Credit Cards Deals

Targeted: UOB Visa Infinite cardholders can buy miles for 1.9 cents each

Selected UOB Visa Infinite cardholders are being offered the option to 'buy miles' at 1.9 cents each until 31 July

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If you hold UOB’s Visa Infinite card in Singapore, you may have received an invitation for a discounted 1.9% fee until 31st July 2020 when you use the card’s payment facility, allowing you to generate ‘unlimited’ miles for 1.9 cents each, paid as UNI$ and transferable into the KrisFlyer or Asia Miles programmes.

This isn’t a huge discount – the usual fee is 2% as with the UOB PRVI Miles card’s PRVI Pay facility – but it may come in handy for a miles top-up if you fall short of a redemption or need to reach the next miles transfer block.

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The offer

If you’ve been targeted you should have received the invitation by mail.

19 Payment Offer

The offer is for a one-time payment between now and 31st July 2020. UOB is also offering a 3-month or 12-month instalment plan option, but at 2.2% or 2.7% fee respectively these are not attractive options for buying miles.

You are only limited by your available credit limit under this offer. If you have a sufficient limit, for example, requesting a S$47,000 payment would generate enough miles for a Singapore Airlines Business Class saver award flight to Japan – effectively for S$893 (the 1.9% fee).

How it works

The beauty of UOB’s credit card payment facilities is that you can pay any bill you like (even if you don’t actually have a bill to pay) by simply requesting an amount to be transferred from your credit card to your bank account for the appropriate one-time fee.

In essence, although the ‘price’ is relatively high, the flexibility is excellent.

Here’s an example of how the Visa Infinite Payment Facility works, at the promotional 1.9% fee:

  • $5,000 income tax bill arrives
  • Apply for $5,000 from your UOB VI Payment Facility
  • UOB transfers $5,000 to your bank account
  • UOB charges $5,095 to your credit card ($5,000 + 1.9% fee)
  • UOB credits 2,500 UNI$ to your reward account (5,000 KrisFlyer miles)
  • Effective purchase rate $95/5,000 = 1.9 cents per mile
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