UOB Visa Signature Review (2026)
With an earn rate of 4 miles per dollar, UOB Visa Signature has been a long-time pick for those who want to collect miles. Recent changes, however, have made it a considerably weaker card than it used to be.
Is UOB Visa Signature still worth using in 2026? Let’s take a look.
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Earn Rate | 4 miles per dollar on overseas transactions 4 miles per dollar on petrol spend and/or contactless transactions 0.4 miles per dollar on other non-excluded spend |
| Min. Spend | S$1,000 per category |
| Spend Cap | S$1,200 per category (4,800 miles) |
| Tracking | Posting date Statement month |
| Apply | Tap Here |
Just 2 categories that cover a lot of use cases
To earn 4 miles per dollar, you must use UOB Visa Signature on 2 categories:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Category 1 | Overseas Transactions (including online) |
| Category 2 | Petrol Spend and/or Contactless Transactions |
These 2 categories cover many types of spend, especially since Category 2 covers contactless payments which are accepted nearly any retail store that accepts credit card payments.
Category 1, as name suggests, requires your transactions to be in foreign currency.
What counts under Petrol Spend and/or Contactless Transactions?
For the Contactless Transaction category, you can either add the card to your smartphone wallet and pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay, or tap your physical card at a contactless terminal. If you are using the physical card, make sure you do not swipe nor insert the card into the payment terminal. Refer to this article for more info on contactless payments.
Bus and train fares paid via SimplyGo are also counted under this category, earning 4 miles per dollar.
For petrol spend, the card’s 4 miles per dollar earn rate will apply for Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 5541 and 5542. SPC and Shell are excluded.
What counts under Overseas Transactions?
For Overseas Transactions, you need to spend overseas or online in foreign currencies. This means that if you are paying at an overseas retail shop, make sure that the currency selected is local (i.e. currency of the place you are visiting) instead of SGD for it to be counted under this category.
UOB also requires that the payment be processed outside of Singapore. If you are holidaying at a foreign country and making spend at retail stores there, this is not much of a concern. If you are making payments online, however, there is a chance that your transaction may be processed in Singapore even if it is a foreign currency transaction. This seems to affect online travel portals more, so be wary about this.
What if I spend using contactless overseas?
To be perfectly clear, the Contactless Transactions category is for transactions performed in SGD.
When you spend in a foreign currency, even if you are paying with contactless payment or for petrol, the spend will count towards your Overseas Transactions category instead.
Category spend caps and minimum spend
Each category requires a minimum spend of S$1,000 for the card’s 4 miles per dollar earn rate and will max out at S$1,200.
| Category | Minimum Spend | Spend Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Overseas Transactions | S$1,000 | S$1,200 |
| Contactless Transactions | S$1,000 | S$1,200 |
If the minimum spend is not met, only 0.4 miles per dollar is earned. Spend in excess of S$1,200 within a category will also earn only 0.4 miles per dollar.
Also, the minimum spend for both categories are separate. This means that even if you have spent S$1,000 for say the Contactless Transaction category, you will still need to hit S$1,000 in the Overseas Transactions category if you want to earn 4 miles per dollar on your overseas transactions.
Tracking one’s spend on UOB Visa Signature is made quite easy if you add it to HeyMax. The app tracks your spend in real time and even helpfully calculates your minimum spend and spend cap for each category.
How are points awarded?
UOB Visa Signature awards UNI$10 per S$5 spent. Since every UNI$ can be redeemed for 2 miles, this works out to 20 miles per S$5 spent, which in turns translates into 4 miles per dollar.
| When? | Points |
|---|---|
| When transaction is posted | Base UNI$1 per S$5 spent (0.4 miles per dollar) Per transaction basis |
| When statement is generated | Bonus UNI$9 per S$5 spent (3.6 miles per dollar) On accumulated spend within statement month |
Before you hesitate to use this for transactions below S$5, however, you should know that this card is a lot less affected by UOB’s S$5 spending blocks as explained in this article. The gist of it is that the rounding takes place once on your accumulated spend within the statement month, so UOB Visa Signature is not as affected by how UOB awards points for its cards.
UOB points aren’t very versatile
As a UOB card, UOB Visa Signature earns UNI$ which can only go to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles.
Even if you have your sights set only on Singapore Airlines flights, it’s possible to do things like book such flights through EVA Air’s programme, and that is if you have points that can be transferred to EVA Air.
Nonetheless, having KrisFlyer miles is the only way you can book Spontaneous Escapes flights, so I personally don’t mind earning UOB points for such a purpose.
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The good
- Easy to use: get 4 miles per dollar practically anywhere you can make contactless payments, including SimplyGo
- Easy 4 miles per dollar for overseas transactions (both offline and online spend)
- Relatively high S$1,200 spend cap per category
- Points pool with other UOB miles cards
- Works with HeyMax for spend tracking
The bad
- Relatively high S$1,000 minimum spend per category
- Online spend is only limited to foreign currency
- Foreign currency transactions require payment gateway to be outside Singapore
- Limited airline choice
The Verdict
For those who are able to spend at least S$1,000 a month on contactless payment, UOB Visa Signature is a very easy card to use. An older sibling of UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, people will pick either card based on their spend amount (and other differences), or even use both to get as much S$1,800 of contactless spending for 4 miles per dollar.
UNI$’s limited airline choice remains a weak spot for UOB’s entire lineup of miles cards, but I don’t think it is a dealbreaker. One would certainly be able to find use for KrisFlyer miles being based in Singapore.
With its ease of use and relatively high spend cap, UOB Visa Signature is a solid choice for those who can hit at least S$1,000 of spend per month in stores, even if they do it only every now and then.
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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.
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