Taylor Swift fans rush to get UOB cards as pre-sale concert tickets only for cardholders
Fans of Taylor Swift are scrambling to sign up for UOB credit and debit cards after her concert promoter in Singapore, AEG Presents Asia, announced that pre-sale tickets for the show in 2024 will only be for UOB cardholders.
A channel discussing how fans can secure the cards was set up on messaging platform Telegram just 30 minutes after Singapore Sports Hub announced at midnight on Wednesday that the American singer will be performing for three nights from March 2 to 4.
Some of the fans said they would head down to the bank’s branches to speed up the process of securing a card.
Ms Jacquelyn Tan, head of Group Personal Financial Services at UOB, said given the singer’s international stature, and the fact that Singapore will be the only stop for her Eras Tour in South-east Asia, interest in her upcoming concert here is understandably high.
“We do expect a corresponding surge in UOB card applications as our credit and debit cardholders in Singapore as well as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam will not only have privileged access to the pre-sale window, but also the reserved ticket allotment during the general on-sale,” added Ms Tan.
She said the bank, which did not provide figures, had anticipated the surge in applications and added that it will take time for them to be processed.
Swift last performed in Singapore in 2015, as part of her 1989 World Tour. The Eras Tour is to be held at the National Stadium.
Prices for the tickets have not been released yet.
Pre-sales tickets for the concerts start on July 5 for UOB cardholders. General sales on Ticketmaster begin on July 7.
Meanwhile, fans have bought over 300,000 tickets for the concerts by Coldplay, which is set to play a record-breaking six nights in Singapore at the National Stadium in January 2024.
Ticketmaster had sold tickets priced from $68 on June 19 for pre-sales, and June 20 for general sales.
Coldplay will release a limited number of cheaper tickets dubbed Infinity Tickets, priced at around US$20 (S$27) each, at a later date. The Infinity Tickets are sold only in pairs, and each buyer can purchase only a maximum of two tickets.
Scalpers who secured tickets have put them up for sale on e-commerce platforms like Carousell and Viagogo, an international ticket resale website.
A seller on Carousell is demanding $10,000 for the ultimate spheres experience tickets, which retailed for $1,098 on Ticketmaster.
He told The Straits Times he received three offers within 15 hours of putting the ticket up for sale, with the highest offer being $9,000. He will not sell the ticket until someone meets his asking price.
Over 600 sellers have posted ads offering tickets for the Coldplay concert at twice or more the retail cost.
In Malaysia, scalpers demanded RM43,000 (S$12,600) for tickets to Coldplay’s concerts in Kuala Lumpur. Tickets for the November 2023 show were originally sold for between RM228 and RM3,088.
Scalping activities, where people purchase tickets often in bulk at retail price only to resell them at much higher prices are not illegal in Singapore.
However, police previously warned that people may risk purchasing illegitimate tickets or not receive their tickets at all after payment has been made.
As at March 2023, music fans have lost about $170,000 in concert ticket scams.
UOB said tickets bought by its cardholders are for their own use only, and are strictly not for resale.
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