Nerfed: UOB Cards Excluding Amaze From 1st October 2024

Another bank has excluded Amaze transactions from earning credit card rewards: from 1st October 2024, UOB will exclude all Amaze transactions from earning UNI$, cashback, and KrisFlyer miles.

This is yet another blow to Instarem’s wallet app which finds the ground beneath it shrinking.

Amaze exclusion aside, the bank is also tightening exclusions for their higher-end Reserve and Visa Infinite Metal cards.

UOB’s Amaze exclusion affects a few use cases

For those who are unfamiliar, Amaze has been used for two main purposes – reducing foreign currency transaction fees and converting offline transactions to online ones.

UOB Lady’s and KrisFlyer UOB cards are affected by this change. Using these cards with Amaze has been useful for spending overseas while getting a lowered foreign currency fee. UOB Lady’s gives 4 miles per dollar on your selected category, but incurs about 3.25% fee. Amaze fees are comparatively lower at around 2% and awards some points that further offsets the fee.

As a side benefit for KrisFlyer UOB, Amaze transactions are also online, which allow cardholders to enjoy KrisFlyer UOB’s 3 miles per dollar earn rate on online shopping even at retail stores.

These two use cases will no longer be viable after the change kicks in from 1st October 2024 onwards. The bank is giving about a month’s notice, though given that transactions take days to post, you might want to steer clear of putting Amaze transactions on your UOB cards too close to the end of September.

Citi Rewards is one of the few use cases remaining

As perhaps one of the biggest use cases, all eyes are probably now on whether the longstanding Amaze – Citi Rewards combo will persist. Like KrisFlyer UOB, Citi Rewards awards its higher 10X points rate (4 miles per dollar or roughy 2.27% cashback) on online transactions, and Amaze lets it get this earn rate even at physical stores.

If I were a betting man, I’m going to say that this combination is not long for the world. We had a collective scare early in the year, which turned out to be a false alarm. Times are a little different now though. It’s one thing to ban something while other banks allow it, but now that many banks have already set the precedent, Citibank might indeed feel comfortable enough to move ahead with their own exclusion.

Personally, I have always thought that Citi might itself improve the Citi Rewards to officially include offline spend for its 10X points earn rate. It is perhaps less incentivised to do so now that HSBC Revolution itself has become an online-only card.

Exclusions to utilities and hospitals for UOB Reserve and UOB Visa Infinite

Beyond just Amaze exclusions, UOB is also putting utilities, hospitals and other Merchant Category Codes (MCC) into the list of exclusions for UOB Reserve and UOB Visa Infinite Metal cards. The list of new exclusions:

• 4900 – Utilities*
• 5965 – Direct Marketing–Combination Catalog and Retail
• 5993 – Cigar Stores and Stands
• 8062 – Hospitals*
• 8699 – Organizations, Membership–Not Elsewhere
• 8999 – Professional Services–Not Elsewhere Classified

The MCCs marked with * above aren’t really new exclusions and were already excluded for many other UOB credit cards. This change hence brings utilities and hospitals, commonly excluded by other cards, to UOB’s higher-end cards.

The other new exclusions seem likely to be brought to other UOB cards as well.

Stay subscribed for more updates and great deals

Nerfs are part and parcel of the credit card rewards game, and this is no exception. Remember to stay subscribed for more great deals and of course ways to navigate the ever-changing landscape of credit cards. There are at least some good news coming soon (according to a couple of little birdies, at least), so turn on notifications if you want to be informed of time-sensitive updates.

H/T: Milelion

Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

Subscribe to the channel for free updates!

Disclaimer: I may receive an affiliate/referral fee when you sign up for services/products on this site, and such fees keep the site running. I would only recommend services/products I would personally use or recommend to my own friends and family, but I do not provide any warranty or guarantee for the quality of these services/products. Thank you for supporting my site!

Please exercise due diligence when signing up for any service/product as I will not be liable for any personal loss, financial or otherwise. Content published here are my sole views and personal opinion, and none of the information here constitutes personal financial advice nor represents the views of my employer(s).