UOB Preferred Visa: Good credit card for a mix of online & offline shopping
Suitable for you if you prefer staggering your shopping - you can spend $600 in-stores, and $600 online every month to maximise bonus points.
By Home & Decor Team -
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UOB launched the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa in 2013. Originally designed to encourage the adoption of early contactless payment technology (Visa payWave) and online shopping, it quickly became a centerpiece of UOB’s rewards card lineup.
The UOB Preferred Visa credit card (or more commonly known by the former name and affiliation, UOB Preferred Platinum) is one of the most popular rewards credit cards in Singapore. It’s well-celebrated amongst local “air miles chasers” and rewards enthusiasts.
10 UNI$ Points for every $5 spent
You earn 10X UNI$ for every S$5 spent (1 base UNI$+ 9 bonus UNI$) on qualifying transactions under two primary categories: online shopping, mobile contactless payments.
| Base points | Bonus points | Total points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All spend | 1 point per $5 | - | 1 point |
| Mobile contactless payments | 1 point per $5 | 9 points per $5 | 10 points |
| Selected online shopping | 1 point per $5 | 9 points per $5 | 10 points |
Selected Online Shopping
Only certain online shopping purchases (in Singapore or overseas) will help you earn bonus points. They are namely:
- Apparel, bags, shoes, and fashion accessories
- Electronics
- Groceries & supermarkets
- Dining & food delivery
- Drugstores / discount stores
- Entertainment and event/movie ticketing
The exact Merchant Category Codes (MCC) for these eligible online spend transactions are:
| Category | MCC Codes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Department Stores and Retail Stores | 4816, 5262, 5306, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732-5735, 5912, 5942, 5944-5949, 5964, 5966-5970, 5992, 5999 | With effect from 1 October 2024, UNI$ will no longer be awarded for transactions with MCC 5965 Direct Marketing – Combination Catalog and Retail Merchants |
| Supermarkets, Dining and Food Delivery | 5811,5812,5814, 5333, 5411, 5441, 5462, 5499, 8012, 9751 | - |
| Entertainment and Ticketing | 7278, 7832, 7841, 7922, 7991, 7996, 7998-7999 | - |
There is a cap of UNI$1,080 bonus points per calendar month (equivalent to $600 of eligible spend in this category).
Mobile contactless payments
Mobile contactless payments includes physical transactions you make by tapping your smartphone or smartwatch using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay at Visa payWave terminals. This includes SimplyGo public bus and train payments, too! (But TRANSIT, EZ-link and Flashpay transactions are not counted.)
Your mobile phone app transactions won’t work for this. You have to tap your phone against some other payment device, basically. All the regular credit card exclusions apply - financial institutions, taxes, bills, real estate, hospitals, education, tax etc. are not counted.
Balancing $600 Online + $600 Offline spend
You can also collect up to UNI$1,080 bonus points per calendar month (equivalent to $600 of eligible spend in this category). If you add the online spend cap mentioned above, that means you can have a maximum total bonus of UNI$2,160 per calendar month across both categories combined ($1,200 total spend).
This means you’ll have distinct limits to plan your spending, so it’s even more important to strategise how you distribute purchases between tapping your phone and shopping online to fully maximise your miles.
To get the maximum bonus points, add your card to your mobile wallet and make payments via your phone. After that, keep the physical credit card at home for the rest of the month because payment with the physical UOB Preferred Visa card WILL NOT warrant any bonus points.
Furniture & home appliances
From the list of approved online shopping list of Merchant Category Codes (MCCs), these are the codes that directly involve home appliances, home electronics, furniture, decor, or general household merchandise.
Again, this is the furniture, home appliance and homeware list for online shopping transactions (earning you 10 points per $5, capped at $600 per month):
| Merchant Category Code (MCC) | Shop examples |
|---|---|
| MCC 5732: Electronics Sales | Gain City, Courts, Best Denki, Harvey Norman, Challenger, audio/AV specialty shops etc. |
| MCC 5734: Computer Software Stores / Hardware & Digital Goods | Official Apple/Lenovo/Dell stores, Sim Lim Square tech retailers etc. |
| MCC 5311: Department Stores | Takashimaya, Tangs, Metro, Isetan, BHG, OG etc. |
| MCC 5399: Miscellaneous General Merchandise Stores | IKEA, MUJI, Daiso, Nitori, Hooga, Spotlight, Shopee/Lazada (general home furnishings) |
| MCC 5310: Discount Stores / Mega Retailers | Don Don Donki, Giant Hypermarket, Mustafa etc. |
| MCC 5999: Miscellaneous and Specialty Retail Stores | Standalone furniture boutiques, lighting shops, home decor studios, and specialty home appliance distributors |
Convert points to air miles
To convert the UNI$ earned on your UOB Preferred Visa Card into air miles, you can redeem your points at a base rate of 1 UNI$ to 2 air miles.
Transfers are usually done in minimum blocks of 5,000 UNI$ (yielding 10,000 miles).
| Airline | Transfer in blocks of... | Conversion ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines - Krisflyer | 10,000 KrisFlyer miles (5,000 points) | 1 point = 2 miles |
| Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles | 10,000 Asia Miles (5,000 points) | 1 point = 2 miles |
| AirAsia - airasia rewards | 6,000 airasia points (2,000 points) | 1 point = 3 points |
UOB partners with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at this standard 1:2 conversion rate, while also offering transfers to airasia rewards at a rate of 1 UNI$ to 3 points in minimum blocks of 2,000 UNI$ (yielding 6,000 points).
Each manual redemption request incurs a standard administrative conversion fee of $27, regardless of how many blocks you transfer in a single transaction. Because this fee is flat, it is most cost-effective for you to accumulate a large bank of reward points before requesting a transfer.
The fee is only waived if you hold higher-tier UOB cards, such as the UOB Visa Infinite or Reserve, as UNI$ are automatically pooled across all your UOB credit card accounts.
You can complete the conversion directly through the UOB TMRW mobile app's Rewards section. Select your frequent flyer program, and enter your membership details along with the points you wish to convert.