8% Cashback, 5 Categories, 1 Card—Maybank Family & Friends Card (MoneySmart Review 2024)

The Maybank Family & Friends Card has held its position as one of the best cards in the cashback category since 2019. Its chief strength? You get to choose 5 categories (out of 10 available options) on which to earn 8% cashback—and that’s on top of 8% cashback you’ll earn on Malaysian Ringgit spending.

Then on 1 Oct 2024, Maybank made their Family & Friends Card even better. Now, you can earn 8% cashback on a even more retail merchants (including Shopee and Grabfood) and on your Indonesian Rupiah spending.

If you’re looking for a credit card to get the most out of your daily spending, the breadth and flexibility of the Maybank Family & Friends Card will let you cover the most ground. Let’s review it.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card—Is it MoneySmart?
Overall: ★★★☆☆ (3.3/5) Best for: Cashback chasers who spend at least $800 a month and regularly travel to Malaysia or Indonesia. Thanks to the range of 10 cashback categories you can choose from, you can tweak the card benefits to suit your spending habits. The catch: Be mindful of the cashback caps—$25 per category, which is equivalent to a spend amount of $312.50.
Pros—What we like			Cons—What we don’t like
– Up to 8% cashback rewards on 5 categories of your choice, including groceries, dining & food delivery, retail, and online shopping – Up to 8% cashback on all Malaysian Ringgit and Indonesian Rupiah spend – 3 years annual fee waiver – You can change your categories once every 3 months			– Minimum spend of $800 per month to unlock the 8% cashback – Cashback cap of $25 per category (equivalent to $312.50 spend), totalling a cap of $125 across all 5 categories ($1,562.50) – Cashback cap of $25 (equivalent to $312.50 spend) on Malaysian Ringgit and Indonesian Rupiah spend – Note that the 8% cashback only applies to selected MCCs in your chosen categories, so be sure to double check the codes
Maybank Family & Friends Card at a glance
Category		Our rating		The deets
Earn rates: Cashback		★★★★☆		– Up to 8% cashback rewards on 5 categories of your choice, including groceries, dining & food delivery, retail, and online shopping (cashback cap of $25 per category) – Up to 8% cashback on all Malaysian Ringgit and Indonesian Rupiah spend (cashback cap of $25) – Subject to a minimum spend of $800 per month. Otherwise, earn 0.3% cashback.
Earn categories		★★★★★
Annual fees and charges		★★★★☆		Principal card: $180 (3 year fee waiver) Supplementary card: $0
Accessibility		★★★☆☆		Minimum income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans and PRs) / $45,000 (Malaysian Citizens) / $60,000 (foreigners) Minimum age: 21 years and above
Extras/periphery rewards		★☆☆☆☆		Earn up to 26.45% at all Caltex Petrol Stations in Singapore with Diamond Sky Fuel Card
Sign-up bonus		★★☆☆☆		Gifts: – S$200 cashback or a Samsonite ENOW SPINNER 69/25 Luggage (worth S$570) from Maybank – S$30 Changi Rewards Flexi e-Voucher + S$20 iShopChangi voucher (worth S$50) (first 500) / S$20 iShopChangi voucher Spend criteria: Minimum of S$1,300 within 2 months from the card approval date. Valid till 15 Nov 2024. T&Cs apply. View the Maybank Family & Friends Card page for the latest promotions.

See our credit card ranking rubric to find out how we rank credit cards.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card terms & conditions

Before we get into the meaty bit (how the juicy 8% cashback works), let’s take a look at the fees and eligibility requirements of the Maybank Family & Friends Card.

Maybank Family & Friends Card
Annual fee & waiver	$180, waived for first 3 years
Supplementary annual fee	Free
Interest free period	20 days
Annual interest rate	27.90%, subject to a minimum charge of $3
Late payment fee	5% or $100, whichever is higher
Minimum monthly repayment	3% or $20, whichever is higher
Foreign currency transaction fee	3.25%
Cash advance transaction fee	8% or $15, whichever is higher
Overlimit fee	–
Minimum income	$30,000 (Singaporeans and PRs) / $45,000 (Malaysians) / $60,000 (Foreigners)
Card association	MasterCard
Wireless payment	MasterCard PayPass, Apple Payt, Samsung Pay, Maybank Pay

Most of these are pretty standard. There is, however, one advantage I want to point out: the annual fee is waived for the first 3 years and there is no fee for a supplementary card.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card benefits—up to 8% cash rebates

The Maybank Family & Friends Card is a solid workhorse, giving you up to 8% cashback for key spending categories like groceries, public transport, petrol and food deliveries. Receiving the 8% cashback is subject to 2 conditions:

1. You must spend a minimum of $800 per month.
2. The 8% cashback only applies to specific merchant category codes.

Here’s a quick look at how to earn the 8% cashback:

Minimum monthly spend	Cashback
$0 to $799	0.3% (unlimited)
$800 and above	8% (capped at $125 in total, $25 per category)
Spending categories (choose any 5)	What’s eligible
Dining and food delivery	Restaurant dining, Fast Food Eateries, Foodpanda and Deliveroo globally
Data communication & Online TV streaming	StarHub, Singtel, M1 Limited, Circles.Life, MyRepublic, Disney+, Netflix and/or other telecommunication, pay television, cable and radio services globally
Groceries	NTUC FairPrice/Finest/X-tra, Cold Storage, Giant, Market Place, Jasons, Sheng Siong, DON DON DONKI, HAO Mart, RedMart, Amazon Fresh and all other grocery stores and supermarkets globally
Transport	Petrol stations, EV Charging, Contactless bus and train rides, Limousines, Taxi, Grab/GOJEK rides, other passenger transportation services and automotive related services globally
Online shopping	Online purchases on Marketplace, Apparels, Shoes, Accessories, Leather goods, Luggage and other fashion purchases globally
Retail & Pets	POPULAR Bookstores, Toys ‘R’ Us, Yamaha Music, Mothercare, Kiddy Palace, pets and veterinary related services globally
Entertainment	Bars, Drinking places, Cinemas, Motion Picture Theatres, Theatrical Producers and Ticketing agencies globally
Pharmacy	Guardian, Watsons, Unity, GNC/LAC, other drug stores and pharmacies globally
Sports & Sports Apparel	Sports/Riding apparels, Sporting goods, Bicycle shops, Recreation & sporting camps, Athletic fields, Commercial sports, Professional sport club, Golf courses, Country clubs and Membership (Athletic/Recreation/Sports) globally
Beauty & Wellness	Massage parlors, Health & beauty spas and Barber shops globally
Additional Bonus Category (foreign spend)	What’s eligible
Malaysian spend	Eligible retail transactions in Malaysian Ringgit
Indonesian spend	Eligible retail transactions in Indonesian Rupiah

Source: Family & Friends Card Cashback Programme Terms and Conditions

One problem I face when looking for a new cashback credit card is finding one with cashback categories that match my spending habits. As we know, the highest cashback rates come from spending at specific merchants (e.g. foodpanda) or on specific categories (e.g. food delivery). If you can’t find a match, you’ll end up earning just 1.5 – 1.7% cashback with a no minimum spend, catch-all, unlimited cashback card.

I don’t face this matching problem with the Maybank Family & Friends Card. Running my monthly expenses through my mind, Maybank’s spending categories are comprehensive in covering almost all the monthly recurring costs and then some. You can even earn bonus cash back when you take your pet to the vet!

How much cash back you earn on the above categories depend on how much you spend in that statement month. Spending anything below $800 will only earn you a measly 0.3%. To earn 8%, the minimum spend is $800. Considering the card’s wide arching spending categories, hitting the minimum spend should be fairly easy.

It’s also worthy to note that Maybank’s spending categories extend beyond Singapore. In fact, all their categories cover globally. Although a 3.25% foreign transaction fee will be charged for paying in foreign currency, the 8% rebate does more than cover it. You’ll just earn a lower real cashback rate of 4.75%.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card—Selecting and changing your preferred cashback categories

By default, these 5 cashback categories, will be assigned to you:

1. Groceries
2. Transport
3. Dining & Food Delivery
4. Retail & Pets
5. Data Communication & Online TV Streaming

If you’re a new cardmember, you can change your selected categories once you activae your new card via the Maybank TREATS SG mobile app. Go to the Benefit Selection page under the Benefit Selection icon to do so.

Once you’ve selected your categories, the change will take effect on the first day of the next calendar month. Then, you’re locked in with those 5 for the next 3 months.

If you want to change your categories again, you can do so in the last 1 month of your current lock-in period.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card—Cashback caps

The main catch to the Maybank Family & Friends Card is that there are limits on the amount of cashback you can earn: $25 for each spend category per month, including the Malaysian and Indonesian spends.

That’s equivalent to a spend amount of $312.50 per category. So, if I spend…

• $300 on Shopee
• $200 at the vet
• $400 on concert tickets

I’ll earn 8% cashback on the full spend amounts at Shopee and the vet, but only on the first $312.50 for the concert tickets.

Conversely, don’t forget that there is also a minimum spend requirement of $800 per month. If I spend…

• $200 on Shopee
• $200 at the vet
• $200 on concert tickets

I’ll earn 0.3% cashback on all my spending because my total spending was only $600.

 

Who should sign up for the Maybank Family & Friends Card?

As its name suggests, the Maybank Family & Friends Card is great for families. If you’re the “responsible adult” who pumps the car, does the groceries and pays for the meals and bills, then you’ll get the most mileage out of this piece of plastic.

But even if you don’t have a big family, the Maybank Family & Friends Card is an excellent choice because of its breadth of categories. From groceries to dining, vet bills to show tickets, this card covers most of your bases. The most important thing to make the card worth it for you is to make sure you spend at least $800 a month on it.

However, the card does have split caps of $25 per category, which limit how much you can earn in each category. This makes it slightly more tedious for you to maximise your savings. But as they say, the good things in life don’t always come easy.

The good news is that Maybank has made it pretty seamless for customers to keep track of their spending with the Maybank TREATS SG app. It’s also where you can indicate your preferred cash back categories.

 

Maybank Family & Friends Card promotions

Currently, there is a sign-up promotion for the Maybank Family and Friends Card. Apply and spend a minimum of $1,300 within 2 months from the card approval date to receive:

• $200 cashback or a Samsonite ENOW SPINNER 69/25 Luggage (worth S$570) from Maybank
• S$30 Changi Rewards Flexi e-Voucher + S$20 iShopChangi voucher (worth S$50) (first 500) / S$20 iShopChangi voucher
  

This promotion is valid till 15 Nov 2024. T&Cs apply.

It’s not the most competitive sign-up promotion — many other cards and banks offer cash incentives, which trump this any day.

But then again, this shouldn’t really matter. If you actually want to use the card because it suits your spending habits, then the freebies are just icing on the cake.

If you’re chasing the free money some cards give you upon sign-up, then head over to the MoneySmart credit card comparison tool for the best deals.

 

Alternatives to Maybank Family & Friends Card

Here are some alternatives to the Maybank Family & Friends Card:

Citi Cash Back Card—This card offers a competitive 8% cash back on similar categories like dining, petrol and groceries. However, the cash back varies from category to category. For example, you only get a lower 6% rebate on dining. Like the Maybank Family & Friends Card, the minimum spend is $800 and the cash back is capped at $25 per category.

OCBC 365 Card—This is another one that covers similar bases. However, the cash back is only 3% to 6% for the bonus categories. The minimum spend requirement is also $800 and cash back is capped at $80 per month.

 

P.S. Here’s our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric

In case you’re wondering, here’s how we decide on our credit card rankings.

Is that credit card MoneySmart? Our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric
Category	Our rating
Overall	The average rating for the credit card on the whole, calculated from the ratings for the individual categories below. Plus, we’ll give you a one-liner on who we think the credit card is best suited for.
Earn rates: Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points	Air miles ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️ / Cashback / Rewards points . This category looks at the depth rather than breadth of earn rates. 5 stars means this card’s got the highest earn rates within that credit card type. 3-4 stars mean it’s average 1-2 stars reflect earn rates that are below average.
Earn categories	This category looks at the breadth rather than depth of your earnings. 5 stars: Earn with ANY spend. 3-4 stars: Earn on a large number of categories (e.g. all dining, transport and retail, but not telco bills) OR earn on 1 very broad category (e.g. all contactless/mobile payments). 1-2 stars: Earn a decent rate only on selected categories, such as fast food only.
Annual fees and charges	5 stars: $0  4 stars: $1-200 3 stars: $201-500 2 stars: $501-$999 1 star: $1,000 and up We dock a star if fee waiver is NOT allowed.
Accessibility	Minimum income requirements: 5 stars: Less than $30,000 a year 4 stars: Around $30,000 a year for Singaporeans and $40,000-$45,000 for non-Singaporeans 3 stars: $30,000-$60,000 a year for Singaporeans, $40,000-$70,000 for non-Singaporeans 2 stars: $60,000-$120,000 a year for Singaporeans, $70,000-$120,000 for non-Singaporeans 1 star: $120,000 and up for either, or both Exclusivity: We dock 1-2 stars if there is/are another category/categories that make the card exclusive and very specific to a certain clientele.
Extras/periphery rewards	These include: Travel benefits, such as airport lounge access Lifestyle benefits, such as spa privileges Dining benefits, such as complimentary AMEX Love Dining or Entertainer with HSBC subscriptions We count the number of benefits and award between 0.5 to 2 stars for each, depending on how good the perk is.
Sign-up bonus	5 stars: The gift(s), cash, or miles are the highest we see out there compared to other credit cards of the same type (miles, cashback, etc). Also easy to attain these welcome bonuses. 3-4 stars: Average but not disappointing sign-up bonus compared to other credit cards. You aren’t losing out. 1-2 stars: You are probably losing out in terms of the welcome bonus you’re getting; there are other similar credit cards with sign-up bonuses that are better or easier to attain.

Check out our ultimate list of credit card reviews for the low-down on credit cards in Singapore.

 

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