KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — We’re all used to cashback credit cards for petrol, groceries, dining, and the like. But as more and more Malaysians transition to doing their shopping online, it makes sense for credit cards to come with cashback benefits for online shopping and transactions — which is something we consumers should be taking advantage of.
Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum MasterCard
Cashback: Up to 15 per cent cashback for petrol, online, and auto-bill transactions; capped up to RM85
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000/year (RM3,000/month)
Annual fee: RM250 (first year free), waived with RM20,000 annual spend
The Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum MasterCard offers cashback on three categories: petrol, online purchases, and auto-bill payments. It is a tiered cashback card that gives you a different cashback rate and cap according to how much you spend per month, with the highest rate going up to 15 per cent of cashback.
As you can see, the rate and monthly cap get more rewarding as you spend more. However, if you use this card to pay for your bills on a regular basis (presumably to unlock the higher monthly spend cashback tiers), chances are you’ll be hitting the cashback cap even without taking your online shopping into consideration. Note also that while any expenditure outside of the three categories do not offer cashback, they do contribute to the minimum spend amount.
UOB YOLO Visa
ashback: 5 per cent or 8 per cent cashback for online transactions and dining; capped at RM50
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000/year (RM3,000/month)
Annual fee: RM90 (first year free), waived with 12 swipes per year
The UOB YOLO Visa offers cashback for online transactions and dining. The cashback tiers for this card are quite straightforward: you get 5 per cent cashback if you make 8–15 total number of transactions in a calendar month, and a more rewarding 8 per cent cashback if you make more than 15 transactions. Cashback is capped at RM50 a month for both online and dining transactions, so if you spend a lot on these two areas, you may just be getting a sizeable amount of cashback returns.
If that sounds like a lot of transactions just to get cashback, here's a great tip: many users regularly split their payments for things like bills into smaller sums to unlock the 8 per cent tier. However, one caveat that you must know is that UOB caps its total cashback payout for each month to RM120,000 on a first-come, first-served basis. Cardholders are not informed when this maximum payout limit is reached, so you would have to commit to making all your transactions at the beginning of the month to increase your chances of getting your cashback.
RHB Visa Signature
Cashback: Up to 6 per cent cashback for online, entertainment, and shopping; each capped at RM30
Minimum income requirement: RM80,000/year (RM6,667/month)
Annual fee: Free for life
Like the JustOne Platinum, the RHB Visa Signature cashback benefits are also tiered based on your minimum monthly spend. The categories eligible for cashback under the RHB Visa Signature are shopping (clothing, departmental store, watch and jewellery), entertainment, and online. Each category is capped at RM30 of cashback, so you won’t have to share your online cashback quota with other categories of expenditure.
The RHB Visa Signature’s minimum spend requirements are a bit on the high side, which means this card isn't designed for the masses. Still, frequent travellers may find that this card’s travel perks make up for its big spending requirements. The RHB Visa Signature offers separate tiered cashback rewards for overseas spend of up to 2 per cent capped at RM100 in addition to the cashback for local expenditure. It also gives you 5x complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounges in Malaysia. All things considered, this is one of the few credit cards which offer cashback and lounge access, and being free for life — those who can make full use of this card will find it very rewarding indeed.
Public Bank Quantum MasterCard
Cashback: 5 per cent cashback on online and dining; capped at RM30
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000/year (RM3,000/month)
Annual fee: Free for life
The Public Bank Quantum MasterCard and Visa Card come as two halves of a pair. The Visa gives you 5 per cent cashback for spending on entertainment and departmental stores; while the Quantum MasterCard offers 5 per cent cashback on online and dining transactions. Both cards are capped at RM30 per month.
There are no minimum spend requirements or tiered rates for this card, so you'll get cashback no matter how little you spend on the card for online shopping. Moreover, it has a low minimum income requirement to apply and it is free for life, making it a great card to own for many people.
Public Bank Visa Signature
Cashback: 6 per cent cashback on grocery, dining, and online; capped at RM38
Minimum income requirement: RM80,000/year (RM6,667/month)
Annual fee: RM388 (first year free), waived with 12 swipes per year
The Public Bank Visa Signature offers 6 per cent cashback on grocery, dining, and online transactions, with an overall monthly cashback cap of RM38. The good news is that there is no minimum spend requirements to qualify for cashback (just like the Quantum cards), and 6 per cent capped at RM38 is a decent cashback return when taking this into consideration.
Like the RHB Visa Signature, the Public Bank Visa Signature also offers both cashback and lounge access benefits in a single card. Cardholders get 2x complimentary access to any Plaza Premium Lounge in Malaysia, and also 1 VIP Point for every RM1 spent on all retail transactions. Lastly, while the annual fee for this card may look steep, it actually isn't difficult to qualify for the annual fee waiver.
Maybank 2 American Express Card
Cashback: 5 per cent on all weekend spend; capped at RM50
Minimum income requirement: RM30,000/year (RM2,500/month)
Annual fee: Free for life
The Maybank 2 Cards come in a pair: the Maybank 2 American Express and the Maybank 2 Mastercard/Visa. The Maybank 2 American Express is a cashback card that offers 5 per cent off on all weekend spend, including online transactions. However, since American Express isn’t as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard, you should check which of your favourite e-commerce websites accept Amex cards as a form of payment. Among the big e-commerce sites, both Lazada and Shopee do not currently accept Amex, but 11street does.
One reason why the Maybank 2 Amex is a genuinely useful credit card is because of its lack of minimum spend requirement to unlock the cashback, and the bonus of 5x TreatsPoints for every RM1 spent on every day of the week. Both the Gold and Platinum variants are free for life, but the Platinum comes with travel insurance benefits, so get the Platinum if you earn more than RM60,000 per annum.
Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature
Cashback: 10 per cent cashback for all purchases made in May and August capped at RM100; 2 per cent cashback on all purchases capped at RM50 for the rest of the year
Minimum income requirement: RM48,000/year (RM4,000/month)
Annual fee: Free for life
The Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature is another general cashback credit card that does not have a minimum spend requirement. It offers a rate of 2 per cent cashback on all purchases capped at RM50 throughout the year, and a huge 10 per cent cashback rate during the months of May and August at double the maximum cashback cap. For those of you who didn’t know, football season begins in August and ends in May.
The fact that this card is free for life and requires a pretty low commitment makes it worth keeping even if you only wish to use it to max out your cashback in May and August. For the rest of the year, the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature can come in handy as a backup cashback credit card to fall back on when you’ve maxed out the cashback on your main go-to card.
Standard Chartered Liverpool FC Cashback Credit Card
Cashback: Up to 5 per cent cashback on retail purchases; capped up to RM50
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000/year (RM3,000/month)
Annual fee: RM175, waived with a minimum spend of RM20,000 per year
Rebranded from the Standard Chartered Platinum Mastercard last November, the last general cashback card on this list is also the newest one. The Standard Chartered Liverpool FC Cashback Credit Card has a tiered cashback system based on retail spend per month. You have to spend a minimum of RM500 to qualify for the lowest rate of cashback offered, which is 2 per cent. Like the JustONE Platinum, its cashback rate and monthly cap get more rewarding the more you spend on the card.
The Standard Chartered Liverpool FC Card also has another benefit that would benefit online shoppers – in addition to the cashback, it also offers e-commerce purchase protection of up to US$200 (about RM815) per year.
Don’t waste the chance to get online cashback
Seasoned online shoppers are always on the lookout for promo codes, sales, and loyalty programmes on Zalora, Lazada, Shopee, and plenty other e-commerce sites. Why not use the right cashback credit card and save even more? With the right cards, you could earn hundreds of ringgit in cashback — without changing the way you shop.
Of course, getting yourself a credit card that’s good for online shopping doesn’t mean you need to limit yourself to just that credit card. The best way to score the biggest cashback returns is to have a selection of cashback cards that you use for different purposes. For example, if you were to use the UOB YOLO Visa to get cashback for dining and online shopping, you should have another card to get cashback for your groceries and utilities – like the Hong Leong Wise.
If you need detailed recommendations, we also have a list of the best credit cards to pay for utilities, as well as the best credit cards that offer airport lounge access for seasoned travelers.
So, start thinking about your spending patterns and begin building your cashback credit card arsenal now. Remember – if you get stuck, you can always use our RinggitPlus credit card comparison tool to make your decision a little easier.
*This article was brought to you by RinggitPlus.com.
