US singer Taylor Swift will be performing in Singapore for three nights from March 2 to March 4 in 2024. - AFP
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): 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 her show in 2024 will be for the bank’s card holders only.
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 (June 21) that the American pop star will be performing for three nights from March 2 to 4.
Some of the fans said they would head down to the bank branches to speed up the process of securing a card.
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 card holders 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 sales,” added Tan.
She said the bank, which did not provide figures, had anticipated the surge in applications and that it will take time for them to be processed.
Swift last performed in Singapore in 2015 as part of her The 1989 World Tour. The Eras Tour is to be held at the National Stadium. Prices for the tickets have not been released yet.
Pre-sale tickets start on July 5 for UOB card holders. General sales on Ticketmaster begin on July 7.
Meanwhile, fans bought over 300,000 tickets for the concerts by Coldplay, who are set to play a record-breaking six nights in Singapore at the National Stadium in January 2024.
Ticketmaster 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 will be 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 such as Carousell and Viagogo, an international ticket resale website.
A seller on Carousell is demanding $10,000 for the ultimate Music Of The Spheres World Tour experience ticket, 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.
More than 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 buy tickets often in bulk at retail prices 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 card holders are for their own use only and are strictly not for resale.
