Saturday, January 12, 2008

UOB One Card - The one card for all?

Recently UOB launched their One Card credit card which incorporates the new Visa payWave technology. The technology makes your credit card transaction fast, easy and contactless. You just simply need to grab your purchases, wave the card in front of a secure card reader and in 5 second your transaction is approved.

However it is not the technology that attracts me but it is the cash rebate that is enticing. With the amount of spending that I currently do, I can potentially collect higher cash rebate if I were to use this card. Let me just show an image of the criteria in order to enjoy the quarterly cash rebate.



The cash rebate may seem quite substantial but the catch is you need to spend at least a certain amount and use the card successfully for at least 3 times per statement period. If the criteria are not satisfied, you will not receive any cash rebate in that quarter. So there is a risk of cash rebate loss with this card. Let me just show again my average monthly spending in a table.



From my spending, I don’t have any problem to satisfy the minimum 3 transactions but I may not be able to spend at least $300. I can break down my monthly spending as fixed and variable expenditures. I consider hand phone and internet bills as fixed expenditures because no matter what happens, I still have to pay those bills. However the other transactions are variable as for example there might be certain months that I don’t take public transport if I go overseas or I spend more time at home.

As I foresee that in certain months my spending could be less than minimum requirement to qualify for cash rebate, this card is definitely not suitable for me. It does not make sense to me to spend more than necessary just to qualify for the cash rebate. Maybe in future when I move out to my own house and require paying for utility bills, then I can consider this card again.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

If for certain mth you are not able to meet the minimum spending of $300 a mth, it still make sense to make advance payment for your singtel bill/Star hub/SP Utilities bills.

by making advance payment, you make sure you spend a minimum of $300 to get the rebates of 3.3.%. true you spend more than what is is required, but take the advance payment as a FD which yields you 3.3% return over a 3 mth period. You dont hv to wait for 1 year to enjoy the 3.3% return.

I am sure in certain mth u would hv spend more than $300 right? for those mth that u spend more than $300, u can stop paying your Singtel bills/Star hub bill since advance payment has been made

Anonymous said...

For example, i signed up for a 2 year Straits Times subscription. By signing up for a 2 year plan, i enjoy a 20% discount (15% discount if sign 1 year).

My wife was telling me why i so rich pay advance payment of $400+

i juz take the $400+ advance payment as a "investments" which yield me "20% returns" over a 2 year period. Since i need to spend the $400+ anyway, i might as well enjoy a 20% discount (or 20% returns) by paying in advance.

Mike Dirnt said...

thanks advance payment is one way. anyway i already got my UOB one card. i have decided to switch after much thought as im confident i can meet $300. if not sufficient i will pay my uncle's SP bills

Mike Dirnt said...

the 3.3% is correct but you cant compare with a 3.3% FD. in 3.3% FD you got interest plus capital protected. but for this, capital is gone and you only get the 3.3% :)

Anonymous said...

of course it is not the same as FD. but since u need to spend that money anyway, it makes sense to make advance payment to get 3.3% cashback. if u dont make advance payment, u dont get anything. so i treat it as a 3.3% returns

Anonymous said...

UOB one wave card now has the latest promotion to get pple to use the wave card.

Spend a minimum of $50 at Cold storage/Gaint and u get a $5 voucher. only available for the 1st 100 or 200 customers per store

that is 10% + 3.3% = 13.3% rebates!!

Anonymous said...

useful! too bad they cap at $30 & $80 respectively

Mike Dirnt said...

if you spend more than $800, can consider SCB manhattan card. 5% cash rebate on >$3000 spending :)

Anonymous said...

you need to spend > $3000 to make the SCB manhattan worthwhile, otherwise, UOB one still earns higher cash rebates