UOB YOLO Credit Card: All you need to know

The Millennial-geared UOB YOLO Credit Card offers attractive cashback for Singaporeans that love to go out, shop and travel. The more you spend, the more you get cashback. But this youthful and energetic credit card can come with some hefty fees. Read on to learn more about this “You Only Live Once” credit card from UOB.

But if you want an easy tech-enabled account that lets you travel and spend locally around the world cheaper than a credit card, you got to take a look at Wise.

How does the UOB YOLO Credit Card work?

At its core, UOB YOLO works like a standard credit card. After approval, you are given a credit line that you can spend against anywhere Visa is accepted. That includes overseas too. Then after every billing cycle, you are given a bill to pay off. Anything you can’t pay off gets an interest rate added to it.

But despite its simplicity, it can still get confusing and expensive to use the YOLO card. If you don’t meet certain spending minimums, you can be paying a steep annual fee. And despite it being advertised for travel, you can still lose money to the credit card company every time you spend. Let’s take a look at the fees for the UOB YOLO card below and Wise’s own travel-oriented account, the borderless card. With Wise multi-currency card, you can travel and spend in 40+ currencies but without all the excessive fees.

Who is eligible for the UOB YOLO Credit Card?

The UOB YOLO card is available for Singapore citizens, PR, and foreigners. You have to be at least 21 years old to apply and meet the income requirement. For Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents, the annual minimum income requirement is S$ 30,000. For Foreigners, the annual income minimum is S$ 40,000. If you aren’t able to meet the income minimum, you can put down a fixed deposit collateral of

S$ 10,000.

If you have an existing UOB bank account, you can apply online with your existing bank information through the UOB Internet banking. If you do not have an existing relationship with UOB, you can easily apply online by filling out the application and uploading the necessary income and address proof documents.²

What can I do with a UOB YOLO Credit Card?

You can use the UOB YOLO credit card for any type of spending you have, big or small. But it does provide additional cashback rewards on weekend dining, certain travel purchases, fashion, and shopping. That being said, if you are looking for air miles, travel insurance, additional rewards on day to day or family purchases, this probably isn’t the card for you.

UOB YOLO Credit Card cashback/ rewards

To start off, you get .3% cashback on all retail spends using the card no matter how much you have spent on the card or not. But only if you spend S$ 600 per statement cycle or more, you can get the bonus cashback rewards. There is also an added bonus if you spend on restaurants, entertainment, and travel during the weekend. The cashback rewards are broken down like this:

One big caveat is that the total cashback rewards are capped at S$ 60 per month. So although you are incentivized to spend more to meet the minimum to get the bonus cashback, the maximum you’ll get in one statement cycle is S$ 60.³

Overseas spend with the UOB YOLO Credit Card

UOB YOLO Credit Card has foreign transaction fees, cash withdrawal fees, and weak exchange rates much like other credit cards. So despite the cashback on travel spending on weekdays and weekends, you still may be out more than you realize.

When you use the card overseas, the foreign currency purchase is first converted into USD and then from USD to Singapore dollars. And all of this happens at an exchange rate set by Visa itself. So rather than being the transparent mid-market exchange rate, Visa sets its own rate to be weaker to take a cut off of every conversion. So by the time your transaction is converted you’ve already lost money to the credit card company.

Once this is done, you are then charged the 3.1% foreign transaction fee for the purchase. That goes for everything from getting a cup of coffee to paying the rental home. Need cash while overseas too? You’re going to be paying quite a few fees for that too. There are sometimes promotions where there is no foreign transaction fee for purchases, so keep an eye out for those.

Get your Wise borderless card - a multi-currency account that is on average 7 times cheaper than banks

Why spend more money just to make a small amount back on purchases abroad? The Wise multi-currency account doesn’t have an annual fee, or foreign transaction fee and always gives you the mid-market exchange rate. So you are paying less out of pocket and keeping more in your wallet.

By using smart technology, Wise is able to make currency conversions and global spending cheaper for you. With only a currency conversion fee of .35-1%, you can hold 40+ currencies to then spend locally, or swipe the card wherever you are in the world. And the award-winning app helps you keep track of spending with magic notifications every time you use the card.

Want to shop on global online platforms like Amazon, Alibaba, Qoo10 and Grab? Wise gives you the same great deal, whether it is a weekday or weekend. You do only live once, so make sure you keep your money for what’s important. Save money and travel easy with Wise’s borderless card.