Update: I have decided and currently am actively using these CCs:
- Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i (8% CB on online AMEX purchases)
- Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Platinum Card-i (Max 8% CB for refueling in Petronas stations)
- Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card (Max 4% CB on Shopee purchases)
- And I will probably be adding PBB Islamic Wau 4% soon as well (thanks to @sunshine1802)
Hello geng. I’ve been doing extensive research to look for a few credit cards that can give me the best savings for my typical monthly spendings (and yes, I wanna use multiple credit cards for the highest savings!). I would like to get some input from you guys to help fill in some blanks and for some feedbacks.
Here’s my typical monthly spending for products/services and the best CCs I found for them so far:
CB = Cashback
MC = Mastercard
No.
Spending
Category
Amount
CB %
CB $
Credit Card
1.
Grocery
Physical
RM 400
4%
RM 16
Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card
2.
Fuel
Physical
RM 100
8%
RM 8
Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i
3.
TNB bill
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 85
8%
RM 6.80
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
4.
Google Service
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 27
8%
RM 2.16
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
5.
Phone top up
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 30
8%
RM 2.40
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
6.
Shopee Spend
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 100
8%
RM 8
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
7.
PTPTN loan
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 124.58
8%
RM 9.97
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
8.
Water bill
Online - FPX
RM 25
n/a
n/a
n/a
9.
Insurance
Online - VISA/MC
RM 210
?
?
?
10.
Unifi
Online - VISA/MC
RM 135
?
?
?
Total RM 1236.58 RM 53.33
Total monthly spending: RM 1236.58
Total CCs: 3
Total Annual SST charges: RM 25 x 3 = RM 75
Effective savings yearly: RM 639.96 - RM 75 = RM 564.96
Effective savings monthly: RM 47.08
For Item 1 - 7, I think I have the CB % numbers right based on the extent of my research for the respective credit cards, but please feel free to poke holes. I also intend to double-confirm this with the bank(s) after I gather some input from you guys, so that I’ll be better equipped and have all the right questions to ask the bank.
My criteria for the credit cards were:
Annual fee: Whatever it may be. The question is, with the fee included, can the card(s) help me get the highest savings?
Monthly income requirement: ≤ RM 4000/mth
CB type: It has to be a simple monetary cash back, I can at least accept Shopee Coin CB since Shopee spending is pretty typical for me, hence I will fully utilize those coins.
CB Cap: Whatever it may be. After factoring in the cap, can the card(s) help me get the highest savings?
Grocery spending: The CB effect can't be for big brand stores only, as my place of residence all got no name brand pasaraya only.
Breakdown:-
Item 1: Grocery
CC: Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card
I got the 4% CB figure from the fact that you get 4x Shopee coins on contactless spending on special days (28th of every month, CNY, Raya, 9.9,11.11,12.12). Here’s how I picture it playing out. I go to any pasaraya and do a contactless spend of RM 400.00 for groceries on every 28th, and I will effectively save 4%, as 1 Shopee coin = RM 0.01.
The card has no annual fee and requires RM2,000/month income to apply.
Item 2: Fuel
CC: Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i
Pretty self explanatory. In fact, you can effectively get >8% savings if we factor in the collected Mesra points. But let’s keep it simple with the 8% for now.
No annual fee. RM 30,000 minimum annual income.
Item 3 - 7: TNB Bill, Google Service, Mobile phone top up, Shopee spend, PTPTN loan
CC: Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
All of these transactions accept AMEX, also this card technically can beat the Maybank Shopee card with the 8% CB, which sounds absurd to me. I’m not 100% sure if these CBs come with hidden caveats that were not apparent in the product brochure, please correct me if I’m wrong.
I will still need to particularly confirm with the bank if the TNB bill and PTPTN loan can get the max cash back effect or not.
No annual fee. RM 40,000 minimum annual income.
Item 8: Water bill
CC: None?
The Air Selangor web portal that I use to pay water bill only offers FPX payment feature, so I can’t use cards
I actually wondered, with the Shopee CC’s contactless payment, can I get 4% CB if I go to a post office branch and pay my utilities by swiping my cards there? I will need to confirm this with the bank, unless if you guys already know the answer for this.
I don’t really bother about the CB for this spending, as it is very low, but I think someone out there can still benefit from this info.
Item 9, 10: Insurance, Unifi
CC: ?
This is where I’m stuck right now, it got pretty overwhelming for me to find out CCs that offer the best CB for VISA/Mastercard online spending based on my scenario. I would like to ask you guys if you know of any CCs best suited for this.
I would love to hear your thoughts, and certainly open to feedbacks
- Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i (8% CB on online AMEX purchases)
- Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Platinum Card-i (Max 8% CB for refueling in Petronas stations)
- Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card (Max 4% CB on Shopee purchases)
- And I will probably be adding PBB Islamic Wau 4% soon as well (thanks to @sunshine1802)
Hello geng. I’ve been doing extensive research to look for a few credit cards that can give me the best savings for my typical monthly spendings (and yes, I wanna use multiple credit cards for the highest savings!). I would like to get some input from you guys to help fill in some blanks and for some feedbacks.
Here’s my typical monthly spending for products/services and the best CCs I found for them so far:
CB = Cashback
MC = Mastercard
No.
Spending
Category
Amount
CB %
CB $
Credit Card
1.
Grocery
Physical
RM 400
4%
RM 16
Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card
2.
Fuel
Physical
RM 100
8%
RM 8
Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i
3.
TNB bill
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 85
8%
RM 6.80
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
4.
Google Service
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 27
8%
RM 2.16
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
5.
Phone top up
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 30
8%
RM 2.40
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
6.
Shopee Spend
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 100
8%
RM 8
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
7.
PTPTN loan
Online - AMEX/VISA/MC
RM 124.58
8%
RM 9.97
Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
8.
Water bill
Online - FPX
RM 25
n/a
n/a
n/a
9.
Insurance
Online - VISA/MC
RM 210
?
?
?
10.
Unifi
Online - VISA/MC
RM 135
?
?
?
Total RM 1236.58 RM 53.33
Total monthly spending: RM 1236.58
Total CCs: 3
Total Annual SST charges: RM 25 x 3 = RM 75
Effective savings yearly: RM 639.96 - RM 75 = RM 564.96
Effective savings monthly: RM 47.08
For Item 1 - 7, I think I have the CB % numbers right based on the extent of my research for the respective credit cards, but please feel free to poke holes. I also intend to double-confirm this with the bank(s) after I gather some input from you guys, so that I’ll be better equipped and have all the right questions to ask the bank.
My criteria for the credit cards were:
Annual fee: Whatever it may be. The question is, with the fee included, can the card(s) help me get the highest savings?
Monthly income requirement: ≤ RM 4000/mth
CB type: It has to be a simple monetary cash back, I can at least accept Shopee Coin CB since Shopee spending is pretty typical for me, hence I will fully utilize those coins.
CB Cap: Whatever it may be. After factoring in the cap, can the card(s) help me get the highest savings?
Grocery spending: The CB effect can't be for big brand stores only, as my place of residence all got no name brand pasaraya only.
Breakdown:-
Item 1: Grocery
CC: Maybank Shopee Visa Platinum Credit Card
I got the 4% CB figure from the fact that you get 4x Shopee coins on contactless spending on special days (28th of every month, CNY, Raya, 9.9,11.11,12.12). Here’s how I picture it playing out. I go to any pasaraya and do a contactless spend of RM 400.00 for groceries on every 28th, and I will effectively save 4%, as 1 Shopee coin = RM 0.01.
The card has no annual fee and requires RM2,000/month income to apply.
Item 2: Fuel
CC: Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i
Pretty self explanatory. In fact, you can effectively get >8% savings if we factor in the collected Mesra points. But let’s keep it simple with the 8% for now.
No annual fee. RM 30,000 minimum annual income.
Item 3 - 7: TNB Bill, Google Service, Mobile phone top up, Shopee spend, PTPTN loan
CC: Maybank Islamic Ikhwan American Express Platinum Card-i
All of these transactions accept AMEX, also this card technically can beat the Maybank Shopee card with the 8% CB, which sounds absurd to me. I’m not 100% sure if these CBs come with hidden caveats that were not apparent in the product brochure, please correct me if I’m wrong.
I will still need to particularly confirm with the bank if the TNB bill and PTPTN loan can get the max cash back effect or not.
No annual fee. RM 40,000 minimum annual income.
Item 8: Water bill
CC: None?
The Air Selangor web portal that I use to pay water bill only offers FPX payment feature, so I can’t use cards
I actually wondered, with the Shopee CC’s contactless payment, can I get 4% CB if I go to a post office branch and pay my utilities by swiping my cards there? I will need to confirm this with the bank, unless if you guys already know the answer for this.
I don’t really bother about the CB for this spending, as it is very low, but I think someone out there can still benefit from this info.
Item 9, 10: Insurance, Unifi
CC: ?
This is where I’m stuck right now, it got pretty overwhelming for me to find out CCs that offer the best CB for VISA/Mastercard online spending based on my scenario. I would like to ask you guys if you know of any CCs best suited for this.
I would love to hear your thoughts, and certainly open to feedbacks