Review: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature, which last year underwent a major revamp that introduced 2.8 mpd on air tickets and foreign currency (FCY) spending.

While it’s true that 2.8 mpd is not exactly market-leading — you could earn up to 4 mpd on these categories with other cards — it’s equally true that the caps here (or lack thereof) are a lot more forgiving: S$10,000 per month for air tickets, and no cap at all for FCY spend.

Moreover, it’s one of the only cards on the market that still offers rewards on charitable donations, education payments, hospitals, insurance premiums and utilities, so if you can overlook the relatively short validity of TREATS Points, this could very well be one to consider.

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature excels at FCY and air ticket spending- and its lack of exclusions is a pleasant surprise.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Uncapped 2.8 mpd on FCY spend 2.8 mpd on up to S$10,000 of air tickets No exclusions on donations, education, hospitals, insurance and utilities	TREATS Points expire after 12-15 months
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature. 

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Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	12-15 months
Annual Fee	S$196.20 (3 yrs free)	Min. Transfer	25,000 points (10,000 miles)*
Miles with Annual Fee	N/A	Transfer Partners	4
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$27.25
Local Earn	0.24-1.2 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.8 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	2.8 mpd on air tickets	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions
*For KrisFlyer; 5,000 miles for Cathay and MAS, 2,000 points for Air Asia

For the record, Maybank offers two different Horizon Visa Signature Cards: 

1. Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card
2. Maybank Privilege Horizon Visa Signature Card

	MB Horizon	MB Privilege Horizon
Min. AUM	N/A	S$50K
Annual Fee	Waive for 3 years	Perpetual waiver
Airport Transfer	N/A	2x free Grab rides
Lounge Access	Min. S$1,000 spend	Min. S$500 spend

The cards have identical earn rates, but the Privilege version has some additional benefits such as two complimentary Grab rides to the airport, a perpetual annual fee waiver, and half the minimum spend requirement for lounge visits.

This article will be focusing on the regular Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card.

How much must I earn to qualify for a Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card?

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 p.a., the MAS-mandated minimum.

I’m not aware of any secured credit card option for those who don’t meet the minimum requirement, but there’s no harm visiting a branch to check.

How much is the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card annual fee?

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card has an annual fee of S$196.20, which is waived for the first three years.

Subsequent years’ annual fees will be automatically waived with a minimum total spend of S$18,000 per membership year. It does appear that Maybank is not strictly enforcing this this rule, however, as there are data points from customers who have received waivers despite not meeting this threshold.

No miles are offered upon approval or renewing this card.

All supplementary cards are free for life.

What welcome offers are available?

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Maybank is currently offering a welcome gift of either a Samsonite ENOW SPINNER 69/25 (worth S$570), 10,000 KrisFlyer miles, or S$200 cashback for new-to-bank customers who apply for a Maybank Horizon Card and spend at least S$1,300 within the first two months of approval. 

New-to-bank customers are defined as those who:

• Do not currently hold a principal Maybank credit card or CreditAble account
• Have not cancelled a principal Maybank credit card or CreditAble account in the past nine months

The T&Cs of this offer can be found here.

In my experience, Maybank is extremely fast with the gift fulfilment, and I received mine within days of meeting the minimum spend. 

How many miles do I earn?

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card’s earn structure depends on whether you spend at least S$800 per calendar month.

Spend <S$800 per calendar month

0.24 mpd

SGD transactions on education, insurance, medical and utilities will earn 3 TREATS Points per S$5 spent (0.24 mpd). 

This sounds low, but given that most banks exclude these categories altogether, it’s still better than nothing. Moreover, the mere fact that these transactions earn points means you can use them to meet the minimum spend for welcome offers on Maybank cards.

1.2 mpd

Cardholders will earn 15 TREATS points per S$5 spent (1.2 mpd) on:

• FCY transactions in any category
• SGD transactions in the following categories:

0.4 mpd

Any SGD transaction that does not fall into the MCCs listed in the previous section will earn 5 TREATS points per S$5 spent (0.4 mpd). 

Spend ≥S$800 per calendar month

Cardholders who spend at least S$800 per calendar month will earn:

• 35 TREATS points per S$5 spent (2.8 mpd) on FCY spend (no cap)
• 35 TREATS points per S$5 spent (2.8 mpd) on air tickets (capped at S$10,000 per calendar month)

Maybank defines FCY spend as card retail transactions posted in foreign currencies, regardless of whether they’re online or in-person. This includes FCY spend on donations, education, utilities, and private hospitals too!

Air ticket spend is defined as transactions posted in SGD (if you have air tickets in FCY, they fall under the previous paragraph, with no cap) under MCCs 4511 and 3000-3350. This includes Singapore Airlines, Scoot, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and pretty much every major airline out there. 

All FCY transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, which means using your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.16 cents.

What counts towards the S$800 minimum spend?

All transactions that are eligible to earn TREATS Points will also count towards the minimum spend. 

So, for example, charitable donations, education payments, insurance premiums and utilities bills will all be included in the S$800 figure.

When are TREATS Points credited?

Base TREATS Points are credited when the transaction posts, which usually takes 1-3 working days.

Bonus TREATS Points are credited by the 8th day of the following calendar month, in a lump sum.

How are TREATS Points calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the TREATS Points earned on your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card.

For FCY spend & air tickets

Spend <S$800 per calendar month

Spend ≥S$800 per calendar month

If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points: 

For FCY spend & air tickets

Spend <S$800 per calendar month

Spend ≥S$800 per calendar month

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for TREATS Points?

A full list of transactions that do not earn TREATS Points can be found in the T&Cs at point 2.2.

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Betting and gambling transactions
• Brokerage and securities transactions
• Government services 
• Prepaid account top-ups, e.g. GrabPay and YouTrip

For avoidance of doubt, you will earn rewards on charitable donations, education, insurance premiums, hospital bills and utilities payments. While the earn rate for these is just 0.24 mpd when in SGD (0.4 mpd for donations), charge it in FCY and the earn rate jumps to 2.8 mpd!

I can imagine this being great for anyone with kids studying overseas, for example. 

What do I need to know about TREATS Points?

Expiry

TREATS Points earned on the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature normally expire one year from the quarterly period in which they were earned (i.e. 12-15 months’ validity).

However, Maybank offers a Rewards Infinite (RI) programme to cardholders who spend at least S$24,000 in a membership year. 

If you’re an RI member, your TREATS Points will never expire. The good news is that the RI membership starts as soon as you hit S$24,000 spending, so you can even enjoy it within your first membership year. 

As a reminder, Maybank Visa Infinite, World Mastercard and Catholic High Alumni Platinum Associates cardholders are automatically granted an RI membership without the need for minimum spend. If you hold one of these cards, the non-expiring benefit extends to TREATS Points earned on your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card too.

Pooling

TREATS Points pool with other Maybank cards. If you have 20,000 TREATS Points on the Maybank Visa Infinite, and 5,000 TREATS Points on the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature,  you can redeem 25,000 TREATS Points at one shot.

This also means that if you cancel your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card, you won’t lose your accumulated TREATS Points unless it happens to be your very last TREATS-earning card.

Transfer Partners & Fees

TREATS Points can be transferred to the following partners:

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (TREATS Points: Partner)
	25,000: 10,000*
	12,500: 5,000
	12,500: 5,000
	4,000: 2,000
*You must convert via the TREATS SG app (Android | iOS) in order to enjoy the rate above. If you opt for a manual conversion, you’ll receive an inferior rate of 30,000 points = 10,000 miles.

Malaysia Airlines Enrich and airasia rewards are close to worthless in my opinion, so that leaves Asia Miles and KrisFlyer as the only realistic options.

A S$27.25 conversion fee applies to all transfers. Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard cardmembers enjoy free points transfers, so if you hold one of these cards you can enjoy free transfers for points earned on your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card as well.

Transfer Time

Conversions to KrisFlyer miles are generally completed within 1-3 working days.

Other card perks

Complimentary lounge access

Principal Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Cardholders will receive a complimentary lounge pass when they spend a minimum of S$1,000 in a single retail transaction in the three months prior to the lounge visit. 

This can be redeemed for a 3-hour visit to any of the following lounges:

• Singapore
  • Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 1
  • Ambassador Transit Lounge Terminal 2
  • Ambassador Transit Lounge Terminal 3
  • Blossom Lounge Terminal 4
• Kuala Lumpur
  • Plaza Premium Lounge KLIA Terminal 1
  • Plaza Premium Lounge KLIA Terminal 2
• Hong Kong
  • Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 1 (Near Gate 35)
  • Plaza Premium Lounge Terminal 1 (Near Gate 1)

A maximum of one complimentary visit per month will be issued. Accompanying guests will enjoy 20% off walk-in rates.

Complimentary travel insurance

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Cardholders receive complimentary travel insurance when they charge their full travel fares to their card. Unfortunately, coverage will not apply in situations where you redeem miles for an award ticket, and charge the taxes and fees to your card.

This features up to S$1,000,000 coverage for accidental death or total permanent disablement, S$400 for luggage delays or missed connections, and S$1,000 for luggage loss.

However, there is no coverage for medical expenses or emergency medical evacuation. Because of this, I highly advise that you purchase comprehensive travel insurance elsewhere.

Terms & Conditions

• Maybank Horizon Visa Signature T&Cs
• TREATS Rewards Programme

Summary Review: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature

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Given that the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature’s earn rate maxes out at 2.8 mpd, why would you pick it when other cards offer 4 mpd? 

Two reasons. 

The first is caps. If you find the S$1,000 minimum and S$2,000 maximum on the UOB Visa Signature too restrictive, then this represents a good compromise (though it should be said that those who spend really big on FCY should consider a Maybank World Mastercard instead, which offers an uncapped 3.2 mpd with a minimum spend of S$4,000). 

Likewise, air tickets could be purchased with the DBS Woman’s World Card, but its S$1,500 monthly cap may be insufficient for those buying Business Class tickets, or tickets for multiple people. 

The second is exclusions. It’s refreshing to see so few rewards exclusion categories, with cardholders able to earn points on charitable donations, education, hospitals, insurance premiums and utilities bills. Most of these are excluded by other banks.

The main drawbacks are the limited lifespan of TREATS Points and the need to clock at least S$800 a month to enjoy the 2.8 mpd earn rate, but if the lack of cap is what attracts you, then it’s unlikely a minimum spend requirement will be much of a barrier in the first place.