Yuu Rewards App & Card (2024): Is The Enhanced Yuu Card Now Worth It?
“I want nobody, nobody but Yuu!”
By now, most of us would’ve seen the ads of “Yuu” blasted all across Singapore with the legendary Phua Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh) singing a parody of the iconic K-pop single by the Wonder Girls.
For the uninitiated, the Yuu Rewards programme lets you earn cash rebates to redeem for selected rewards when you make purchases at brands such as Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven, and more.
We’ve previously mentioned that we were presented with a “why not just have it” situation with regard to the Yuu app. But when it came to the DBS Yuu card, the number of hoops that we had to jump through to enjoy the 15% cash rebate made us feel like circus monkeys.
Thankfully, DBS has recently revamped and enhanced the Yuu card, where you can get up to 18% cash rebates!
Is it finally a worthy credit card to get?
Here’s all you need to know about the yuu app, associated cards, and rewards club!
TL;DR: Yuu App And Card — All You Need to Know
With the yuu App, you can earn cash rebates to redeem for selected rewards just by scanning “My ID” when you make purchases at brands such as Cold Storage, Giant, 7-eleven, and more.
Even if you’re not keen on signing up for yet another card, downloading the app for a base 0.5% cash rebate is better than nothing.
Jump to:
What Is The Yuu App About?
Launched on 27th October 2022, the yuu app, aka yuu rewards club, is a Temasek tech venture by minden.ai. With rising costs of living, the yuu app is another way for you to save on your spending with its simple “Scan, Earn and Redeem” system.
How do I Use yuu?
The yuu app is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App store with a relatively simple sign-up process that requires your phone number for verification. Once done, you can scan the in-app “My ID” whenever you make a purchase at participating brands to earn yuu points which you can redeem for various rewards.
In addition, you can apply and link the new DBS yuu Credit Card or PAssion POSB Debit Card to earn bonus points.
For the uninitiated, 1 yuu Point is awarded per S$1 spent, and this is equivalent to 0.5% cash rebates or more.
How Do I Use Yuu?
You can use the yuu app at these participating merchants:
| Group | Merchants |
|---|---|
| DFI Retail Group (DFI) | 7-Eleven, Cold Storage, CS Fresh, Giant, Guardian |
| BreadTalk Group (BTG) | BreadTalk, Toast Box, Food Junction*, Food Republic*, Thye Moh Chan, Butter Bean |
| Mandai Wildlife Group | Singapore Zoo, River Wonders, Night Safari, Bird Paradise |
| Singtel | SingtelShop! and Singtel Exclusive Retailers |
| Foodpanda | Foodpanda |
| Gojek | Gojek Singapore |
*At selected outlets only
Yuu Rewards
The yuu app has quite an extensive rewards catalogue that refreshes with new rewards every once in a while.
You can choose from a selection of items and vouchers from the participating merchants. More recently, the catalogue has expanded and now also includes grocery cash vouchers from Cold Storage and Giant.
On top of that, you can redeem featured rewards for much cheaper than what you would need to pay in cash. This is the most efficient way to use your points.
DBS yuu Credit Card
The DBS yuu (Visa/AMEX) Card allows cardholders to earn up to 36x yuu Points (Up to 18% cash rebate) at participating merchants, enhanced from 30x yuu Points (Up to 15% cash rebate).
Here are the benefits:
- 5% (10 points per S$1 spent) cash rebates with no minimum spending and no caps when shopping at participating merchants
- Additional 13% (26 points per S$1 spent) cash rebates with S$600 total qualified monthly spend, capped at S$78 per calendar month
- 0.5% base cash rebates with no minimum spending and no caps, at non-yuu participating merchants
They’ve done away with all the ridiculous hoops and it is now much easier to use the DBS yuu card. To enjoy the additional 13% cash rebate, all you need to do is hit the qualified minimum spending requirement of $600!
What are the exclusions then?
Well, I’m happy to announce that they are the typical credit card payment exclusions such as insurance payments, bill payments, and e-wallet top-ups. You may find the full list here.
| DBS yuu card eligibility | |
|---|---|
| Age | 21 years and above |
| Income | S$30,000 and above per annum (Singaporean) S$45,000 and above per annum (Foreigner) |
| Annual Fee | S$196.20 (Principal card) S$96.30 (each Supplementary card) |
| Annual Fee Waiver | 1 year |
| Late fee | S$100 (For outstanding balance above S$200) |
| Finance Charges | 26.80% p.a. chargeable on daily basis (subject to compounding) |
Now, the rebates are high compared to most cards out there and this has been extended till February 2024.
So if you’re keen to reap the benefits early, take a look at the card reviews before applying:
DBS yuu Visa Card
DBS yuu American Express Card
PAssion POSB Debit Card
For those of us with the PAssion POSB Debit Card, you can likewise earn yuu points at an accelerated rate, up to 18x yuu Points (Up to 9% cash rebate) at over 1,000 participating merchants.
Here are the details:
- 1.5% cash rebates at yuu merchants
- Up to an additional 1% cash rebates on selected products at yuu merchants
- Additional 2.5% cash rebate when you spend S$50 on a single receipt at DFI Retail Group and BreadTalk Group outlets
- Additional 3% cash rebates when you spend S$300 in a month at DFI Retail Group and BreadTalk Group outlets
Update: You can also earn 5% cashback when you dine out by registering for the Debit Card Dining Promo on PayLah! The promotion is valid till 30 September 2023.
Weirdly, after the recent revamp to the yuu cards, the PAssion POSB Debit card is now more of a hassle for lower cash rebates. The only upside to this debit card is the lack of annual fees, a non-issue when you can most likely waive the annual fees on the DBS yuu credit cards.
Oh, and did I mention? The PAssion membership is free!
Redeem Instant Rebates At Selected Merchants
If you’re wondering how you can redeem your yuu Points, you can simply use them to offset purchases instantly.
All you need to do is to head over to “Rewards and Cash Vouchers” in the app.
However, you will need a minimum of 200 yuu Points to pay with points (partial usage of Points not allowed).
There’s also a two-year expiry from the date of Points awarded.
Enhanced Partnership With Gojek Singapore
As of 12 Sep 2023, DBS and Yuu have partnered up with ride-hailing provider, Gojek, to offer users a chance to earn yuu Points on Gojek rides when they use a DBS yuu Card or PAssion POSB Debit Card.
Gojek users across all service types, including discounted or vouchered trips, can get rewarded with yuu Points when paying for their rides with a DBS yuu Card or PAssion POSB Debit Card.
Moreover, users can earn up to 37 Points (18.5% cash rebates) for every $1 spent on Gojek rides, while PAssion POSB Debit Cardmembers can up to 15 yuu points (7.5% cash rebates) for every $1 spent on Gojek rides.
For a limited time, users who complete their first transaction on Gojek with a DBS yuu Card or PAssion POSB Debit Card will also be eligible for an additional $18 and $8 worth of Gojek vouchers, respectively.
Should “Yuu”?
If you shop at Giant or Cold Storage for groceries, the DBS yuu Credit Card or PAssion POSB Debit Card is pretty much a no-brainer as it wouldn’t be all too difficult to hit the requirements. It even beats other grocery credit cards such as DBS Live Fresh and UOB One.
For the rest of us who don’t frequent yuu participating merchants, our stance remains the same despite the enhancements. It can be restrictive as your rewards are locked very strictly into the yuu ecosystem. Plus, the “cash rebates” come in the form of yuu points, which you can only redeem for items within the yuu app.
And where can you redeem those points? You guessed it, yuu participating merchants!
Therefore, I can’t see these cards as being competitive with other cashback or miles credit cards for general spending, especially when they require you to spend within the DFI retail group and BTG outlets.
That said, I’ll still be having the yuu app installed for the rare occasions that I shop at 7-Eleven while using my other credit cards to pay. After all, it’s better than nothing right?
