Best Maybank Credit Cards in Singapore – Credit Card Reviews 2020

Boycott Malaysia all you like, but the fact remains that Malaysian banks like Maybank and CIMB are known for offering good deals when it comes to credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services.

With some significant updates to the minimum spend criteria for the Maybank Family & Friends Card, it’s time to relook the Maybank credit cards on offer in Singapore right now.

 

Best Maybank credit cards in Singapore 2020

Maybank credit card	Key benefits
Maybank Family & Friends Card	8% or 5% cashback on groceries, transport, family-oriented merchants
Maybank Platinum Visa Card	3.33% quarterly flat rebate with min. spend $300 or $1,000
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature	$1 = 3.2 miles on dining, petrol, taxis, Agoda
Maybank World Mastercard	Golf privileges, $1 = 4 miles on petrol, selected dining & shopping
Maybank FC Barcelona	1.6% unlimited cashback
Maybank DUO Platinum Mastercard	13% or 5% cashback on petrol in Singapore & Malaysia

 

Maybank Family & Friends – everyday cashback for families

True to its name, the Maybank Family & Friends Card is one of the best cashback cards for families, covering many of the average Singaporean breadwinner’s key expenses.

This Maybank credit card is one of the most generous grocery credit cards in Singapore – you get a whopping 8% rebate at NTUC FairPrice and Cold Storage, plus Malaysia hypermarkets like Tesco. Great news if your teenagers’ insatiable appetites consume a large chunk of your monthly expenses.

Another key area where you can earn 8% rebates is on petrol in Singapore and Malaysia, or local bus/MRT/taxi rides if you don’t drive. You also get 8% cashback at Popular, Yamaha, Toys ‘R’ Us and fast food delivery.

The 8% rebate is subject to your meeting the $800 minimum spend (lowered from 1 Sep 2019) which shouldn’t be an issue if you’re raising a growing family in Singapore… But even if you don’t, you still get 5% rebate on these categories so long as you manage to spend $500.

Mind the cashback cap with this one – you don’t earn cashback beyond $80 a month.

Key features:

• Earn 8% cash rebates on groceries, dining, transport and petrol, learning & retail and data communication & online TV- streaming if you meet minimum spending requirement of $800
• Earn 5% instead on the same categories if you spend at least $500
• Groceries include NTUC Fairprice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, RedMart, Honestbee, Market Place and Jasons  in Singapore as well as Aeon, Giant, Tesco and Pacific Hypermart in JB.
• Transport includes petrol in Singapore and Malaysia, and MRT, bus and taxi rides
• Learning & retail, Popular, Yamaha and Toys ‘R’ Us
• Data communication & online TV streaming include Starhub, Singtel, M1 Limited, Circles.Life, MyRepublic and Netflix
• Cashback is capped at $80 a month

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $30,000
• Annual fee: $180 (waived for 3 years)
• Fee waiver if you spend a minimum of $12,000 in a year

 

Maybank Platinum Visa Card – flat rebate for consistent spenders

One of the “clones” of the ever-popular UOB One Card, the Maybank Platinum Visa Card is one of those credit cards that give you a flat payout at the end of the quarter as long as you spend consistently in all 3 months.

Though the mechanics of it sound complicated, this system is actually great if you’re a consistent spender, but are not detail-oriented enough to micromanage your different expenditure types.

It’s also one of the few cashback cards for low spenders as you can still get the rebate even if you spend only $300 a month. (Most cashback cards have a minimum spend of $500 and above.)

But since the cashback per quarter is fixed at either $30 or $100, you should stop using the card soon after you hit the minimum spending requirement of $300 or $1,000 each month.

Think about which one you can comfortably meet every month, because failing to meet the spending requirements in one single month will jeopardise your chance to earn cashback for the entire quarter.

Key features:

• Spend $1,000 locally every month in a quarter to get $100 rebate at the end (equivalent to maximum 3.33%)
• Or spend $300 locally every month in a quarter to get $30 rebate (equivalent to maximum 3.33%)

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $30,000 a year
• Quarterly fee: $20 (waived for 3 years)
• Subsequently, fee is waived when card is charged once every 3 months

 

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card – miles card for the average Joe

The Maybank Horizon is a strange one. Think of it as an air miles card for aspiring frequent flyers. Keyword being “aspiring”. (Which, TBH, is most of us working adults in Singapore.)

Unlike the typical air miles credit card, which is optimised for people who travel a lot, this Maybank credit card lets you collect miles while still being shackled to your desk and woefully limited by your measly annual leave days.

It gives you a really good 3.2 miles per $1 spent locally on dining, petrol and taxis, which are key spending categories for career-focused PMEBs in this income bracket (earning $50,000 a year). That same earn rate applies on selected Agoda hotel bookings.

However, when it comes to actual travel expenses – like flight bookings and overseas spending – you don’t get much bang for your buck here, just 2 miles per dollar.

Key features:

• $1 = 3.2 miles (8X TREATS points) on dining, petrol, taxi fare and Agoda hotel bookings
• $1 = 2 miles (5X TREATS points) on air tickets, travel packages and foreign currency transactions
• Complimentary access to Ambassador Transit Lounge and Plaza Premium Lounge at Changi, KL International and HK International Airports (min. spend $1,000 in a single retail transaction within 3 months prior)
• Complimentary travel insurance of up to $1m when full travel fare is charged to card

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $30,000
• Annual fee: $180 (waived for 3 years)

 

Maybank World Mastercard – golf privileges & taitai rewards

The main advantage of this card is the complimentary green fees at golf clubs in Singapore and overseas when you spend at least $1,000 in the previous month.

Other perks include the petrol savings, and the fact that you get a generous 4 miles per dollar when you spend at selected taitai establishments. These include Crystal Jade, Imperial Treasure, Paradise Group and Les Amis Group restaurants, and boutiques like Club 21 and DFS T Galleria.

As you can see, you’ve got to be a golfer and a pretty high spender to really benefit from this card’s perks. The $80,000 minimum annual income shuts out the rest of us plebs.

Key features:

• Complimentary green fees at 4 golf clubs in Singapore and 92 golf clubs overseas when you spend at least $1,000 in the previous month
• Earn 10X TREATS Points (or 4 air miles) when you spend at the above retail and dining establishments, as well as all petrol stations worldwide
• 19.1% savings on petrol
• Complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounge in 14 airports in Asia and Australia (must charge at least $1,000 in a single retail transaction within 3 months prior to get lounge access)

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $80,000
• Annual fee: $240 (waived for first year)

 

Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature – unlimited 1.6% cashback

You might be tempted to give this one a miss if you’re not into football or if FC Barcelona isn’t your preferred team.

But despite the somewhat odd branding of this Maybank credit card, it is a solid unlimited cashback credit card due to the decent 1.6% cashback rate you get on all local spending, with no cashback cap at all. This is ideal for one-time big expenses like a complete revamp of your home theatre, or (groan) wedding banquet.

At 1.6%, it’s just a tiny bit better than the other unlimited cashback credit cards on the market, which typically offer 1.5%. The drawback is that you don’t earn rebates on overseas spending, only points.

Key features:

• Earn 1.6% unlimited cash rebates on all local spending
• Earn 2X TREATS Points for every $1 spent in foreign currency
• No minimum spending requirements
• No cashback cap

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $30,000
• Annual fee: $120 (waived when you spend at least $10,000 per year)

 

Maybank DUO Platinum Mastercard – petrol card for Malaysia

Here’s a Maybank credit card card that you can use at any petrol station not just in Singapore, but also in Malaysia, making it ideal if you often nip across the Causeway. You get 5% cash rebate on petrol bills in Singapore and Malaysia.

Apart from the petrol rebate, though, it doesn’t really do much else. If you normally pump petrol in Singapore, you can probably find a better petrol credit card for local use.

Key features:

• Get 5% cash rebate on petrol in Singapore and Malaysia
• 1.5% unlimited cash rebate on all foreign currency spending
• 1 TREATS point per $1 on other spending

Essential info:

• Minimum income: $30,000 a year
• Annual fee $120 (waived for 3 years)

 

Maybank credit card promotions

If you’re eyeing any card mentioned above, applying soon with the latest promotion can net you a free American Tourister Linex 66/24 TSA Luggage (worth S$260) when you apply for a new Credit Card and CreditAble. There’s also a minimum spend criteria of $300 per month for the first 2 months.

Head on to MoneySmart to compare and apply Maybank credit cards.

Do you use Maybank credit cards? Share your recommendations in the comments!