UOB, KrisFlyer launch new credit card that rewards with air miles

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) and KrisFlyer have tied up to target frequent travellers with a new credit card that rewards users with air miles for their savings and spending.

The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is available to anyone who earns a minimum of S$30,000 a year. Cardmembers will earn three KrisFlyer miles for every dollar spent, in areas like dining and online food delivery, online shopping and public transport. There is no cap on miles earned, according to Singapore-based travel site MileLion.

Cardholders can also open a KrisFlyer UOB Savings Account, which will allow them to earn up to five KrisFlyer miles for every dollar saved with a minimum monthly average balance of S$1,000, up to their spending cap. However, the bonus miles are capped at 5 per cent of the monthly average balance.

If they credit their monthly salary to the account, the earned rate increases to six miles per dollar spent, up to their spending cap.

So, a customer with S$15,000 of savings who credits his monthly salary in the savings account and spends S$1,200 a month over 16 months would earn as much as 60,000 miles - enough to redeem flights on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir to Hong Kong, Taiwan or China.

Based on UOB data, travel was the top spending category for UOB cardmembers, accounting for 15 per cent of total spend from 2016 to 2018.

Singapore Airlines and UOB had worked together for about a year to curate the credit card benefits, according to Tuesday's media release.

Currently, the other KrisFlyer co-branded credit cards in Singapore are issued by American Express.