OCBC has announced some major changes to the VOYAGE card, which take effect from 1 June 2020.
All in all, cardholders will see (mostly) lower earn rates, a new “S$5 block” policy for awarding points, new exclusion categories, and an increase in the limo spending requirement.
tl;dr | |
VOYAGE cardholders will earn more miles on local spending, but lose out on overseas, dining and small transactions.ย They’ll also need to spend 67% more for a limo ride. It’s tough to swallow.ย | |
The good | The bad |
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The old T&Cs can be found here, while the new T&Cs can be found here. For ease of reference, I’ve created a comparison which you can view here.
There’s a lot to break down, so let’s dive in.
OCBC is tweaking the earn rates and removing the dining bonus
From 1 June 2020, OCBC VOYAGE cardholders will earn miles at the following rates:
ย | Before 1 June 2020 | From 1 June 2020 |
Local Spending | 1.2 miles/ S$1 | 6.5 miles/ S$5 ย (+8%) |
Overseas Spending | 2.3 miles/S$1 | 11 miles/ S$5 (-4%) |
Dining | 1.6 miles/S$1 | 6.5 miles/ S$5 (-19%) |
The earn rate on local spending will increase from 1.2 to 1.3 mpd, while the overseas earn rate will decrease from 2.3 to 2.2 mpd.
There will no longer be any bonus on dining; which means the earn rate on dining will decrease from 1.6 to 1.3 mpd.ย
On the surface, there’s no change for holders of the OCBC Premier, OCBC Premier Private Client, or Bank of Singapore VOYAGE cards. They will continue to earn 1.6 mpd on all local spend, and 2.3 mpd on overseas spend.
ย | Before 1 June 2020 | From 1 June 2020 |
Local Spending | 1.6 miles/ S$1 |
8 miles/ S$5 |
Overseas Spending | 2.3 miles/S$1 |
11.5 miles/ S$5 |
Dining | 1.6 miles/S$1 |
8 miles/ S$5 |
However, there’s an important difference which arises from the change in earning blocks…
Points are now earned in blocks of S$5
Currently, OCBC calculates the miles per transaction on the VOYAGE card as follows:
- Round transaction down to the nearest S$1
- Multiply by 1.2 (local) or 2.3 (FCY)
- Round figure to nearest whole number
From 1 June 2020, OCBC joins UOB in adopting a decidedly customer-unfriendly “S$5 block” policy. Here’s how points will now be calculated:
- Round transaction down to nearest S$5
- Divide transaction by 5
- Multiply by 6.5 (local) or 11 (FCY)
- Round figure to nearest whole number
DBS has S$5 blocks too, but because of how they calculate points, the minimum spend to earn miles is S$1.67. Find out how other banks calculate credit card points in our comprehensive guide |
The S$5 block policy means that although the OCBC VOYAGE’s local spending rate has increased on paper, in practice you’ll be worse off in some situations. Consider the following scenarios:
Amount (local spending) |
Before 1 June 2020 | From 1 June 2020 |
S$4.99 | 5 miles (1 mpd) |
0 miles (0 mpd) |
S$5 | 6 miles (1.2 mpd) |
7 miles (1.4 mpd) |
S$9.99 | 11 miles (1.1 mpd) |
7 miles (0.7 mpd) |
S$10 | 12 miles (1.2 mpd) |
13 miles (1.3 mpd) |
S$14.99 | 17 miles (1.1 mpd) |
13 miles (0.87 mpd) |
S$15 | 18 miles (1.2 mpd) |
20 miles (1.33 mpd) |
S$19.99 | 23 miles (1.15 mpd) |
20 miles (1 mpd) |
S$20 | 24 miles (1.2 mpd) |
26 miles (1.3 mpd) |
Needless to say, I’m not a fan of S$5 blocks, because it seems counter-intuitive that a customer who spends S$14.99 should be rewarded the same as one who spends S$10. I get that the effect is smaller as your transaction size increases, but it still skews things unfairly in favor of the bank.
New rewards exclusion categories
OCBC has added four new MCC exclusions:
- MCC 4784: Tolls and Bridge Fees
- MCC 5993: Cigars, Stores and Stands
- Transactions to Singapore Government Public Hospitals including Non-Profit Hospitals, Community Hospitals and Polyclinics under the MCC 8062
- Transactions under Transportation and Tolls MCC 4111/4121/4131 except for Grab Transport, Gojek and Comfort/Citycab transactions
I couldn’t care less about tolls or cigars, but the last two are worth discussing.
OCBC tells me that you willย continueย to earn points at private hospitals under MCC 8062, such as Gleneagles, Farrer Park Hospital etc. I’ve requested for the full list of private hospitals where points will still be earned, and will update this article when I receive it.
โ ๏ธ Update: OCBC has provided me with the following list of public hospitals and facilities where points will not be earned. | |
Alexandra Hospital Changi General Hospital Khoo Teck Puat Hospital KK Womensโ and Childrenโs Hospital National Cancer Centre National Heart Centre Singapore National Neuroscience Institute National Skin Centre National University Hospital Ng Teng Fong General Hospital Sengkang General Hospital Singapore General Hospital Singapore National Eye Centre Tan Tock Seng Hospital Institute of Mental Health Bright Vision Hospital Jurong Community Hospital Outram Community Hospital Sengkang Community Hospital Yishun Community Hospital Mount Alvernia Hospital Ang Mo Kio – Thye Hua Kwan Hospital Ren Ci Community Hospital St. Andrew’s Community Hospital St Luke’s Hospital |
ANG MO KIO POLYCLINIC BEDOK POLYCLINIC BUKIT BATOK POLYCLINIC BUKIT MERAH POLYCLINIC CHOA CHU KANG POLYCLINIC CLEMENTI POLYCLINIC GEYLANG POLYCLINIC JURONG POLYCLINIC MARINE PARADE POLYCLINIC OUTRAM POLYCLINIC PASIR RIS POLYCLINIC PIONEER POLYCLINIC PUNGGOL POLYCLINIC SENGKANG POLYCLINIC TAMPINES POLYCLINIC YISHUN POLYCLINIC COMMUNITY EYE CLINIC COMMUNITY HEARING CLINIC HEART CENTRE SINGAPORE |
Regarding MCC 4111/4121/4131, a strict reading of this means that other ridesharing services (like Ryde, TADA) or taxi companies (Prime, SMRT) would be excluded. I’m also seeking further clarification, because it seems a bit arbitrary to only include one particular taxi company to the exclusion of all others.
The exclusion of 4111 would also preclude SimplyGo transactions from earning points.
For what it’s worth, GrabPay top-ups process under MCC 7399 for Visa cards, and will continue to earn points.
Increase in limo spending requirement
ย | Before 1 June 2020 | From 1 June 2020 |
Min. spending per limo ride (per month) |
S$3,000 | S$5,000 (+67%) |
Currently, VOYAGE cardholders need to spend S$3,000 per month in local or foreign currency (or some combination of the two) to earn a free limo ride.
From 1 June 2020, this will be increased to S$5,000 per month. The cap remains the same, at two transfers per month. For what it’s worth, OCBC is currently allowing VOYAGE cardholders to accumulate limo rides throughout 2020. Any rides earned in 2020 expire on 31 December 2020 or at the end of three months after they’re earned, whichever is later.
Here’s how OCBC’s revised limo spending requirement will compare to other credit cards in Singapore:
Card | Qualifying Spend (QS) | Rides per QS | Max Uses |
---|---|---|---|
UOB PRVI Miles AMEX | S$1K FCY spend per quarter (excludes online) | 2 | 2 per quarter, 8 per year |
Citi Prestige | S$12K spend per quarter | 2 | 2 per quarter, 8 per year |
HSBC Visa Infinite | S$2K spend per month | 1 (2 free per year, 4 free for HSBC Premier customers) | 24 per year (includes free trips) |
Maybank Visa Infinite | S$3K spend per month | 2 | 8 per year |
OCBC VOYAGE | S$3K spend per month (S$5K from 1 Jun 20) | 1 | 2 per month |
As you can see,ย the change makes the VOYAGE’s limo benefit significantly less competitive than other cards in the market.
Conclusion
Although OCBC VOYAGE cardholders will soon earn more miles on local spending, the overall impact of these changes are bad, no two ways about it. The reduction in overseas earn rates, the loss of the dining bonus category, and the adoption of a S$5 earning block are all pain points, not to mention the 67% increase in the limo spending requirement.
Of course, there are better cards to use for dining and overseas spendingย anyway, but still…
Looks like an updated edition of the S$120K card showdown is brewing.
This really sucks. Banks should note customers look at the full suite of point-earning rates and benefits when deciding to retain a premium card like Voyage. Make the smallest negative tweaks and even loyal customers will start adjusting their spending patterns on the card, making it worse for the card’s long run viability. Even the most loyal of customers will have to take a hard look when the above changes are implemented. Looks like its goodbye for me. This does suck since this was the first mass affluent card for me, and the metal card does make a nice clink… Read more »
I totally agree. It will likely be good bye for me too. Whatโs an alternative card within the same category?
https://milelion.com/2019/04/13/2019-edition-120k-credit-card-showdown/
Take your pick
Has anyone ever had the annual fee waived on this card without putting 200,000 at ocbc?