bother to check.

On the other hand, if it’s a large transaction or if it’s with a website that I suspect might be processing payments in Singapore, then I’m definitely going to take a few minutes to confirm my facts.

Besides, you’ll only be doing this for online transactions, where there’s no line to hold up.

Conclusion

UOB cardholders who want to earn foreign currency spending bonuses have to take the extra step of ensuring that the payment gateway is located overseas. Normally, there’s no way a customer could know this information, but thanks to the DBS blocked card method, you can. 

Only you can decide whether it’s worth checking for every online transaction, but I’d say that if I was talking triple digits or more, then I’d definitely do so.

(HT: Zezima)