Choosing a rewards credit card is a great way to maximize the value of your credit card as you can earn reward points for your purchases which you can convert to rebates, airline miles, or vouchers.
Two credit cards that offer great reward points are Citi Rewards and UOB Preferred Platinum. Both cards offer rewards for any type of transaction and increased reward points for certain transaction categories.
Below are the benefits that you can get from each card.
Contents
The difference between Citi Rewards and UOB Preferred Platinum
While both Citi Rewards and UOB Preferred Platinum offer 10x reward points for select transactions, they have different eligible transaction categories as well as reward points per dollar.
Here are the transactions eligible for the 10X reward points for each card.
Rewards Points
For all general transactions, Citi offers 1 ThankYou Point/$1 spent using your Citi Rewards credit card. On the other hand, UOB offers UNI$1/$5 spent using your UOB Preferred Platinum credit card.
While both Citi and UOB do not have a minimum spend amount, you may want to note that UOB offers rewards in increments of $5 only.
Citi offers 10X reward points for online and in-store transactions and ride-hailing services
The following transaction categories are eligible for 10X ThankYou Points from Citi:
| Online Retail Transactions | Transactions made over the internet, excluding travel-related and mobile wallet transactions |
| In-Store Shopping | Transactions made in-store for merchants that sell shoes, bags, and clothes as the main business activity |
| Ride-Hailing Services | Transactions made for rides booked in Grab and Gojek |
Transactions such as airline/cruise bookings, hotel accommodations, car rental agencies, travel agencies, and other travel-related transactions are excluded from Citi’s 10X ThankYou Points offer.
For a complete list of travel-related transactions excluded from Citi’s 10X rewards offer, you may view Citi’s Terms & Conditions.
Citi is a great option if you use ride-hailing apps in the metro as it offers 10X reward points for Grab and Gojek rides!
UOB offers 10X reward points for online and mobile contactless transactions
For UOB, the following transactions are eligible for 10X reward points equivalent to UNI$10:
| Online Transactions | Transactions made over the internet for the purchase of goods or services |
| Mobile Contactless Transactions | Transactions made via Visa payWave Readers using Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, Google Pay, and Android Pay |
Whereas Citi offers 10X reward points for retail purchases online and in-store, UOB only offers 10X reward points if you purchase them online. However, UOB offers 10X reward points for travel-related transactions while Citi does not.
If you frequently use your mobile wallets in-store, UOB is a great option as it offers 10X reward points for mobile contactless transactions!
Here is a summary of the transactions where you can earn 10X reward points for either card:
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum |
|---|---|
| Online Transactions (excluding travel- related and mobile wallets) | Online Transactions |
| In-store Shopping | Mobile Contactless Transactions |
| Ride-Hailing Services |
Rewards per Dollar
For eligible transactions, Citi Rewards offers 10 ThankYou Points/$1 spent while UOB Preferred Platinum offers UNI$10/$5 spent.
For all other transactions, Citi offers 1 ThankYou Point/$1 while UOB offers UNI$1/$5.
Here is a summary of the rewards per dollar that you can earn for either card:
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Online Retail Transactions | 10 ThankYou Points/$1 | UNI$10/$5 |
| Online Travel-Related Transactions | 1 ThankYou Point/$1 | UNI$10/$5 |
| Mobile Contactless Transactions | 1 ThankYou Point/$1 | UNI$10/$5 |
| In-Store Shopping | 10 ThankYou Points/$1 | UNI$1/$5 |
| Ride-Haling Services | 10 ThankYou Points/$1 | UNI$1/$5 |
| All Other Transactions | 1 ThankYou Point/$1 | UNI$1/$5 |
Minimum Spend
Both Citi Rewards and UOB Preferred Platinum have no minimum spend amount. However, UOB Preferred Platinum offers rewards only in increments of $5.
Maximum Reward Cap
Both Citi and UOB have the same points system:
- For transactions eligible to receive 10X rewards, you will earn 1 base point and 9 bonus points, totalling to 10 points per each card’s increment ($1 for Citi and $5 for UOB)
- For all other transactions, you will earn 1 base point for every increment
Both Citi and UOB do not have a cap on their base points. However, Citi offers a higher cap for bonus points per month compared to UOB:
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum |
|---|---|
| 9,000 bonus points | 2,000 bonus points |
If you’ve exceeded the cap for bonus points for the month, you will only earn base points for the exceeding amount.
Reward Points Expiry
Citi offers a significantly longer redemption period for its ThankYou Points than that of UOB’s UNI$:
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum |
|---|---|
| 60 months | 24 months |
Reward Points Redemption
With either Citi Rewards or UOB Preferred Platinum, you can use your points to pay for your transactions and redeem vouchers.
You can redeem your Citi ThankYou Points as miles or rebates
Your Citi ThankYou points can be transferred to miles of Citi’s partner mileage programs. 25,000 ThankYou Points can be converted to 10,000 miles of any of the following:
| Citi’s Partner Mileage Programs |
|---|
| Asia Miles |
| British Airways Executive Club |
| Etihad Guest |
| Eva Air Infinity MileageLands |
| Flying Blue |
| IHG Rewards Club |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer |
Citi also offers ThankYou Points redemption in the form of cash rebates. You can redeem $10 cash rebate for 4,400 ThankYou points.
You can redeem your UOB UNI$ as KrisPay miles, eCapitaVoucher, and payments to partner stores
For UOB, you can transfer a minimum of 10,000 UNI$ to KrisPay miles or convert 1,100 UNI$ to $10 eCapitaVoucher.
You can also use your UNI$ to offset your payments to their partners:
| Partner | UNI$ per dollar |
|---|---|
| SP Utilities | UNI$500/$5 |
| Apple Rewards Store | UNI$100/$1 |
Eligibility
Citi and UOB have the same age eligibility and minimum annual income requirement for Singaporeans. However, UOB has a higher minimum annual income requirement for foreigners.
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 21 years old | 21 years old |
| Minimum Annual Income (Singaporeans) | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| Minimum Annual Income (Foreign Nationals) | $42,000 | $80,000 |
Other Rewards
Citi is currently offering 27,000 bonus ThankYou Points if you get approved for a Citi Rewards card and spend $3,000 within the first three months of your card approval. That’s a total of 30,000 points (3,000 base points + 27,000 bonus points)! You may view the Terms & Conditions for more details on this promotion.
UOB, on the other hand, is offering $100 cash credit if you are one of the first 100 per month who successfully applies for a UOB credit card and spends a minimum of $1,500 within 30 days from the approval date. However, this promotion is only valid until March 31, 2022.
UOB also has the UOB$ Rebate Programme wherein you can earn instant cashback for your card transactions in participating stores.
If you love shopping online, UOB also offers exclusive Shopee vouchers for new customers!
Fees
Citi and UOB have the same annual credit card fees and annual fee waivers.
| Annual Fee – Principal Card | $192.60 |
| Annual Fee – Supplementary Card | $96.30 |
| Waived Annual Fee | 1 year |
While Citi and UOB have the same interest rates for credit card transactions, Citi offers a lower interest rate for cash advances.
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest – Card Transactions | 26.90% p.a. | 26.90% p.a. |
| Interest – Cash Advances | 26.90% p.a. | 28% p.a. |
Final Verdict
Both Citi Rewards and UOB Preferred Platinum offer rewards for all general transactions, with 10X reward points for select transaction categories. Which one is the card for you?
Here is a comparison of what each card offers:
| Citi Rewards | UOB Preferred Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards per Dollar – General Transactions | 1 ThankYou Point/$1 | UNI$1/$5 |
| Rewards per Dollar – Eligible Transactions | 10 ThankYou Points/$1 | UNI$10/$5 |
| Eligible Transactions | Online Transactions (excluding travel-related and mobile wallets) In-store Shopping Ride-Hailing Services | Online Transactions Mobile Contactless Transactions |
| Monthly Rewards Cap | No cap for base points 9,000 for bonus points | No cap for base points 2,000 for bonus points |
| Reward Points Expiry | 60 months | 24 months |
| Reward Redemption | Miles of Partner Mileage Programs Cash Rebates | KrisPay Miles eCapitaVouchers Offset to SP Utilities Offset to Apple Rewards Store |
| Annual Fee | $192.60 – Principal $96.30 – Supplementary | $192.60 – Principal $96.30 – Supplementary |
| Annual Fee Waiver | 1 year | 1 year |
| Interest Rate – Card Transactions | 26.90% p.a. | 26.90% p.a. |
| Interest Rate – Cash Advances | 26.90% p.a. | 28% p.a. |
For the same annual fees, Citi Rewards provides more rewards per dollar as they offer 10 points/$1 vs UOB’s 2 points/$1 (rewarded in increments of $5). It also has a higher cap for bonus points and longer rewards expiry.
If you are a frequent credit card user, Citi may be a better option since it offers 10X rewards for online transactions and in-store shopping.
It’s also a good option if you frequently ride Grab or Gojek for its 10X rewards for these ride-hailing services.
You may want to consider UOB Preferred Platinum if you love travelling as online travel-related transactions are eligible for 10X rewards from UOB. However, do note that there is a monthly cap of 2,000 bonus points which is significantly lower than that of Citi’s.
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