How do you decide which cashback credit card offers you the greatest value for your money when there are so many of them available on the market? Yeah, we heard you.
Which is why we took it upon ourselves to compile this ranking of the best cashback credit cards available in Malaysia. Now that you have access to this list of cashback credit cards, you may freely spend and purchase (responsibly).
What is a Credit Card?
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A credit card is a small, rectangular piece of plastic or metal that is given out by a bank or other financial institution and enables its holder to borrow money to pay for products and services at businesses that accept credit cards. Credit cards impose the requirement that cardholders repay the borrowed funds, together with any applicable interest and any other agreed-upon charges, in full by the billing date or over time.
Is a Credit Card Bad?
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Well, that depends on how you use it honestly. Paired with absolute discipline and fair financial knowledge, a credit card can actually do more good than harm. The same way that a knife can be used for both good and bad. Everything rests on how you use it.
However, your credit may suffer if you use credit cards but don’t pay them off each month.
Using credit when you don’t have the money to pay it back later has a number of drawbacks, in addition to the high interest rate, including damage to your credit, strained relationships with family and friends, and ultimately bankruptcy.
The simplest way to prevent credit card fees and interest is to wait to make purchases until you have enough money saved.
Why You Should Use a Credit Card
- Build your credit score
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When used appropriately, credit cards can help in credit building. Generally speaking, using credit is a precondition for gaining credit. Better interest rates on credit cards, higher loan approval, and vehicle loans are just a few advantages of having strong credit.
- Gives you the learning curve to manage finance responsibly
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You must weigh the benefits and drawbacks of using your credit card whenever you are considering making a purchase in order to determine its overall value. Utilising credit responsibly is a crucial financial skill that can help you manage your personal finances effectively.
- Fraud protection
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Credit card providers frequently have measures in place to assist safeguard you, your purchases, and other people from credit card fraud. Call your credit card company if you see any charges you don’t recognise. Make sure to file a lost or stolen report right away if you can’t find your card.
The card owner is not liable for any charges they didn’t approve if the card is reported lost or stolen before transactions are made. The cardholder won’t be liable for any unlawful payments if it turns out that only the credit card number was taken and not the actual credit card.
In general, credit cards provide significantly stronger protection against fraudulent use than do debit cards.
Benefits of using a Credit Card − that Actually Matters
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There are so many different kinds of credit cards available that it may be confusing, especially if you’re applying for your first one. So that you may eliminate all the gimmicky credit cards that offer no genuine benefits and ultimately end up costing you more money to hold, this is what we recommend:
- No Annual Fees
There are no advantages that make annual fee payments worthwhile (in my opinion). Filter credit cards to only show those with “Lifetime Fee Waivers” or no annual fees, as shown below:
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Despite a card’s lifetime fee waiver, tax service charges of RM25 must still be paid annually. Not too horrible, but something you ought to be informed of.
- Reward Points
More purchases made with your card will result in more points earned, which may then be exchanged for rewards. A sample of my Maybank points is provided below:
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On their website, you can look through the point redemption options for the desired credit card. There are many desirable products available for redemption in Maybank’s catalogue of redemptions, which is a solid assortment overall:
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Hey, who wouldn’t love some free stuff! Best of all, they are all practical!
- Cashback/ Cash Rebate
In our opinion, this is by far the best benefit of using a credit card. This is because you don’t actually receive anything in return when you pay with cash or debit cards, which is sort of a drawback.
Let’s say the thing you wish to purchase costs RM50. There is no other way to pay for it but with cash or a debit card. However, every time you swipe your credit card, you can get cashback on your retail and online spending. Free money, better than no money!
- Free Travel Insurance
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Now that travelling is allowed again, it’s better to have travel insurance as a backup plan. For instance, the Maybank credit card covers up to RM700,000 in travel insurance when you purchase a flight ticket with it.
It’s actually not a bad deal as it’s more money that you can save and spend it somewhere else. However, not all credit cards offer free travel insurance, so it’s your job to read the fine print.
Best Cashback Credit Card Malaysia
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We’ve discussed briefly about the benefits of owning a credit card. So here’s a list of the top 7 cashback credit cards in Malaysia, so you bag that free cash!
- Maybank 2 Gold/ Platinum American Express
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- Cashback: 5% on weekend spendings; capped at RM50/month
- Annual fee: Free for life
- Minimum income requirement: RM2,500/month
The Maybank 2 American Express and the Maybank 2 Mastercard/Visa are the two cards that make up the Maybank 2 Card set. A reward card from American Express called the Maybank 2 gives 5% off of any retail purchases made over the weekend, even online ones. Cardholders receive 5 TreatsPoints for every RM1 spent on workdays, which is equivalent to 1% in real cashback if you use an RM5 Aeon Big gift card.
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American Express cards used to be less commonly accepted than Visa and Mastercard, but this is no longer the case for Malaysian online retailers. Since the three largest e-commerce sites, Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora, all accept Amex cards, you can now take advantage of their ongoing promotions and discounts and get rewards like 5% cashback just for using this card! With minimum monthly spend of RM1,000 in purchases, the maximum RM50 cashback is reached.
Since most cashback credit cards today have a minimum total monthly spend threshold to unlock the cashback, the Maybank 2 Amex is a particularly handy credit card because it does not have one. Both the Gold and Platinum versions are annual fee free cashback cards, however if you make more than RM60,000 a year, choose the Platinum credit card because it has travel insurance benefits.
- JustOne Platinum Mastercard (Standard Chartered)
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- Cashback: 15% cashback on utilities, online shopping, and petrol; capped at RM60
- Annual fee: RM250 (free for 1st year), waived with 12 swipes/year
- Minimum income requirement: RM3,000/month
Users of Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Mastercard enjoy a solid 15% cashback on fuel, utilities, and online shopping. Additionally, there is a 0.2% cashback on all other purchases.
The maximum monthly cashback cap offered by this best cashback credit card in Malaysia is RM60 per category. Users can also take advantage of privileges and special deals, such discounted cinema tickets.
- PB Quantum Mastercard
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- Cashback: 5% cashback on online spendings; capped at RM30/month
- Annual fee: Free for life
- Minimum income requirement: RM3,000/month
The MasterCard and Visa Quantum Cards from Public Bank come separately. The Quantum MasterCard offers 5% cashback on online purchases, while the Visa offers 5% cashback for contactless transactions of at least RM30. For your convenience, the reward rates on both cards are limited at RM30 per month, which means you can receive cashback on up to RM600 in purchases.
No matter how little you spend on this card for online purchases, you will still receive cashback because there are no minimum spend limitations or tiered rates. It is also free for life and has a low minimum salary criterion, making it a wonderful card for many people to own.
- Affin Duo Visa
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- Cashback: 3% cashback on online transactions (e-wallet, auto-billing & e-commerce); capped at RM50 – RM80/month
- Annual fee: RM75 (waived when there’s 12 transactions/ year)
- Minimum income requirement: RM3,000/month
Another popular dual-card combination that seeks to provide cardholders with better value is the Affin Duo. The Affin Duo Visa has cashback features that make it one of the top cashback cards in Malaysia, whereas the Affin Duo Mastercard is a rewards points card with moderate returns.
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The high RM80 cashback threshold means you’ll receive cashback for up to RM2,667 in spending, despite the fact that it gives a relatively lesser cashback rate at 3% compared to the other cards on this list. Due to a recent change to this card, you must maintain an outstanding amount of RM3,000 in order to qualify for the 3% cashback.
- Maybank Islamic PETRONAS Ikhwan Visa Platinum Card-i
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- Cashback: 5% groceries and petrol rebates (Fridays and Saturdays); capped at RM50
- Annual fee: Free for life
- Minimum income requirement: RM2,500/month
The Maybank Islamic PETRONAS Ikhwan Visa Platinum Card-i is the greatest cashback credit card in Malaysia for car owners who want to reduce their petrol expenses.
For every ringgit spent at PETRONAS stations, it offers a cashback of 8% on Saturday and Sunday and 1% on Monday through Friday. The maximum total cashback is RM50 per month.
This greatest cashback credit card in Malaysia is based on Shariah and has no annual fee for life or conditions. The non-compounding monthly fees on this credit card allow users to save more money as well.
- PB Visa Signature Credit Card
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- Cashback: 6% cashback (grocery, dining & online spendings); capped at RM38
- Annual fee: RM388 (free for 1st year), waived with 12 swipes/year
- Minimum income requirement: RM6,667/month
Public Bank offers a rewards program that may be used by both the principal and supplemental account holders for people who don’t make the most of their credit cards but share them with other family members.
They specifically provide 6% cashback on dining, grocery, and online purchases. The combined limit for principal and supplemental accounts is RM38 per month.
Holders of the PB Visa Signature Credit Card receive 1 VIP point for every RM1 spent, which can be redeemed for goods, gift cards, and miles on flights. In addition, they receive complimentary access to any Malaysia Plaza Premium Lounge and complimentary travel insurance coverage up to RM500,000.
- UOB YOLO Visa
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- Cashback: 5% cashback (online, dining & contactless transactions); capped at RM30/month
- Annual fee: RM90 (free for 1st year), waived with 12 swipes/year
- Minimum income requirement: RM3,000/month
The UOB YOLO Visa is the only card on this list with cashback conditions, though they are simple: complete 5 transactions totaling at least RM15 to qualify for the 5% cashback. Keep in mind that numerous retail purchases made on the same day from the same vendor will only count as one purchase, and only the purchase with the highest value will qualify for cashback.
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In addition, make sure to limit your use of this card to the first few days in order to guarantee that all purchases will qualify for cashback. Those who have used YOLO cards for a while will be aware that the RM 120,000 cashback pool is typically used up within the first three to four days of the month.
As a result, this card is better suited for people who can commit to spending money at the beginning of the month because you can earn cashback on up to RM600 in purchases.
How Cashback Rebate Works with Cashback Credit Cards
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It essentially credits a small portion of your money back to your account. It is advisable to understand how this credit card functions in order to maximize cash savings.
You should first become acquainted with some of the cashback features, such as:
- Cashback rebate
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This represents the rate of savings you will receive from your cashback card and is typically expressed as a percentage value.
Therefore, if your date night supper costs RM100 and your Citi Cash Back Mastercard® offers a 10% payback rate on dining, you will save RM10.
- Maximum cashback (monthly cap)
Never presume that your cashback will increase as your spending increases.
The amount of cashback you can typically receive each month, usually referred to as the monthly cap, is limited.
Continuing with the Citi Cash Back Mastercard illustration, even if your dinner bill totals RM200 at a 10% rate, you would still earn RM10 rebate because it is the maximum you can receive each month.
- Minimum spend conditions
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Cashback credit cards also include minimum spend requirement, which might include minimum monthly spending, a specific amount of transactions each month, specific days of the week, and only at specific outlets.
A Better Way to Spend
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As you can see, getting cashback on your regular purchases is really rather simple. And maybe more crucially, the money you could save through cashback can really build up by the end of the year.
So give it a shot for yourself. We hope that everyone in Malaysia finds this guide of top cashback credit cards to be useful.
