Maybank Family and Friends Card Cash Rebate Change April 2021 : Still worth it to use the card?

Is the Maybank Family and Friends Card still good for the family?

 

From Apr 2021, Maybank Family and Friends Card will change the Cash rebate criteria.

CURRENT CASH REBATES

The current cash Rebates work as follow:

You will get up to 8% cash rebates on 5 different categories (Cap at $80 per month) base on the following categories

Source: Maybank

HOW IT WORKS

Min Spend $800 - Cash Rebates 8% (cap at $80) for selected merchants

$500-799 - Cash Rebates 5% 

$0-499 - 0.3%

0.3% cash rebates apply to all other spendings on non-selected categories.

After reaching the monthly cash rebates cap, 0.3% cash rebates apply on further spending that month.

HOW WE BENEFITED

We use this card mainly for groceries and dining. With $800 per month expenses on these 2 categories ( assuming $500 and $300), we could easily achieve the $80 rebate.

FROM APRIL 2021

It is good news, bad news change from April 2021. 

The good news is that the cash rebate cap will be increased to $125 per month.

The bad news is that it will be capped at $25 per category instead of no limitation before Apr 2021.

Source: Maybank

Some categories have been revised. For example, Restaurant Dining replaces Fast Food Restaurants while Pets services such as veterinary-related services globally are added.

Additionally, you would have to spend $800 to qualify for the rebates of 8%. Anything below and you will only earn 0.3%,

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE CONSUMER?

At first glance, you might be thinking that cash rebates are more difficult to achieve.

Take the previous example. 

Groceries - $500

Food- $300 

Under the new rebate, you will only get back $50 instead of $80.

To get the same if not more rebates, one would have to diversify expenditure to include more categories. For example, you could add your Data Communication  & Online TV subscription to the card to get more rebate. To get the maximum rebate per category, you would have to spend $300 per category. To get the maximum rebate of $125, you would have to spend at least $1500 per month.

It is possible to get the same $80 rebate as before if you do some smart planning.

Here is how I would consider do it.

Grocery - $300 ( Rebate $25)

Dining -$300 ( Rebate $25)

Data and Communication -$250 (Rebate $20)

Transport-  Petrol $125 ( Rebate $10)

Net Rebate : $80

Total Spend : $975

Do note that if your expenses fall below $800, you will only get back 0.03%

FINAL WORD

If you do not track expenses or spend less than $800, Maybank Family and Friends Card would not be suitable for you. In that case, a cashback card like Standard Chartered Unlimited cashback card would be better as they provide 1.5% cashback with no minimum spend. If you are a big spender and do not track expenses, then UOB One card is a better option with is quarterly cashback starting from $50 for every $500 spend per month. 

With this change, will you still continue to use the Maybank Family and Friends Card?