The UOB PRVI Miles payment facility has been around for awhile, and it was extended indefinitely previously. This payment facility allows you to earn miles from miscellaneous payments that you would otherwise have had to use non-credit card modes of payment. To recap, banks usually exclude certain categories of payments, such as taxes and insurance, to limit the number of miles earned on such transactions. However, payment facilities such as this from UOB can help to circumvent this.
Using the UOB PRVI Miles payment facility is easy. Simply fill out a form to request for a stipulated amount to be charged to your UOB PRVI Miles card, which will be transferred to a bank account of your choice. You’ll also earn 1 mpd on the amount transferred. You’ll then make either a one-time payment in full, or opt for a 3-month instalment plan. Here’s an illustration on how it works:
What’s going to change is the one-time administrative fee that is levied for this service. Currently, the one-time payment attracts a 2% admin fee, while the 3-month instalment plan attracts a 2.2% admin fee. This means that you’re getting miles for as low as 2 cents each. However, from 15 Mar 2019, UOB will drop the instalment repayment option, and raise the admin fee for the one-time payment to 2.1%. This effectively raises the cost per mile to 2.1 cents each. Note that the 3-month instalment repayment option will no longer be available from 15 Mar 2019 as well.
While the cost to use this facility has evidently gone up, it still presents a brilliant way to rack up miles if you’re short of miles, or if you need to top up your UNI$ balance to meet the minimum block requirements for a transfer to your frequent flyer account. What differentiates the UOB PRVI Miles payment facility from other payment facilities such as Cardup and Citi PayAll is that no payee information is required. In other words, you don’t actually have to make payment to anyone, as your UOB PRVI Miles card is simply charged with the requested amount transferred to your nominated bank account, and the 2.1% admin fee is effectively the price you pay for the miles received. Also note that you can keep applying for this payment facility, subject to the credit limit on your UOB PRVI Miles card, allowing you to purchase as many miles as you like.
