UOB rolled out some changes to its card fees at the start of October 2026, and it’s all good news, as far as I can see.
Going forward, you won’t need to bother with card replacement fees, debit card annual fees and — if you use the UOB UnionPay Card — annual fees or FCY transaction fees.
Changes to UOB card fees
UOB has published an update to its cardmember agreement, with the key changes found in Appendix 1.
Removal of card replacement fees
UOB was one of the few banks to charge a replacement fee for lost or damaged cards — at least on paper, anyway.
- UOB Reserve: S$642
- UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card: S$150
- UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card: S$321
- Other cards: S$20
I can kind of understand this for metal cards, where the manufacturing costs are presumably higher, but it’s strange to have a replacement fee for plastic cards too, which don’t cost much to make.
It’s not clear to me whether these fees were actually charged in real life, but in any case, they no longer apply from 1 October 2026.
| ❓Do any other banks charge replacement fees? |
| As far as I know, OCBC is the only other bank to charge card replacement fees — though it waives the fee for up to two replacements in a 12-month period. A S$32.70 fee applies for the third card replacement onwards. |
Removal of annual fees for debit cards
Credit card annual fees are annoying enough, but with UOB, you had to look out for debit card annual fees too.
- UOB One Debit Card: S$18.34
- UOB Lady’s Debit Card: S$18.34
- UOB FX+ Debit Card: S$18.34
- KrisFlyer UOB Debit Card: S$54.50
These fees — apart from the KrisFlyer UOB Debit Card’s — could be waived by making at least 12 transactions, but seriously, how likely were you to do that?
Well, you won’t have to worry any more, as they’ve also been scrapped from 1 October 2026.
Removal of annual fee and FCY fee for the UOB UnionPay Card
The UOB UnionPay Card formerly had an annual fee of S$196.20, and a 3.25% fee for FCY transactions. The annual fee could be waived by making 12 transactions in a membership year.
From 1 October 2026, these fees are no more. FCY transactions will be converted into SGD at UnionPay’s rate, with no further markup.
UOB annual fee waiver policy clarified
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| Fee Waivers |
In case you missed it, back in August 2026, UOB published explicit criteria for how annual fee waivers are granted.
| 💳 Credit Card Annual Fee Waiver Eligibility |
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If you only hold a single credit card with UOB or have a Private Banking / Privilege Reserve Banking relationship with UOB, please request via our self-service channels (listed below) and we will automatically waive your annual fee. (Not applicable for fee-paying premium cards such as Visa Infinite Metal Card and Reserve Card, please refer to our Credit Card Annual Fee page for more information) Alternatively, if you hold multiple credit cards with UOB, to qualify, you must spend:
This spend must be within the first 11 months from your card anniversary date. Example: If your annual fee was charged on 1 May 2026, spending from 1 May 2025 to 31 March 2026 will be counted. Other factors such as your overall relationship with the Bank and amount of Assets Under Management (AUM) are also considered in our criteria. |
In short, you can expect your annual fee to be waived if:
- You’re a UOB Private Banking or Privilege Reserve customer, or
- You only have a single UOB credit card, or
- You have spent at least S$5,500 on a fee-paying credit card, S$22,000 across all UOB credit cards, or S$3,000 in overseas spend across all UOB credit cards (within the first 11 months of cardmembership)
Waivers are strictly not granted for the UOB Reserve Card and UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card.
For more on this subject, refer to the post below.
Conclusion
UOB has updated its cardmember agreement to remove card replacement fees, annual fees for debit cards, as well as annual fees and FCY transaction fees for the UOB UnionPay Card.
None of these are life-changing, but at least you won’t have to worry about a pesky debit card annual fee slipping by, and can rest assured that you won’t be charged for a card replacement (if such a fee was ever enforced in the first place).
The most interesting change is probably the UOB UnionPay Card. With no annual fee and no FCY markup, it’s now a free card to keep in the drawer as a backup for overseas trips to places where UnionPay is more widely accepted than Visa/Mastercard.
