What's the Best UOB Corporate Credit Card for Your Business?

As an ASEAN-focused bank¹ with an unrivalled presence in Southeast Asia², UOB is a trustworthy business banking solution for Singapore businesses — offering numerous corporate card options for enterprises big and small. While this presents more options for companies here, navigating each UOB corporate card’s unique benefits and drawbacks and selecting the perfect credit card for your business needs can be overwhelming.

That’s why we created this comprehensive guide. It walks you through the intricacies of UOB’s corporate card offerings, analysing annual fees, rewards, features, and everything in between. We’ll also introduce you to an alternative non-bank card option, the Wise Business Card, that may be a great complementary card to whichever UOB corporate card you choose — especially if your company makes frequent international business payments.

UOB Business Cards Overview

Here’s an overview of the cards we’ll review* — there’s more detail coming up later on each.

Details correct at time of research — 8th January 2025

How does a corporate card work?

A corporate card is a type of card given to employees for business-related purchases.

Corporate cards eliminate the need for employees to use personal funds for work-related purchases (e.g., travel, entertainment, and business-to-business expenses) and then request a reimbursement. This streamlines the expense management process, reducing the administrative burden on your finance team and allowing them to focus on more strategic financial tasks.

UOB Business Debit Card

The first UOB corporate card on the list is the UOB Business Debit Card³. It has a low annual fee of SGD36.67, which is waived for the first 3 years.

Other attractive features include its generous cashback program (0.5% cash rebate on local spend and 1% cash rebate on overseas spend, with no minimum spend and no cap) and corporate liability waiver, which grants protection against unauthorised spending of up to USD1,500,000 per company.

That said, it’s still a corporate debit card.

This means employee expenses are directly deducted from your business account. While this means your company will not run the risk of incurring additional interest or fees on any unpaid outstanding balance, the downside is reduced cash flow for your business.

Another disadvantage of this UOB corporate debit card is its 3% foreign transaction fee⁴ (which applies to all UOB corporate cards covered in this article). If you or your employees frequently transact in foreign currency, these fees can eat into your revenue.

Wise Business Card: The ideal corporate card for managing global business payments

The Wise Business account, coupled with the Wise Business Card, is the perfect solution for international businesses.

That’s because the Wise Business Card has no foreign transaction fees and offers currency conversion at the mid-market exchange rate, low, transparent fees, and no hidden costs.

Takeaway: if you or your employees need to travel frequently for business, or if you have customers, suppliers, or staff overseas, the Wise Business Card can save you significant amounts of money. Another upside of this corporate card is that it has no annual fee.

>> Learn More About Wise Business >>

*Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

UOB World/Signature Business Card

If you prefer to use a corporate credit card for better cash flow and to maximise your rewards, the UOB World/Signature Business Card⁵ could be the right card for you.

Takeaway: Of all the UOB corporate cards, this one has the highest annual fee, SGD183.36. However, it offers a 0.3% cash rebate or UNI$1 for every S$5 charged on monthly purchases. Charging more than S$61,200 annually (S$5,100 monthly) on this UOB corporate credit card is enough to “cover” its annual fee.

UOB Corporate Card

The UOB Corporate Card⁶ is a good alternative for businesses with smaller spending needs. It has a relatively low annual fee of SGD97.79 (with the first year waived).

Other notable benefits of this UOB corporate credit card include its corporate liability insurance program, which grants protection against unauthorised spending of up to US$1,650,000 per company, and the UOB$ Programme, which allows you to earn up to 20% UOB$ cashback and redeem it on your next purchase at participating merchants.

UOB Business Plus Card (extended payment)

If you’re searching for a quick way to boost your business’s cash flow, an excellent UOB corporate credit card option is the UOB Business Plus Card⁷.

Its extended payment terms (up to 60 days instead of the standard 30 days) give you more time to pay off any outstanding balance, with 0% interest upon full payment. Better still, it charges a low interest rate of 1.15% per month (13.8% p.a.) compared to the usual 2.32% per month (27.8% p.a.)⁴. This card also allows your business to gain quick access to cash by drawing down from your available credit limit.

Another selling point of the UOB Business Plus Card is its relatively low annual fee of SGD97.79, which is waived for the first 2 years.

Bottom line: The UOB Business Plus Card could offer a way to achieve or maintain the healthy cash flow necessary to meet your company’s financial obligations, invest in opportunities, and handle unexpected expenses.

UOB Purchasing Card (extended payment)

The UOB Purchasing Card⁸ is a specialised procurement UOB corporate credit card that helps you gain greater insight into your procurement division's spending habits.

Noteworthy features include a corporate liability insurance waiver, which grants protection against unauthorised spending of up to US$1,650,000 per company, and the ability to set the credit or transaction limit per day or month for each card user.

Being an extended payment card, it also gives you up to 60 days instead of the typical 30 days to pay off the credit card balance.

Conclusion

UOB has many different corporate card options to support Singapore businesses of different sizes. With its strong regional focus on ASEAN, any of UOB’s corporate card programs could be a reliable choice for your business.

That said, they may not be the best choice if you or your employees travel frequently, conduct business internationally, or purchase online from foreign merchants as your business is likely to incur some unnecessary costs.

This happens because of the following reasons⁴:

• UOB converts currencies based on their prevailing exchange rate or at an exchange rate determined by VISA or Mastercard International, depending on whether the conversion is done by UOB, VISA, or Mastercard International (most, if not all banks, will charge a higher exchange rate compared to the real exchange rate)
• They add on a 3% foreign transaction fee on the amount converted

It’s also important to note that only businesses with a UOB Business Account can apply for UOB corporate cards³. You’ll need a minimum initial deposit of S$1,000⁹ to open a UOB business account. Additionally, depending on the specific business account you choose, you’ll need to meet a minimum average daily balance ranging from S$5,000⁹ to S$50,000¹⁰.

If you’d like an internationally-focused business account with no minimum initial deposit, minimum average daily balance, and maintenance fees, Wise Business could be a better alternative. With the linked Wise Business Card, you can handle international payments with low fees and transparent pricing, ensuring you can handle cross-border transactions with no hidden fees eating into your profits.

>> Get started with Wise Business here >>