Buy unlimited miles from 1.6 cents with the UOB Payment Facility

UOB has launched a new promotion for its UOB Payment Facility, which allows cardholders to buy as many miles as they want for 1.6 to 1.8 cents from now till 30 April 2025. 

UOB Payment Facility

While there are certainly cheaper ways of buying miles through credit cards, such as Citi PayAll or CardUp, those platforms require you to have a genuine bill to pay. In contrast, the UOB Payment Facility is literally no questions asked— so long as the amount you’re charging is within your credit limit, you can purchase as many miles as you wish.

UOB Payment Facility promotion

From 25 February to 30 April 2025, UOB cardholders can purchase miles at a flat rate of 1.8 cents each (1.6 cents for the UOB Reserve Card) through the UOB Payment Facility.

💳 UOB Payment Facility Rates (One-time payment)
	Old Promo (ended 24 Feb 25)	New Promo (from 25 Feb 25)
UOB Reserve Card	1.9% 1.7%	1.9% 1.6%
UOB Privilege Banking Card	2.2% 2%	2.2% 1.8%
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card	2.2% 2%	2.2% 1.8%
UOB PRVI Miles Card (all versions)	2.2% 2.1%	2.2% 1.8%
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	2.2% 2.1%	2.2% 1.8%
All Other UOB Cards	2.4% 2.1%	2.4% 1.8%

It’s important to note that the UOB Payment Facility runs almost perpetual discounts, making the regular rates largely theoretical. That said, the current promotional rates are still significantly lower than the previous promotional rates of 1.7 to 2.2%, which ended on 24 February 2025.

This promotion is only available for one-time payments, where the full amount is charged to your next monthly card billing statement, together with the admin fee. The associated UNI$ will also be credited in a single lump sum. 

As a reminder, all payments made via the UOB Payment Facility earn a flat rate of UNI$2.5 for every S$5 approved, regardless of card. In other words, the UOB Payment Facility earns 1 mpd with all UOB cards, instead of the regular earn rate.

Given a 1 mpd earn rate, the cost per mile is basically the admin fee, e.g. 1.8% means 1.8 cents per mile.

To illustrate, let’s say you hold a UOB PRVI Miles Card and want to buy 5,000 miles with the one-time payment option. Here’s how the process works:

Applications are processed within six working days.

Terms and conditions

The T&Cs for this promotion can be found here. 

There are cheaper alternatives!

Is buying miles at 1.8 cents each a good deal?

Maybe, maybe not. While you can certainly get more than 1.8 cents per mile in value from redemptions, especially in First or Business Class, there are ways of buying miles for less through alternative bill payment platforms like CardUp or Citi PayAll.

For example, a UOB PRVI Miles Cardholder could buy miles from as little as 1.26 cents each with CardUp, depending on the type of payment. 

CardUp’s full list of 2025 promotions can be found in the article below.

Full list of CardUp promo codes for 2025

Likewise, Citi PayAll is also offering a flat rate of 1.75 mpd on all payments with a minimum spend of S$5,000, which lowers the cost per mile to 1.49 cents each. This promotion will end soon on 28 February 2025, but it’s almost certain we’ll see another one launch in time for income tax season.

So why would anyone be willing to pay 1.8 cents per mile? Well, both CardUp and Citi PayAll require that payments be associated with a genuine economic transaction, such as rent or a helper’s salary. Transferring money to yourself does not count.

CardUp further requires documentation for most payments. Citi PayAll is more lax with the documentation requirement, but still has rules against paying yourself or overpaying taxes just to generate miles (I’m sure there are people who get away with this, but if you get caught that’s your problem).

Now, realistically speaking, most people should be able to find some sort of bill to pay through either platform, given their wide scope of coverage.

But if you’re lucky enough to have no bills in your life, then the UOB Payment Facility would be the next best alternative.

Another scenario where the UOB Payment Facility could come in handy is topping up your account to the next transfer block of 5,000 UNI$. For example, if you have 23,500 UNI$ in your account, you could charge S$3,000 to the UOB Payment Facility to earn another 1,500 UNI$, allowing you to transfer out a total of 25,000 UNI$ and avoid orphan points.

What can you do with UNI$?

UNI$ can be transferred to three frequent flyer programmes (though it’s really two, because converting points to AirAsia is like throwing them away) at the following ratio:

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (UNI$: Partner)
	5,000 : 10,000
	5,000 : 10,000
	2,500 : 4,500

Transfers cost S$25 each, regardless of how many points are transferred. However, if you hold a UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite or UOB Privilege Banking Card, you will enjoy free conversions of all UNI$, including those earned on the UOB PRVI Miles Card. 

Conclusion

From now till 30 April 2025, UOB cardholders can purchase as many miles as they wish through the UOB Payment Facility at 1.6 to 1.8 cents apiece. While lower than the usual rates, this is not the cheapest way of buying miles, and those with legitimate bills to pay should be exploring CardUp and Citi PayAll instead.

Still, if you crave convenience, or if you’re dealing with an orphan block of UNI$, then this might be worth a look.

(HT: Hamizan)