The UOB Visa Signature (UOB VS) has been dealt a mixed hand of changes that will reshape how cardholders need approach their spending strategy, from as early as this month. In welcome news, there’s the addition of 4 mpd on SimplyGo transactions for public transport users, but on the flip side the introduction of category sub-limits may be a painful constraint for higher spenders.
Here’s our rundown of the latest changes.
4 mpd for SimplyGo transactions
After years of exclusion, SimplyGo transactions now earn 4 mpd on the UOB Visa Signature, a change that became effective from 1st July 2025.
This brings MRT and bus rides into the card’s Petrol and Contactless category, subject to the usual S$1,000 minimum spend requirement in this category in the same statement period.
The S$5 spending block concern that has historically deterred cardholders from using UOB cards for public transport shouldn’t be an issue here.
UOB accumulates SimplyGo charges daily but calculates UNI$ based on the full month’s accumulated spend.
Since the UOB Visa Signature aggregates all eligible spend when computing bonus points, your SimplyGo spending combines with other contactless and petrol expenditure, before being rounded down to the nearest S$5.
This makes the UOB VS one of the few premium cards offering meaningful rewards on public transport – a category often neglected by miles cards.
Category caps get sliced and diced
Here’s where things get complicated. The card’s 4 mpd bonus structure is shifting from a flexible shared cap to rigid category-specific limits.
Current Structure
(until August / September 2025)
- Single shared cap: S$2,000 across both Overseas and Petrol and Contactless spending, subject to S$1,000+ spend in each category you wish to ‘activate’ that statement period.
- Flexibility: Allocate the full cap to either category as desired, or maximise both categories, provided you hit the minimum spend.
- Example 1: Spend S$2,000 overseas during an trip and earn 8,000 miles.
- Example 2: Spend S$1,000 overseas and S$1,000 on petrol and earn 8,000 miles (4,000 + 4,000)
New Structure
(from August / September 2025)
- Category 1 (Overseas): Capped at S$1,200 per statement period, subject to S$1,000+ spend in that category in the same statement period.
- Category 2 (Petrol/Contactless/SimplyGo): Capped at S$1,200 per statement period, subject to S$1,000+ spend in that category in the same statement period.
- Total possible spend: S$2,400 (up from S$2,000)
- Catch: S$2,400 spend must be split between categories, not just one
Here are a few examples to help illustrate the change.
| UOB VS Monthly Spend Scenarios | |||
| Example spend | Current Miles | New Miles | Impact |
| S$2,000 overseas | 8,000 | 5,120 | 2,880 |
| S$2,000 contactless | 8,000 | 5,120 | 2,880 |
| S$1,200 overseas + S$1,200 contactless |
8,160 | 9,600 | 1,440 |
Can you be a winner from these card changes? Yes, but only if you’re the type who naturally spends around S$1,000-S$1,200 in each category monthly – you’ll now get 4 mpd right up the S$1,200 level for each and net 9,600 miles per month at 4 mpd.
In reality though, most of our readers are high-category spenders with the UOB VS card, taking advantage of the ability to put S$2,000 into one category – very useful when on overseas trips! It’s definitely a loss in this case, since the cap has now effectively reduced by 40% to S$1,200 per statement period.
When do these changes take effect?
The timeline for this change varies depending on when your card was approved:
- SimplyGo 4 mpd: Effective immediately from 1st July 2025 for all cardholders
- New category caps:
- Cards approved on/after 1st July 2025: Immediate implementation
- Cards approved before 1st July 2025: From your September 2025 statement onwards
To determine your exact transition date, check when your statement period ends. If your statement runs from the 5th to 4th of each month, the new caps apply from today (5th August 2025). If it runs from the 28th to 27th, you get until 28th August 2025 before the change kicks in.
Currency complexity: Which category does spend fall into?
The UOB VS categorises transactions based on currency and location, which can create confusion:
| UOB VS Transaction Categories | ||
| Transaction Type | Currency | Category |
| Overseas contactless | FCY | Overseas |
| Overseas contactless | SGD | Neither (0.4 mpd) |
| Local contactless | SGD | Petrol and Contactless |
| Overseas petrol | FCY | Overseas |
| Local petrol | SGD | Petrol and Contactless |
Miles cards under pressure
These changes reflect a broader trend in the Singapore miles card market. Banks are increasingly implementing category sub-limits and reducing maximum earn rates, as we recently reported for example with the UOB Lady’s card, mirroring the evolution that cashback cards underwent a few years ago.
The era of generous, flexible spending caps appears to be ending.
The UOB VS changes will force most cardholders into more complex optimisation strategies. Rather than the simple “spend S$2,000 and earn 8,000 miles” approach, you’ll now have to balance spending across categories while monitoring multiple caps, or just live with a single category S$1,200 cap.
Summary
While UOB markets these as enhancements – adding SimplyGo to the 4 mpd list and increasing total caps – the reality is more sobering. The flexibility that made the UOB Visa Signature attractive to high spenders has been sacrificed for rigid category structures that will benefit fewer cardholders.
The 9,600 maximum monthly miles sounds impressive compared to the current 8,000 miles, but achieving this requires precise spending across both categories – a feat more difficult than under the current (or previous) single-category approach.
(Cover Photo: Public Transport Council)