How to get your annual fee waived
Most Singapore cards waive the first year. After that, many banks will waive the fee if you ask, and some do it automatically when you spend enough.
By bank
- DBS and POSB: Request through the DBS digibot (24/7) or Phone Banking at 1800 111 1111. The result comes by email or SMS within 3 working days. Bonus points credited with the fee are reversed if it is waived.
- OCBC: In the OCBC app: More → Card Services → Request fee waiver. On desktop: Customer service → Credit card fee waiver. Some OCBC cards waive automatically with S$10,000 annual spend.
- UOB: Self-service only (UOB stopped taking requests by phone from 1 Feb 2025). Decisions are final. Some UOB cards redeem the waiver with UNI$ automatically.
What you might give up
Several miles cards credit bonus miles when you pay the fee (for example, 10,000 miles on DBS Altitude, Citi PremierMiles and Standard Chartered Journey). If you ask for a waiver, those miles are taken back. At 1.5¢ a mile, 10,000 miles is worth about S$150, so paying a S$196 fee can make sense.