Online Credit Card Promotions During Circuit Breaker

On 21 April, the Singapore government made the decision to extend the Circuit Breaker by a further four weeks until 1 June 2020.

This means we will be ordering takeaway food and shopping for essentials online for the foreseeable future.

On the bright side, the shift in consumer spending patterns has led banks to launch promotions aimed at capturing your stay-home budget. It’s a small consolation, to be sure, but at least it lets you maximise your return on spending you’d need to do anyway. 

Here’s a lowdown on the ongoing stay-home promotions, what they cover, and how you can get the most out of them. 

UOB PRVI Miles AMEX

From 1 April to 30 June 2020, cardholders can earn 3 mpd on the following transactions, provided they spent at least $2,500. 

1. Supermarket transactions, made in-store via contactless payments, or online
2. Dining transactions made online
3. Selected online shopping and bill payments

The 3 mpd is capped at $5,000 worth of eligible transactions for the entire period, and registration is not required.

Supermarket transactions include both your traditional supermarkets (e.g NTUC, Cold Storage) as well as online sites like RedMart. Dining transactions refer to any merchant with the 5812/5814 MCC. 

With regards to (3), UOB PRVI Miles AMEX cardholders will earn 3 mpd on bill payments made to:

• Geneco by Seraya Energy
• I Switch
• PacificLight Energy
• Senoko Energy
• Sembcorp Power
• SP Services
• SP Digital
• Singtel, M1 or Starhub
• Netflix or Spotify subscriptions

This is a great benefit to have, given how some credit cards explicitly exclude telco or utilities payments from earning points. 

Furthermore, online purchases made at merchants with the following MCCs will also earn 3 mpd.

This is a fairly extensive list and should cover most of your planned expenditure during this period. The promotion’s T&C can be found here. 

UOB PRVI Miles Visa & Mastercard

From 17 April to 31 July 2020, cardholders who spend at least $2,000 on the following transactions will earn 3 mpd.

1. Bill payments
2. Grocery and drugstores
3. Online retail stores
4. Dining and food delivery
5. Entertainment and ticketing
6. Transport

It may seem like there’s a great deal of overlap between this promotion and the one offered for the UOB PRVI Miles AMEX, but the devil is in the details. 

Under bill payments, for example, Singtel, M1 and Starhub are excluded for the PRVI Miles Mastercard and Visa. However, Diamond Energy Merchants, Keppel Electric and Sunseap Energy, which didn’t appear on the PRVI Miles AMEX list, do appear here. 

Here are the relevant MCC ranges for the other merchants:

*Be careful about merchants like Cold Storage and Guardian, which participate in the SMART$ program. SMART$ is UOB’s cashback scheme and transactions at SMART$ merchants will not earn UNI$ (i.e miles). If you want to shop at Cold Storage or Guardian, do so online — SMART$ will only be earned in-store.

The 3 mpd is capped at $3,500 worth eligible transactions for the entire period, and a registration is required. To register, send the following SMS to 77862: BONUS<space>Last 4 alphanumeric digits of NRIC/Passport

The promotion’s T&C can be found here. 

KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card

From 20 April to 31 July 2020, cardholders can earn 3 mpd on the following transactions, subject to a minimum spend of at least $4,000 (the $4,000 can be on any transactions, not just the ones listed below). 

• Grocery and supermarket
• Health and beauty
• Electronics, appliances and furniture

This is capped at $2,000 of eligible transactions for the entire period. 

UOB defines grocery and supermarket as any merchant with MCC 5411 — this will also include RedMart purchases on Lazada. 

The rest of the merchants have been defined specifically, instead of through MCCs. 

Registration is required and can be done by sending the following SMS to 77862: KFEVERYDAY<space>Last 5 alphanumeric digits of Principal Cardmember’s NRIC/Passport

The promotion’s T&Cs can be found here. 

As a reminder, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card already earns 3 mpd on food delivery and restaurants without cap. 

OCBC Titanium Rewards 

From 15 April to 31 May 2020, cardholders can earn 8 mpd on the first $500 spent at the following merchants.

• Amazon
• Deliveroo
• Foodpanda
• Guardian
• Lazada
• Netflix
• NTUC Fairprice
• Qoo10
• Shopee
• Watsons

The $500 cap applies to all of the above merchants collectively, but what’s particularly good about this promotion is there’s no minimum spend required, i.e you’ll earn 8 mpd from the first dollar spent. 

You will need to register your card, though, and registration is capped at the first 5,000 customers. 

The promotion’s T&C can be found here. 

DBS Altitude Visa & Amex

From 3 March to 30 June 2020, cardholders can earn up to 4 mpd on online spending, provided they hit a minimum spend goal, subject to a cap.

The spend goal and cap will vary from customer to customer, and you’ll need to register to learn yours. I personally received a spend goal of $2,000 for which I’d earn up to 4 mpd on the first $500 of online spending. 

Customers who are approved for a DBS Altitude card during this period will be automatically registered in this promotion with a spend goal of $4,500 and up to 4 mpd on the first $1,000 of online spending. 

Note that the promotion offers ‘up to’ 4 mpd. This is only possible if your online spending is in foreign currency. If you’re transacting online in Singapore Dollars, you’ll earn 2.4 mpd instead — hardly compelling given your alternatives. 

The promotion’s T&Cs can be found here.

Evergreen options

Apart from the promotions above, the following cards offer evergreen bonuses for online spending. With no promotion period to track or registration required, these may be more convenient options for most people. 

Credit Card	Number Of Miles	Cap
DBS Woman’s World Card	4 mpd	$2,000 per calendar month
Citi Rewards	4 mpd (except travel)	$1,000 per statement month
HSBC Revolution	2 mpd	No cap

Conclusion

Staying home all day may not have been how you envisioned 2020 turning out. We feel you. But by leveraging the promotions above, you’ll be able to save up for the day when we can take to the skies once again. 

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