DBS yuu AMEX vs Visa: What’s the difference?

The DBS yuu Cards are in a league of their own for spending at yuu merchants, where they earn a hefty 18% rebate or 10 mpd. But if you’re thinking of applying for a card, a common question is: which one to choose? 

As I’m sure you know by now, the DBS yuu Card comes in two different flavours, AMEX and Visa. And while both cards enjoy the same earn rates, there are several important differences that could influence your choice.

DBS yuu AMEX vs Visa: What’s the same?

First, a quick recap of what both cards have in common. 

Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
Link your card to the yuu app with code TMCYRWM5 for 2,000 bonus yuu Points
Component	Rate	Remarks
Base Reward 1	1 pt per S$1 0.5% rebate 0.28 mpd	No min. spend or cap For scanning the yuu app, or linking it to your account as the case may be
Base Reward 2	9 pts per S$1 4.5% rebate 2.5 mpd	No min. spend Cap at 7,200 points per c. month
Bonus Reward	26 pts per S$1 13% rebate 7.22 mpd	Min. S$800 spend per c. month Cap at 20,800 points per c. month Must spend at 4x merchants per c. month

Earn rates

Both the DBS yuu AMEX and DBS yuu Visa earn up to 36 yuu Points per S$1 (18%/10 mpd) on transactions at yuu merchants, subject to:

• meeting a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month
• spending with at least 4x yuu merchants per calendar month

The bonus reward is capped at 20,800 yuu Points per calendar month, which is equivalent to S$822.86 of spending.

Welcome bonus

Both cards currently offer the same welcome bonus of S$300 cashback, for customers who apply with the promo code DBSYUU and:

• Spend at least S$800 within 60 days of approval
• Have a valid DBS PayLah! account by the end of the qualifying spend period

In addition to this, cardholders will receive 20x S$4 off S$60 Esso fuel discount vouchers. The T&Cs of this offer can be found here. 

DBS yuu AMEX vs Visa: What’s different?

Merchant acceptance

While merchant acceptance is more or less similar, 7-Eleven does not accept American Express. Also, do note that the Cold Storage app does not accept AMEX cards. 

Even if AMEX is accepted, you may not necessarily be earning 36 yuu Points per S$1.

DBS yuu AMEX Cardholders will only earn 1 yuu Point per S$1 (0.5%/0.28 mpd) on transactions with Charge+.

Singtel kiosks

DBS yuu Cardholders can pay their bills in person at one of Singtel’s self-serve kiosks to earn 35 yuu Points per S$1 on their Singtel bill (not the base 1 yuu Point per S$1).

While all kiosks accept Visa (though do note there’s some kind of outage at the time of writing), not all accept AMEX. Sethisfy maintains a list of which kiosks accept what payment methods.

Protip: your Singtel bill need not just be for your mobile subscription. Singtel lets you charge other expenses to your monthly postpaid bill such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, Google Play Store, Razer Gold and Spotify.

AMEX Offers

American Express periodically runs AMEX Offers, which are opportunities for cardholders to earn bonus points or enjoy additional savings with selected merchants. 

These are usually reserved for AMEX cards issued by American Express, but are occasionally extended to AMEX cards issued by DBS (and UOB). For example, DBS AMEX cards can participate in the annual Shop Small promotion, which this year offered S$3 off every purchase of at least S$10, up to five times per card. There’s not a lot of overlap (if any) between Shop Small and yuu merchants, but it’s basically free money. The points are besides the point. 

FCY transaction fees

DBS AMEX cards have a lower FCY transaction fee of 3%, versus 3.25% for Visa. 

That said, until bonuses are awarded at overseas yuu merchants too, there’s absolutely no reason to be spending overseas with a DBS yuu Card in the first place!

Why not both?

At the end of the day, there’s nothing stopping you from applying for both the DBS yuu AMEX and DBS yuu Visa. 

In fact, that’s the preferred option for big spenders, since each card has its own bonus cap. In other words, you could earn 36 yuu Points per S$1 on up to S$1,645.72 of monthly spending across both cards, equivalent to 197,486 miles per year!

Of course, you’ll need to meet the S$800 minimum spend and 4x yuu merchants per calendar month requirement on each card in this case. The DBS yuu app has a handy tracker that shows your progress towards both goals, with a toggle to switch between the Visa and AMEX.

yuu Points will be automatically pooled into the same yuu account, and are valid for 24 months.

Conclusion

Given the wider merchant acceptance, the DBS yuu Visa is probably the better of the two cards. That’s all the more so with the welcome offers now harmonised (it used to be that the AMEX had a better welcome offer).

The AMEX does have the added benefit of enjoying occasional AMEX Offers like Shop Small, though I wouldn’t consider a once-a-year event like that to be reason enough to choose it over the Visa.

That said, if you’re a big spender then you’ll definitely want to get both cards in order to max out the 10 mpd potential!