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UOB ONE Card Introduction
This a often discussed and recommended cashback credit card by UOB Bank, and they come in two different version, ONE Classic Card and ONE Platinum Card.
It says you can earn up to 10% cashback on daily spend, so let us look into that and see if that claim is true, and if not what can we really expect from this credit card.
Cashback Benefits Overview
According to the chart from UOB official website it seems that the card comes with a starting cashback rate of 0.2% for five different categories, which is petrol, groceries, dining, Grab and other retail purchase.
The cashback rate will be increase once the monthly minimum spending criteria is reached, for the ONE Classic Card the criteria is RM500, and for ONE Platinum Card the criteria is RM1500.
Cashback rates for all categories will be increased to 10% except for other retail purchase, and all categories of spending come with a cashback capping of RM10 for the ONE Classic Card and RM15 for the ONE Platinum Card, again except for other retail purchase which is unlimited but are always only 0.2% cashback rate.
How to Maximize Cashback for Best ROI
Now you will notice the cashback is not a simple straightforward 10%, but that is to be expected, but here we will find out how to spend in an exact way to find out what’s the true maximum cashback rate.
UOB ONE Classic Card
First we will have to spend RM500, and because the first four category has a capping of 10% and RM10, and other retail spend has unlimited cashback cap, here’s how to get maximum cashback:
- RM100 – Petrol
- RM100 – Groceries
- RM100 – Dining
- RM100 – Grab
- RM100 – Other retail spend
Total cashback we will received after spending RM500 will be RM40.2. that’s a cashback rate of 8.04%, which to be honest, is pretty good number.
UOB ONE Platinum Card
For this card we will need to spend RM1500 to unlock the increased rate, which it will look something like this:
- RM150 – Petrol
- RM150 – Groceries
- RM150 – Dining
- RM150 – Grab
- RM900 – Other retail spend
Total cashback we will received after spending RM1500 will be RM61.8. that’s a cashback rate of 4.12%, which obviously is not that great when compared to the former card.
Annual Fees & Salary Requirement
Annual Salary Requirement:
- UOB ONE Classic Card – RM24,000
- UOB ONE Platinum Card – RM60,000
Annual Fees:
- UOB ONE Classic Card
- Principal – RM120
- Supplementary – RM60
- UOB ONE Platinum Card
- Principal – RM195
- Supplementary – RM100
There are no exact info on whether if you can get automated waiver for certain spending criteria, so we will assume there isn’t any, what does the fee mean for the cashback rate?
Assume we continue to spend exactly needed for maximum cashback rate, after fees, the cashback rate will be 6.02% for the classic card and 3.04% for the platinum card.
*There will be a service tax of RM25 per card activated, this is same for every card from every other bank in Malaysia.
Who Should Get UOB ONE Card?
The UOB ONE Classic are actually a great card for many people, the spending requirement and category is very achievable and include many necessity spending.
Even if you would overspend in some category and underspend, the 8.04% cashback rate (or 6.02% if factor in annual fees) still leave a lot of buffer room before the cashback rate become “bad”.
In my opinion if you can consistently get above ~3% cashback with your spending patten, without too much effort in keeping track of “quota” for each categories, then this card is a no brainer.
However the ONE Classic Card have less buffer room for error because of the lower cashback rate, which means you will have to use more effort in keeping track to spend just enough to get a considerably good cashback rate, sometimes even include spending for cashback, which beat the purpose of having a cashback card in my opinion.
Conclusion: If your spending behavior fits the UOB ONE Classic Card then it will be a great cashback card for you.