In line with International Women’s Day and to celebrate 35 years of Southeast Asia’s longest-running women-centric card, the UOB Lady’s Card in Singapore, UOB reveals data pointing to the growing economic power of women.
From 2019 to 2023, total card billings for the UOB Lady’s Debit and Credit Card in Singapore rose by about 70 per cent, while the total number of transactions conducted more than doubled within the same period.
Average active spending per Lady’s Credit Card also rose by more than 50 per cent in the last five years.
Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Group Personal Financial Services at UOB, said, “We celebrate women’s individuality and how they want to live, work and play. Our data shows that women today are becoming more financially independent, working towards their aspirational life goals like pursuing lifestyle experiences and building savings for the future.
“We leverage these useful insights to continually enhance our products and offerings for ladies. The UOB Lady’s Card and Lady’s Savings Account are a symbol of innovation and evolution. We work with a wide range of partners to curate the best rewards for our female customers, catering to their different lifestyles and life stages,” she said.
Women seeking greater lifestyle and entertainment experiences
UOB has given women the empowerment of choice for their expenses. The UOB Lady’s Credit Card’s pioneering rewards category(ies) feature was introduced in 2019, allowing cardholders to select up to two preferred rewards category(ies) to earn rewards through transactions that best resonate with their lifestyles.
Cardholders also have the flexibility to switch up their preferred rewards category(ies) every quarter.
This innovative feature empowers women to take control of their rewards, earning higher returns and entitlements for their preferences even as their lifestyles and interests evolve.
From 2019 to 2022, “dining” and “fashion” consistently emerged as the top two enrolled preferred rewards category(ies).
With the comeback of post-Covid travel, “travel” overtook “fashion” as the second highest enrolled category in 2023, after “dining”.
Based on Singapore credit card transactions, dining saw the steepest growth, increasing by about 150% from 2019 to 2023.
This was followed by entertainment-related spending, which grew by more than 90% in the last five years.
This is driven largely by its growth post-Covid, which saw a 175% and over 140% growth year on year in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Travel-related spending saw a similar spike in the last few years, growing by close to 300% and over 160% year on year from 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 respectively. Meanwhile, fashion-related spending grew by close to 30%.
Part of the growing popularity of lifestyle experiences can be attributed to the uptick in entertainment-related activities in the region, such as the ongoing Taylor Swift The Eras Tour in Singapore, alongside consumers’ burgeoning interest in this space.
New female UOB cardholders in Singapore increased by almost 10% in June last year in the week following the announcement of the global artiste’s concert. Close to 65% of Singapore customers purchasing tickets during the 5 July presale and 7 July general sale were females.
Growing affluence of women consumers
Beyond their growing purse strings, women are also gaining financial affluence. Female customers’ total assets under management with UOB have increased steadily over the years, growing by close to 35% from end-2020 to end-2023.
The growing pool of women qualifying for higher tiers of the UOB Lady’s Card also demonstrates the growth in women’s wealth and disposable income over the years.
In Singapore, the number of approved UOB Lady’s Solitaire Cards, the upgraded tier of the UOB Lady’s Card, surged by over 250% from 2019 to 2023.
New acquisitions for the Bank’s by-invite-only limited edition UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card, the first contactless World Elite Mastercard Metal Card in Southeast Asia, also more than doubled year on year.
