At the start of 2024, OCBC began offering a 6 mpd bonus earn rate promotion for its Rewards cardholders, which was a nice new perk following some negative developments in late 2023 that saw its annual bonus cap replaced with a monthly limit, while spending at electronics stores, Courts and IKEA, were removed from the list of bonus-earning categories.

The 6 mpd bonus rate was supposed to offer a rotating selection of retailers that changed every three months, but the bank appears to have given up on that plan after just one refresh of the selection in April, and has now extended the Q2 offer through to the end of 2024.

The list has also been trimmed, with the removal of duty free stores from 6 mpd earning.

• Q1 2024: TANGS & SHEIN
• Q2 2024: Watsons, department stores & duty free shops
• H2 2024: Watsons & department stores

OCBC Rewards H2 bonus 6 mpd offer

Between 1st July and 31st December 2024, OCBC Rewards cardholders can earn up to 6 mpd for transactions made at Watsons pharmacy and and department stores, either in Singapore or abroad.

This is in the form of a bonus 2 mpd (25 OCBC$ per S$5 spend block), on up to S$1,000 of spend in a calendar month (cap of 5,000 bonus OCBC$).

6 mpd Eligible Merchant List Jul – Dec 2024
Watsons

6 mpd Eligible MCC List Jul – Dec 2024
	Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
	MCC 5311 Department Stores	Isetan, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Takashimaya, TANGS, HeyMax vouchers

If you are still within your S$1,110 monthly spend cap for the card’s bonus 4 mpd spend categories (50 OCBC$ per S$5 spend block), the two rewards amounts are aggregated, for a total of 75 OCBC$ per S$5 spend, or 6 mpd.

If you have already exhausted your 4 mpd spend cap for the month, any spend at these three “6 mpd category” merchants will earn only the bonus 2 mpd instead, up to S$1,000 spend in the same month, but that’s better than you’ll get with most general spend cards for local transactions.

In total that means if you max out these additional bonus points each month you can accrue a total of 77,280 miles per year with this card:

• 53,280 miles from up to S$1,110 monthly at 4 mpd
• 24,000 miles from up to S$1,000 monthly at 2 mpd

It doesn’t matter if the two spend amounts overlap or not – by maxing out both, either together (with overlap) or separately (no overlap), you would accrue the exact same total miles over a year.

For example:

• If you spend S$1,000 per calendar month in the 6 mpd category (which is really the +2 mpd category), then use up the rest of your regular S$1,110 cap (S$110 remaining) with other 4 mpd spend, you’ll accrue 6,440 miles that month.
  1,000 x 6 mpd = 6,000 miles
  110 x 4 mpd = 440 miles
  Average: 5.8 mpd on S$1,110 spend
• If you spend S$500 per calendar month in the 4 mpd category and then S$1,000 in the 6 mpd category (some of which will now earn 2 mpd), you’ll accrue 6,440 miles that month.
  500 x 4 mpd = 2,000 miles
  610 x 6 mpd = 3,660 miles
  390 x 2 mpd = 780 miles
  Average: 4.3 mpd on S$1,500 spend
• If you spend S$1,110 per calendar month in the 4 mpd category and then S$1,000 in the 6 mpd category (which is really the 2 mpd category at that stage), you’ll accrue 6,440 miles that month.
  1,110 x 4 mpd = 4,440 miles
  1,000 x 2 mpd = 2,000 miles
  Average: 3.1 mpd on S$2,110 spend

While the average mpd rate for your spend varies in these examples, you’re hitting the same 6,440 miles monthly bonus accrual cap in all three cases. You cannot exceed that under this offer, without straying into the 0.4 mpd rate, which applies for any further spend and of course should be avoided.

For primary cardholders with supplementary cards, the bonus OCBC$ will be granted based on the combined spending across both the primary and supplementary cards, however supplementary cardholders don’t get a separate bonus cap of their own.

However, if you’re holding two of the legacy OCBC Titanium Rewards cards (blue and pink), you’ll get a separate bonus cap for each principal card account.

When are the bonus miles credited?

The bonus 2 mpd (25 OCBC$ per S$5 spent) as part of this promotion is credited at the same time as your additional 45 OCBC$ per S$5 spent in bonus categories (up to S$1,110 spend) year-round with this card.

That’s by the end of the calendar month, following the month of your transaction.

For example, for July 2024 spend, the bonus OCBC$ will credit by the end of August 2024.

Terms and conditions

You can find the full terms and conditions for this July to December bonus miles offer here.

About the OCBC Rewards Card

The OCBC Rewards Card earns 4 mpd on the first S$1,110 spend each calendar month under the following Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) and specific retail merchants, including for online transactions and overseas spend.

4 mpd Eligible MCC List
	Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
	MCC 5309 Duty Free Stores	King Power, KrisShop, Lotte Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free
	MCC 5311 Department Stores	Isetan, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Takashimaya, TANGS
	MCC 5611 Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Accessories Stores	Benjamin Barker, Christian Louboutin, Edit Suits, Timberland
	MCC 5621 Women’s Ready to Wear Stores	bYSI, Her Velvet Vase, In Good Company, Klarra, Mothercare, Yacht 21, Zara
	MCC 5631 Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores	Hermes, Love Bonito
	MCC 5641 Children’s and Infants’ Wear Stores	Cotton On Kids, Kiddy Palace, Kids21, Pupsik Studio
	MCC 5651 Family Clothing Stores	ASOS, Burberry, Club 21, Uniqlo
	MCC 5655 Sports Apparel and Riding Apparel Stores	Adidas, Lululemon, Nike, On Running
	MCC 5661 Shoe Stores	ALDO, Charles & Keith, Foot Locker, Cole Haan, Onitsuka Tiger, Skechers
	MCC 5691 Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores	G Star Raw, G2000, H&M, Prada, Pull & Bear, Suitsupply, Zalora
	MCC 5699 Miscellaneous Accessory and Apparel Stores	CarouPay, Chanel, Cotton On, Ferragamo, Qoo10, Reebonz
	MCC 5941 Sporting Goods Stores	Decathlon, FILA, New Balance, Outdoor Life, PUMA
	MCC 5948 Leather Goods and Luggage Stores	Bottega Veneta, Bynd Artisan, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Rimowa, Zero Halliburton

4 mpd Eligible Merchant List
Alibaba	Mustafa Centre^
AliExpress	NTUC Unity
Amazon^	Qoo10
Daigou	Shopee*
Ezbuy	TaoBao
Guardian	TikTok Shop
Lazada	Watsons

^ Except transactions that fall under MCC 5411, e.g. Amazon Fresh
* Except Shopee Pay transactions under MCC 5262

We recently updated our comprehensive review of the OCBC Rewards Card, summarising its recent nerfs and covering all its current benefits.

Our conclusion? It regrettably no longer distinguishes itself among 4 mpd credit cards in Singapore, lacking any significant selling points that other cards in this category don’t already do better, like these ones:

• Citi Rewards: 4 mpd on non-travel online spend, up to $1,000 per month
• DBS WWMC: 4 mpd on all online spend, including travel, up to $1,500 per month
• UOB Lady’s Solitaire: 4 mpd on up to two specified bonus categories, up to $2,000 per month
• UOB Lady’s: 4 mpd on one specified bonus category, up to $1,000 per month

The OCBC Rewards Card is probably now only worth considering if you’re already holding the cards listed above and you’re regularly maxing out their monthly spend limits, and can therefore use it as an overflow option for bonus miles earning.

That’s a very limited use case, which is a shame because it was once a must-have.

While this 6 mpd offer at selected merchants (apparently no longer rotating each quarter!) provides some additional benefit, we don’t believe it’s enough to elevate the card into a compelling “must-have” proposition by any means.

Despite having a range of bonus miles retail stores and MCC codes on its list, OCBC has decided to abandon its plan to offer a special 6 mpd rate at a fresh selection every three months for its Rewards cardholders.

Instead, this bonus rate is now applicable for up to S$1,000 monthly spend at Watsons pharmacy and department stores, either in Singapore or abroad, for the entire second half of the year (July – December 2024).

This is effectively an extension of the Q2 offer, except that duty-free stores have been axed from the eligible list.

It’s really a 2 mpd bonus, but still picks up the card’s regular 4 mpd rates at these outlets provided you’re still spending within the S$1,110 monthly cap for that baseline bonus earning rate.

Nonetheless if you are already hitting that level at different merchants each month, you can still get 2 mpd at Watsons and department stores on a further S$1,000 spend under this offer, which is better than you’ll get using general spend cards locally.

(Cover Photo: TANGS)