UOB has recently introduce a new credit card into the market – The UOB Absolute Card and the card is appropriately tagged as “Absolutely Simple.” If you are looking for a card that earns you limitless cashback, with no minimum spend and no spend exclusion, the UOB Absolute Card is the card you are looking for. It earns you a flat rate of 1.7% cashback, which is the highest among the other credit cards with unlimited cashback system. Not only that, it also allows you to earn in categories like insurance, school fees, rental payment which is generally excluded from other credit card.
Before we dive in any further, first let us take a look at the eligibility to own the card.
UOB Absolute Card Terms and Conditions
| Annual Card Fee | S$192.60, with 1 year waiver |
| Supplementary Card Fee | S$96.30, with 1st supplementary card free |
| Minimum Age | 21 Years old |
| Minimum Annual Income | S$30,000 for Singaporeans, S$80,000 for foreigners |
| Financial Service Provider | American Express |
You may have seen other credit cards offering a cashback rate of 3%-8% and must be thinking this rate of 1.7% offered seems too little. However, often times you are only entitled to those higher rates when you hit a minimum spending per month and the cashback is only limited to certain spending categories. In addition, there is also a cap on how much cashback to be earned per month. In comparison, the UOB Absolute Card offers you the following incentives in their cash back system:
- 1.7% unlimited cashback
- No minimum spend & no spending exclusion
- Cashback spending categories include insurance premium, school fees, rental payment, utilities and telco bills
So, this card is highly suitable for families, whose spending is more varied across different categories, especially in insurance premium and school fee payment. It will also be an attractive credit card for professionals who have a higher spending budget that can benefit from the unlimited cashback.
Beside the cashback rebate, there are also other privileges that this card can bring to you. Since it is an American Express credit card, you get to enjoy exclusive American Express Card privileges, including a 6-month FoundersCard membership, Live the World privileges and more. UOB lifestyle privileges also offers you attractive promotion on retail, dining, local adventures and more.
If you still cannot decide which cashback credit card out in the market is the most suitable for you, we have picked 3 other cards for a further comparison. Let’s see how they fare against each other.
UOB Absolute Card vs UOB Evol Card
First, let’s compare the UOB Absolute Card with another card of the same issuing bank, the UOB Evol Card.
The UOB Evol Card gives one of the highest cashback rates in town – a whopping 8% cashback, compared to just 1.7% by the UOB Absolute Card. However, the 8% cashback is only applicable to mobile payment and online spending. To qualify for the 8% cashback, you also must spend a min. of S$600 per month and the rebates are capped at S$60 per month. This is in contrast to the UOB Absolute card where you can earn the 1.7% on any category with no min. spending and it also entitles you to unlimited rebates. So, depending on your spending pattern and budget, you will find one card that gives you an overall higher cashback than the other.
The annual fee for both the main and supplementary card are the same for both the Absolute and the Evol Card. Since both cards are issued by UOB, they offer the same UOB lifestyle privileges on retail, dining and local adventures. The UOB Absolute Card however, takes it an extra notch, by allowing cardholders to also enjoy American Express Card privileges.
UOB Absolute Card vs Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card
One major attraction of the UOB Absolute Card is its unlimited cashback. Let’s now compare it against another unlimited cashback credit card in the market to see how it fares – the Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback Credit Card.
Both cards work on the same 3 principles – No need for min. spend, No spend exclusion and No cap on rebates. The Standard Chartered Unlimited Card earns you 1.5% cashback, 0.2% lower than that offered by the UOB Absolute Card. The annual fee for the Standard Chartered Unlimited card is also at $192.60, but it immediately comes with a 2 year waiver, which saves you a lot of hassle keeping track of annual fee payment!
Another point for comparison is the Welcome bonus for both cards. The UOB Absolute Card offers a sign up bonus of 5% cashback (equivalent to S$150) on your first S$3000 spend. The Standard Chartered Unlimited card lets you earn S$250 cashback when you spend S$200 in the first 30 days. The UOB Absolute Card welcome bonus does seems less attractive when compared to the Standard Chartered Unlimited card, but with a higher cashback rate, it will benefit in the long run.
UOB Absolute Card vs OCBC Frank Card
Our third card of comparison is one which is very popular among the millennials – The OCBC Frank Card.
The OCBC Frank Card also prides itself as one of the higher cashback credit cards. It offers a 6% cash back on online spending, mobile spending and also on foreign spending. This is a major plus point for frequent travellers! The high cashback does come with the requirement of a min. spend of S$600 and it is capped at S$75 per month.
The annual fee is much affordable, when compared to the UOB Absolute card – S$80, with a 2 year waiver and it continues to be waive, if you have an annual spend of S$10,000. Pretty reasonable for most consumers. The OCBC Frank Card also offers exclusive deals on dining, fashion and local attractions, similar to the UOB Lifestyle Privileges.
As you can clearly tell from the comparison of the UOB Absolute Card with the 3 other popular credit cards above, a card that earns you the most cashback is highly dependent on your own spending pattern and monthly budget. Having an understanding of your own spending habits will help you identify which card is the most suitable for you. The UOB Absolute card continues to stand out for offering the highest cashback among the unlimited cashback credit card, so it is definitely a card you should consider if you are a consumer with a high monthly spending, across varied spend categories.
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