INTRODUCTION

If you are new to my blog and have no idea on how to optimize your credit cards, then maybe you have come to the right place.

Why it is that I mentioned “maybe” in the above paragraph? The answer is that if you have not been settling/paying in full your credit card Statement Balance monthly, i.e. you are paying interest to the bank(s) because you cannot afford to settle your Outstanding Balance(s) Due monthly, then I suggest you stop reading any articles on how credit cards can benefit you AND INSTEAD concentrate on how to settle your debt asap; and you can start off by putting your credit cards in your drawer and remove them from apps so that you stop accumulating more debts!

In respect to the above, if you think you are very smart by performing Balance Transfer, regardless if you are imposed 0% or 10% interest, AND then use your credit cards for new transactions, you are just basically going deeper into debt and you can also stop wasting your time reading my articles.

Also if you are performing 0% Installment Plans it means most probably you are broke!

Even if you say you have money (well if you have an outstanding loan including your housing loan, you better go calculate your net worth and if you are in the positive territory then you can claim you have money to burn else you are in debt – and if you don’t understand this statement you better go educate yourself on net worth!) but you are performing Balance Transfer or 0% Installment Plans for amount up to RM10K, you must understand that both are debt instruments! Both the Balance Transfer and 0% Installment Programs are traps laid out by the banks to give you the impression that you have more money than you really have (the money in your savings account will be needed to repay the debt) and thus you will spend more on unnecessary stuff.

Seriously, RM10K at 4% interest rate you can earn RM400 per year. Go do Grab and you can earn RM200 or more per day! The other day I spoke to a part-time Grab Driver who works on his off day and he told me he can earn RM400 per day (which is high as most will tell me between RM200 to RM300 per day).

On the other hand, if you have too much money to burn (your net worth is positive) and buying a RM200K Rolex watch with 12 months 0% Installment Plans then maybe you can say that you can earn RM5K in interest from the money that is suppose to repay the RM200K watch (i.e. park the money in Promo FD as you repay the 0% interest debt). Well if this is the case, after a year remember to buy me a good lunch.

In respect to the above, many merchants can even offer you discount if you pay in full as the merchant will need to pay a “fee” for the 0% Installment Plan. Example, next time you are at Harvey Norman, ask them if you can get a discount if you pay in full with your credit card instead of 0% Installment Plan. The savings you get from paying in full with a merchant can be much more than you can earn from your credit card with 0% installment plans. Points is – only people who are broke are willing to go further deeper down the shit hole of debt (read below you must have principles and one of them is not to be in debt).

I have repeated over and over again that – (1) Goal of life is to be Debt Free (this not only applies to money but also returning favors due to others and etc), (2) never break your principle once because once you break it you no longer have any principles and in this case the start of you spiraling down to the shit hole of debt and (2) once you enter into the spiraling bottomless shit hole of debt it is very hard (but not impossible) to get out and you may be stuck being a slave to the bank(s) until the day you die!

Some of you may not like the above contents and will never visit my blog again, which should be the case as my articles will never benefit you. However a few, not many, will understand the above paragraphs and if they are in debt they will take actions to rectify their situation so that you have a better debt free and stress free life in the future.

Next – Cons of Debit Cards

So if you have no debts except for your housing and vehicle loans, then you have come to the right place.

Many of you have been conditioned that credit cards are bad…… this is generally true as it was designed to make you spend more than your means and end up being a slave to the bank where you need to work to repay the debt and do not benefit! But credit cards can also be very beneficial if you know how to utilize it to earn FREE Money and FREE Air Miles which I will cover later on.

So if you are not into Credit Cards, you may be using your Bank issued Debit Card which is linked to your Current Account or Savings Account (CASA)…… which is a very very bad move!

Nowadays, in additional to Online Payments, we use eWallets and QR Codes for payments and many people use their Debit Card as a method of payment. In terms of convenience these said payments with a Debit Card is really good. HOWEVER, if there is a dispute or your Debit Card was used fraudulently, the money would have been deducted immediately from your CASA!

So first thing you must do is to ensure that your Debit Card cannot be used for payments! Most probably you can go to your Online Banking or Bank Mobile App and set your Debit Card for ATM withdrawals only (for emergencies). If you cannot or do not know how to unlink your Debit Card for payment, go to the bank and do it! Worst come to worst change your bank and get a Debit Card which also allows you to withdraw from ATMs only.

So now that you have unlink your Debit Card for payments where no one can touch your hard earn money online, you should get a PrePaid Card.

Benefits of Pre-Paid Cards

What are Pre-Paid Cards? These are cards where you can “top up” any amount so that you have full control on the damage (i.e. your card was used fraudulently, which is very very common).

Examples for Pre-Paid Card are Big Pay Visa Card and TnG eWallet Visa Card where you can top up for FREE with Duit Now. Like I mentioned, Prepaid cards allow you to control the damage which is the most important thing. Therefore you top up specific amount to it and use it online or even tap here and there (many overseas countries use Wave Features for their public transport and toilets!).

Once a person ask me if WISE card is any good? My answer was another question – how often you go overseas (or maybe transfer money which you can just TT)? IF you spend less than RM10K overseas a year, how much you can save? Just use your Pre-Paid Card lah for transportation/toilets (tap here and there small amount) and major purchases (above RM100 with your credit card to earn air miles.

I am not saying WISE is not good but it depends on your spending patterns and your needs (playing air miles or want to save a few Ringgit that does not make any difference to your life).

Pros and Cons of Credit Cards

As I mentioned earlier, the major con of credit cards is that you may most likely spend beyond your means. This is where self discipline comes into play and no one can help you if you are stupid…. yes only you stupidly enter into the shit hole of debt as no one put a gun to your head and ask you to swipe your card right? It is never too late to learn from any experience (may it be debts or whatever) and improve your life immediately by creating another path to your destiny instead of being stuck in debt, For example but by no means the only method – be a Grab Driver OR better still go educate yourself on investment where there are only 2 rules – (1) never lose money and (2) do not be greedy else you will be punished by the universe (ask yourself why are people being scammed?).

Another con of credit card which applies to debit card too is that syndicates may clone your card and used it for unauthorized transactions. You will be surprised that many overseas online transactions are approved immediately without any verification needed!!!

In respect to the above, high credit card Credit Limit is a liability! So ensure your Credit Limit suits your expenses. For example, you only use your CASH BACK credit card max RM1K or RM2K per month, why the heck you need Credit Limit of RM20K?

On the other hand, your Credit Limit is RM50K and you want to transact a one off RM70K purchase, you can always just call Customer Service to ask for Temporary Increase in Credit Limit for 2 months where you would have settled the Outstanding Balance by then.

If you have no money in the bank but have Credit Limit of RM100K, you are just asking for problems, especially if your credit card was stolen (very common in Europe) or cloned or used online (as many of you are aware our credit cards info was stolen and sold in the Dark Web and criminals used our credit card account to make unauthorized transactions). Some keh khiang ah beng or ah liang will say that he/she needs the HIGH Credit Limit to pay for hospital admission/bills at Private Hospital….. well if you have money to pay then it is okay but if you do not have the money in the bank, my advice is go to Government Hospital instead of being stressed in the future with financial issues.

Having said the above, I must also warn you, once you reduce your Credit Limit, it may be tough to increase it again if you have no income (e.g. retired or no monthly income for whatever reason or you have no EPF as you are self-employed). Example, many years ago I have a CL of 6 figures from a specific bank but I hardly use their credit card so I reduced it to RM18K but then the bank launched a new Credit Card with fantastic features but I could not increase the credit card CL because they needed proof of income! Therefore I am stuck with RM18K CL with this said bank, haha.

Above are 2 major cons of having a credit cards.

The Pros of having credit cards (not one but many depending on your spending pattern), on condition you are discipline where you do not spend beyond your means and settle in full the Statement Balance prior to Due Date – is that you can (1) earn FREE Money or (2) FREE Air Miles or (3) BOTH (which may allow you to optimize).

Credit Cards Tutorial

IF you are new to Credit Cards, I strongly recommend that you click here and read my Credit Card Tutorial 101 so that you know the basics. If you are lazy to educate yourself you have only yourself to be blamed for being less intelligent compared to those who took the tutorial, hahahaha.

Some of the contents in the above tutorial may be outdated BUT the basics are still the same. For example, I mentioned that you should set SMS Alert for transactions above RM1 – guess what? Banks still can send you SMS for any transactions eventho you get notification via your Mobile App. Why is this said SMS important? Because if you do not have data the SMS will still come wherever you are on earth (if you have roaming).

The most important thing of owning a Credit Card is that you must never cancel a FREE FOR LIFE credit card! Always hold a FREE FOR LIFE Credit Card with a specific bank because you never know they may launch a new credit card with fantastic features and because you are an existing cardholder with the same issuer/bank, you may be issued the new credit card despite you not having any income as the new credit card COMBINED Credit Limit is shared with your existing card and therefore no extra liability to the bank or you!

Best Top Credit Cards in Malaysia 2025

Basically, credit cards fans or maybe I should say fanatics like me who has a fetish of owning the right credit cards can be categorized as follow:

• Cash Back Fans – transactions less than RM3K per month with Credit Cards;
• Air Miles Fans – transactions more than RM5K per month with credit cards;
• Optimization Fans which uses both Cash Back and Air Miles Credit Cards

In respect to the above, say you are spending RM5K per month with AMEX, you can then earn up to 30K KrisFlyer Miles per year. Within 2 years you can fly Biz Class to Japan or Australia – one way lah of course. On the 3rd year you can even experience First Class!

On the other hand if you spend RM2K per month with AMEX, you can also earn RM2,400 in 2 years time where you can fly Premium Flat Bed to Australia, haha. No kidding, click here to read my article titled se Your Air Miles For First Class Because You Can Afford To Experience Business Class Flat Bed where I paid less than RM2.4K for a Premium Flat Bed KL to Melbourne!

And below was my report of the AirAsia Premium Flat Bed KL to Melbourne that cost me less than RM2.4K, the seat looks nice right but since AirAsia is a Budget Airline don’t lah expect the overall experience to be as good as Singapore Airlines or Malaysia Airlines Biz Class but as far as taking photos are concerned, the AA Premium Flat Bed seat looks just like any Biz Class, hahaha.

Most people either fall into Cash Back or Air Miles but My Air Miles Disciples are taught to OPTIMIZE and therefore we play both Cash Back and Air Miles credit cards.

In respect to the above paragraph, so if you do some homework yourself, you will also get to optimize and I will show you some on the credit cards you can consider in the next Episode to be published soon titled …. The Best Top Credit Cards In Malaysia Review 2025.

Once again, if you have yet to read my Credit Card Tutorial 101, you should so that you do not fall into the shit hole of debt and how to optimize with credit cards.