The lie of the land thus far: it’s December 2020, a vacationless year-end where miles are as useful as JEM vouchers in late May 2021, and OCBC decides to breathe new life into
OCBC FRANK.
DBS LiveFresh is dethroned, and OCBC FRANK stands supreme with a sleek modern card design that is as useless as it is pretty, for it only gives 6% cashback when used on a smartphone. May 2021 rolls around, and UOB decides to double down on cashback cards by first releasing the
UOB Absolute, then improving their UOB YOLO card in every manner but name. The
UOB EVOL has landed and nobody knows what the name means.
Showdown
The three cards will inevitably be compared with each other given their similarities:
|
DBS LiveFresh |
OCBC FRANK |
UOB EVOL |
Winner |
| Realistic earn rate |
5% |
6% |
6.67% |
EVOL |
| Suboptimal earn rate |
3.33% |
4.17% |
3.33% |
FRANK |
| Minimum spend |
$600 |
$600 |
$600 |
Draw |
| Realistic maximum cashback |
$40 to $55 |
$50 |
$40 |
FRANK |
| Spend to hit maximum cashback |
$800 |
$833.33 |
$600 |
EVOL |
| Mobile payment |
Card and phone |
Phone only |
Phone only |
DBS |
| Online payment |
Quite extensive exclusions |
Looks alright |
Looks alright |
FRANK, maybe EVOL too |
| Tracking |
Transaction date |
Posting date |
Posting date |
DBS, mostly |
| Spend promos |
Great (in 2020) |
Fair |
Poor |
DBS/FRANK |
...
