UOB has announced some changes to the UOB Visa Signature Card, but unlike the concurrently-announced updates to the UOB Ladyโs Solitaire (bad!), itโs not so clear to me whether this counts as a nerf or a buff.
Starting 1 Jul 25, youโll earn 10X UNI$ for every S$5 spent on SimplyGo transactions.
Plus, youโll be able to earn up to UNI$4,800 per statement period with a min. spend of S$1,000 on overseas transactions (capped at UNI$2,400 earned) and another S$1,000 on petrol and contactless payments (also capped at UNI$2,400 earned).
-UOB
The good news is that the UOB Visa Signature will now earn 4 mpd on SimplyGo transactions, effective immediately. Moreover, the monthly bonus cap will be raised from S$2,000 to S$2,400 from August onwards (the exact date depends on your statement cycle).
The bad news is that the bonus cap, which could previously be allocated between overseas, petrol and contactless spending as you saw fit, will now be strictly divided into S$1,200 for overseas, and S$1,200 for petrol and contactless.
The UOB Visa Signature has never been a particularly easy card to understand, so donโt worry if youโre lost after reading the T&Cs (but please, do try and read them!). Iโm going to try and explain this as simply as I can.
SimplyGo transactions now earn 4 mpd
Previously, the UOB Visa Signature excluded SimplyGo transactions from its definition of โcontactless spendโ, which meant that you would only earn 0.4 mpd if you tapped your card (or the digitised version on your phone) at the bus/MRT gantry.
From 1 July 2025, this has changed. The UOB Visa Signature will now award 4 mpd on SimplyGo transactions, subject to a minimum spend of S$1,000 on petrol and contactless in a statement month.
| โ What about S$5 earning blocks? |
|
Many people are hesitant about using UOB cards for SimplyGo, because the average transaction is well below the S$5 they believe is necessary to earn points. This belief is mistaken for two reasons. First, with UOB Visa cards, fare charges are accumulated daily, but UNI$ are calculated based on the accumulated spend on SimplyGo Transactions per calendar month. Second, the UOB Visa Signature aggregates all eligible spend when computing the bonus points to award the following month. In other words, your SimplyGo spending will be combined with other contactless and/or petrol expenditure before being rounded down to the nearest S$5, so the points lost to rounding are minimal. Therefore, barring some extreme cases, you will almost certainly earn points on your SimplyGo spend with the UOB Visa Signature. |
For the avoidance of doubt, there is no change to the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, which still does not consider SimplyGo transactions to be part of contactless spend. If you tap this card (or the digitised version on your phone) at the gantry, youโll earn just 0.4 mpd.
Changes to monthly bonus cap
Hereโs where things start to get complicated, so please try to pay close attention to the next few paragraphs.
The UOB Visa Signature Card currently earns 10X UNI$ per S$5 (equivalent to 4 mpd) on overseas spend, petrol and contactless, subject to the following conditions:
- Category 1 (Overseas spend): Spend at least S$1,000 in foreign currency (FCY) in a statement month
- Category 2 (Petrol and contactless): Spend at least S$1,000 in local currency in a statement month
| โ ๏ธ Important Note |
| Both online and offline FCY spend counts as Category 1 (Overseas spend). However, in the case of online spend, the payment gateway must be located outside of Singapore. Refer to this article for details. |
Category 1 and 2 can be mutually exclusive. You can choose to satisfy just Category 1, just Category 2, or Category 1 and 2.
The 10X UNI$ per S$5 comprises of:
- Base reward: 1X UNI$ per S$5 (0.4 mpd)
- Bonus reward: 9X UNI$ per S$5 (3.6 mpd)
So far, so good. None of this is changing.
What is changing is the monthly cap for the bonus reward, and how itโs allocated between Category 1 and 2.
Current arrangement
| Category 1 (Overseas Spend) |
Category 2 (Petrol and Contactless) |
|
| Monthly Cap (UNI$) | 3,600 UNI$ |
|
| Monthly Cap (S$) | S$2,000 | |
| Caps are based on statement month | ||
Currently, the bonus reward of 9X UNI$ per S$5 on overseas spend, petrol and contactless is capped at UNI$3,600 per statement month (equivalent to S$2,000 of spending).
Crucially, cardholders can allocate this cap in any way they wish. For example, they could spend:
- S$1,500 overseas, earning 6,000 miles
- S$1,800 on petrol and contactless, earning 7,200 miles
- S$2,000 on overseas, earning 8,000 miles
- S$1,000 on overseas, and S$1,000 on petrol and contactless, earning 8,000 miles (though youโd need to be extremely precise to meet the minimum spend for each category while avoiding going over the monthly limit)
Revised arrangement
| Category 1 (Overseas Spend) |
Category 2 (Petrol and Contactless) |
|
| Monthly Cap (UNI$) | 2,160 UNI$ | 2,160 UNI$ |
| Monthly Cap (S$) | S$1,200 | S$1,200 |
| Caps are based on statement month | ||
Under the revised arrangement, the bonus reward of 9X UNI$ per S$5 on overseas spend, petrol and contactless will be capped at UNI$4,320 per statement month (equivalent to S$2,400 of spending).
However โ and this is the catch โ each of the two categories will have its own sub-cap of UNI$2,160 per statement month (equivalent to S$1,200 of spending)
- Category 1 (Overseas spend): 2,160 UNI$ per statement month (S$1,200)
- Category 2 (Petrol and contactless): 2,160 UNI$ per statement month (S$1,200)
This is a positive change in the sense that the total miles you can earn from the UOB Visa Signature each month (without going into 0.4 mpd territory) will increase from 8,000 (S$2,000 @ 4 mpd) to 9,600 (S$2,400 @ 4 mpd).
This is a negative change in the sense that you now cannot earn 4 mpd beyond S$1,200 of spend on either overseas, or petrol and contactless.
For example, you could previously spend S$2,000 overseas and earn 8,000 miles. If you tried to do that under the revised arrangement, you would only earn 5,120 miles (S$1,200 @ 4 mpd + S$800 @ 0.4 mpd).
When is this taking place?
The awarding of 4 mpd for SimplyGo transactions takes effect from 1 July 2025.
The changes to the bonus cap depend on when your UOB Visa Signature Card is approved.
- If your UOB Visa Signature Card is approved on or after 1 July 2025, then new bonus cap applies immediately
- If your UOB Visa Signature Card was approved prior to 1 July 2025, then the new bonus cap will apply from the statement period ending on or after 1 September 2025.
For example, if your statement period runs from the 2nd of each month to the 1st of the following month, then the revised arrangement will apply from 2 August 2025 onwards.
Likewise, if your statement period runs from the 31st of each month to the 30th of the following month, then the revised arrangement will apply from 31 August 2025 onwards.
Most people will fall somewhere in between, so you basically need to pay closer attention to your spending from August 2025 onwards.
What if categories overlap?
The UOB Visa Signatureโs categories can cause a lot of confusion, especially for cardholders who make both local and overseas petrol and contactless transactions.
Itโs actually not that complicated, so long as you think about it this way:
- If your petrol and contactless spend is in foreign currency, it counts towards the overseas minimum spend, and towards the overseas bonus cap
- If your petrol and contactless spend is in local currency, it counts towards the petrol and contactless minimum spend, and towards the petrol and contactless bonus cap
The table below summarises what does and does not qualify for 4 mpd with the UOB Visa Signature.
| Overseas | Petrol & Contactless | |
| Online SGD |
โ | โ |
| Online FCY |
โ | โ |
| In-app SGD |
โ | โ |
| In-app FCY |
โ | โ |
| Contactless SGD |
โ | โ |
| Contactless FCY |
โ | โ |
| Petrol SGD |
โ | โ |
| Petrol FCY |
โ | โ |
Conclusion
Effective immediately the UOB Visa Signature will earn 4 mpd on bus and MRT rides paid for via SimplyGo, reversing a longstanding policy that such transactions didnโt count as contactless.
From August 2025, the bonus cap will be increased to S$2,400 per statement month, but will also be split down the middle into S$1,200 for overseas spend, and S$1,200 for petrol and contactless spend.
If youโre able to finesse your spending between these two categories, youโll be better off, since you can now earn 9,600 miles per month instead of 8,000 miles. However, if you needed a card exclusively for FCY spending, youโll be annoyed that the monthly bonus has effectively been cut from S$2,000 to S$1,200.
Would you consider the changes to the UOB Visa Signature to be a nerf or buff?
Nerf because seldom foreign spending especially gateway also need outside of Singapore.
How about contactless spending at overseas? Can it count under the contactless cap?
Itโs overseas.
No, cannot.
Overseas spend on physical card as long as FCY is still 4mpd
Feels weird to have a min spending requirement of $1,000 for each category, then have the bonus miles award capped at $1,200 spending.
Well, the dbs Yuu has a min spend of $600 per month, which is also the bonus cap!
Soโฆ am i understanding well that if I focus on local contactless, I have to spend between 1000$ and 1200$ for 4mpd?
Yeap ๐คฃ
Itโs just a green PPV card at this point
If the card is spent on petrol category at SPC petrol, even if it hits min spend of $1000, it will earn 0 miles.
Miles cards appears to be going the way of cashback cards. Lower modest caps, and splintered into more defined smaller categories. Not good.
And cashback cards have begun to lose their splintering. Iโm not sure when the value proposition flips for those of us who do economy saver, but itโs probably time to start watching closely.
Also seems like Aaron is gonna have his hands full constantly updating his 2025 credit card strategy.
Definitely a hard nerf!
I have 2 cards with me citi rewards and this.
I could use my Citi to purchase Best Denki etc gift vouchers and offset the remaining use Visa signature in instance 3K value Tv.
Right now with the limit it seems another card is needed which is more troublesome
Nerf
What if I were to spend $1100 on local contactless spend, and just $250 on FCY spend. Itโs clear that for the local contactless spend I will earn the bonus miles but what about the FCY spend of only $250? โ Will I also be able to earn the bonus miles?
No.
Youโll earn 250 X 0.4 = 100 miles, as you donโt hit the minimum spend of $1,000 on FCY
You wonโt earn the bonus miles for the FCY as you didnโt meet the 1000$ minimum for that category
How to check my statement period end date?
Is it โStatement Dateโ on the UOB statement?
huge nerf as it forces one to be very precise in hitting min spend of 1K and yet capping it at 1.2K
if the card awards base of block of $5, how does simplygo transactions earn that bonus? Per tap of the MRT or bus will definitely be lesser than $5?
From the article:
First, with UOB Visa cards, fare charges are accumulated daily, but UNI$ are calculated based on the accumulated spend on SimplyGo Transactions per calendar month.
Second, the UOB Visa Signature aggregates all eligible spend when computing the bonus points to award the following month. In other words, your SimplyGo spending will be combined with other contactless and/or petrol expenditure before being rounded down to the nearest S$5, so the points lost to rounding are minimal.
Therefore, barring some extreme cases, you will almost certainly earn points on your SimplyGo spend with the UOB Visa Signature.
Whatโs the typical spend of a SimplyGo transaction when taking MRT or bus? If it does not hit 5 dollars block there is no point to award 4 miles.
Aaron addresses this specifically in the article:
First, with UOB Visa cards, fare charges are accumulated daily, but UNI$ are calculated based on the accumulated spend on SimplyGo Transactions per calendar month.
Second, the UOB Visa Signature aggregates all eligible spend when computing the bonus points to award the following month. In other words, your SimplyGo spending will be combined with other contactless and/or petrol expenditure before being rounded down to the nearest S$5, so the points lost to rounding are minimal.
Therefore, barring some extreme cases, you will almost certainly earn points on your SimplyGo spend with the UOB Visa Signature.
Thanks. Unfortunately SimplyGo payment form does not fit my spending pattern.
So funny.
This fella asked a question long been asked and answered, with the answer stated in the article he does not bother to properly read.
Someone kind enough to actually paste the answer from the article out for him then he come and says he doesnโt use it.
M0R0N$
huge nerf for sure.
you can say that technically the limits have increase from 2k>2.4k in absolute sense.
but most people would use this card for the big limit contactless local spend or their personalised all in 1 travel card and covers everything when they are travelling.
Soโฆ now we need a reverse uno strategy of converting local spend to overseas spend? ๐ฅฒ
Can I check if I use Visa Signature to top up my childโs SimplyGo concession card, does that count as a SimplyGo transaction and quality to receive 4MD?