Another credit card Announcement by GenX @ http://www.GenXGenYGenZ.com
UPDATE – after I published this article, an iFriend messaged me at Facebook to inform that the AEON Watami is no longer being issued to new customers!!! WTF!!!
A few of my iFriends messaged me yesterday and today to highlight that Maybank will be downgrading their credit cards’ benefits once again Effective 15th April 2016!!!
Maybank Premier Credit Cards –
From the above table, effective 15 April 2016, we will get ZERO Treat Points relating to government transactions, e.g. Quit Rent and Assessment. PTPTN repayments may also be affected since we have to pay online via a government related website (click here to read my PTPTN article).
But what will affect me most is that I will only be earning 1 Treat Point for every Ringgit spent with my Maybank 2 Cards Premier for transactions relating to Education and Insurance. WTF! Looks like I have to switch to other cards to pay my children’s tuition fees.
Maybank Platinum and Gold Credit Cards –
For Maybank Platinum and Gold Credit Cards, as you can observe, it is worst off but generally the Maybank American Express credit cards will still earn 1X TP for transactions relating to Education (but not many school accept AMEX), Utilities, Petrol and Insurance.
CONCLUSION
Education Related Transactions
Like I mentioned above, what will hit me most is the Education Category where I will only earn 1X TP for every Ringgit Spent. What this means is I will only earn 1 Enrich Mile with every RM4.770 spent on my children’s tuition fee in Australia.
So what options do I have? Well I still have the Alliance Bank Visa Infinite and UOB Visa Infinite where both will earn me 5X Reward Points for overseas transactions.
Now if you were to go to UOB website and select UOB Visa Infinite, you will note that it is stated that we only earn 5X TP for OVERSEAS SHOPPING. So, I called UOB Customer Service to verify if my children’s Australia Tuition Fees which are paid ONLINE are entitled to 5X UNIRinggit? And the girl said YES!!!
Previously in my generationsxyz.blogspot I have shown you guys that Maybank VI overseas conversion rate is lower than Alliance Bank VI and UOB VI. I will be going to Melbourne soon and I will go use both my UOB and Alliance Bank Visa Infinites and see which of them give me lower conversion rate.
Those of you who needs to pay your child’s local tuition fee, you can consider Alliance Bank Visa Infinite and earn 2X Timeless Bonus Points. This works out to be 1 Enrich Miles for every RM3 spent on Education.
The other option is go with Hong Leong Bank Visa Infinite where you will earn 1 Enrich Miles for every RM2.80 and RM1.80 spent locally and overseas respectively.
However, for UOB Visa Infinite, you are only entitled to 1X UNIRinggit from local transactions.
Now, for overseas tuition fee, you can consider CIMB Enrich World MasterCard and CIMB Enrich World Elite MasterCard where you can earn 1 Enrich Mile with every RM1 spent overseas BUT take note that there is a yearly cap as to how many Enrich Miles you can earn per year and most likely you will need to pay the annual fees. Click here to read my review of the CIMB Enrich World MasterCard and CIMB Enrich World Elite MasterCard.
Insurance and Utilities
My insurance premiums are auto debited with my Maybank Visa Infinite. Look like I will have to switch to my Alliance Bank Visa Infinite and earn 2X Timeless Bonus Points. This means I will earn 1 Enrich Mile with every RM3 spent on my insurance premiums.
And once again, you can consider Hong Leong Bank Visa Infinite where you can earn 1 Enrich Mile for every RM2.80 spent on your insurance premiums or utility bills.
If you are not into Enrich Miles, click here to my Best Credit Cards Page and click on the AEON Watami Visa Credit Card and learn how you can earn 3% cash back from your insurance premiums.
Government Related Transactions
For Enrich Miles earned from government related transactions, I would suggest Hong Leong Bank Visa Infinite (1EM = RM2.80 spent). As for the CIMB Enrich World MasterCard, you can earn 1 EM = RM3 spent locally BUT there is a yearly cap of 50,000 Enrich Miles and you got to spent minimum RM250K to qualify for partial annual fee waiver.
Alliance Bank Visa Infinite do not reward the card holder any Timeless Bonus Points for transactions related to government or petrol.
Alternatively, click here and read my review of the Maybank KrisFlyer AMEX where you can earn 1 KrisFLyer Miles with every RM1 spent!!! And I can’t seem to find any condition relating to government transactions.
If you are not into Enrich Miles, then I would think cash back credit cards would be good for government transactions. Once again, click here to my Best Credit Cards Page and click on the AEON Watami Visa Credit Card and learn how you can earn 3% cash back.
UPDATE 18 March 2016 – OVERSEAS TUITION FEE
I have some great news. For those of us who use the Maybank Visa Infinite to pay our children’s overseas tuition fees (i.e. foreign currency), we are still entitled to 5X Treats Points for every Ringgit spent after 15 April 2016 🙂
Like I mentioned above, UOB Customer Service confirmed that I will earn 5X UNIRinggit if I use my UOB Visa Infinite-P to pay for my children’s overseas tuition fee because it is transacted in foreign currency.
Yesterday, when I first spoke to a Maybank Premier Cards Customer Service representative to ask about my children overseas tuition fees, she initially said for Education I will only earn 1X Treats Point effective 15 April 2015. I explained to her that UOB also have similar condition BUT for overseas tuition fee they will reward me with 5X UNIRinggit. So, she said she will check and call me back.
Well, the Maybank CS did call me back yesterday and explained that it depends on the MCC (Merchant Category Code) and if it is classified under Education then I may only earn 1XTP. Now, she said may and not will. So unless I know the MCC code of my children universities’ online payment portal, she can’t confirm for me.
I then requested for her further assistance – I explained to her that 3 of my children last month used their Supp Visa Infinite to pay for their tuition fees via online (3 different universities in Australia); and from Maybank’s system/records, if it was possible for her to confirm the MCCs? She said she will call me back and I told her it’s not urgent and she can take her time (you got to understand, the CS are very busy people where they have to attend non-stop to hundreds of customers’ calls daily).
Today, just after 5pm (must be after her shift), the same Maybank Customer Service representative called me and gave me the good news – all my children tuition fees are still entitled to 5X Treats Points after 15 April 2016 BECAUSE they are transacted in foreign currency (i.e. other than Ringgit).
From the above, you can see for yourself that Maybank Premier Card Services representatives are really good, courteous and patient; and if you are equally courteous to them, they will try their very best to address any of your queries. Never ever get angry/agitated with any Customer Service representative over the phone, this is because they can only tell you what is shown to them (i.e. what is shown in the computer screen or what they have been briefed by their supervisor) and if it is not in the system, then they are unable to assist you immediately. And like in all situations, never assume and always explain your predicament/situation and provide adequate info so that the other party can comprehend fully in order to assist you.
UPDATE July 2016 – I am pleased to report that I did earn 5X Treats Points when my daughter used her Supp Maybank Visa Infinite to pay for her Australia Uni tuition fee.
UPDATE 21 March 2016 – Click here to read my article titled The Best Credit Cards for Insurance Premium and Utilities and even PTPTN too. A Special Edition To Assist All Malaysians to earn Extra FREE Pocket Money to cope with the high cost of living.
Update February 2017 – for latest updates, please click here. The benefits for Maybank 2 Cards Gold & Platinum and Maybank 2 Cards Premier was revised for the better again effective 15 March 2017.
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