Review: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature, which recently reinvented itself by adding a permanent 2.8 mpd on foreign currency (FCY) spending and air tickets— further boosted to 3.2 mpd for a limited time. 

It’s also one of the few cards left on the market that still offers rewards on charitable donations, education payments, insurance premiums and utilities, so if you can overlook the 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 3.2 mpd on FCY spend 3.2 mpd on up to S$10,000 of air tickets No exclusions on donations, education, insurance and hospitals	S$5 earning blocks TREATS Points expire after 12-15 months Lounge visits require minimum spend
💳 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. 

Apply Here
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	12-15 months
Annual Fee	S$180 (3 yrs free)	Min. Transfer	25,000 points (10,000 miles)*
Miles with Annual Fee	N/A	Transfer Partners	SIA Air Asia Cathay MAS
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$27
Local Earn	0.4 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.8 mpd^	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	1.2 mpd on selected local spend 2.8 mpd on air tickets^	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions
^Temporarily upsized to 3.2 mpd *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$1K 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 walking into a branch to check.

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

	Principal Card	Supp. Card
First 3 Years	Waived	Free
Subsequent	S$180	Free

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card has an annual fee of S$180, which is waived for the first three years. The fee remained constant even when GST rose from 7 to 8%, so one hopes there’ll be no change in 2024 either when GST further rises to 9%. 

No miles are offered upon approval or renewing this card. Subsequent years’ annual fees will be automatically waived with a minimum total spend of S$18,000 per membership year.

All supplementary cards are free for life.

What welcome offers are available?

Apply Here

From now to 31 December 2023, new-to-bank customers who apply for a Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card will receive S$60 cash from SingSaver, as well as a chance to win additional lucky draw prizes in the ongoing 101 Milestone Giveaway.

This is further stackable with Maybank’s welcome gifts, featuring a choice of:

• 2x American Tourister Linex 66/24 Luggage (worth S$336)
• Apple AirPods (3rd Gen) with Lightning Charging Case (worth S$261.40)
• S$200 cash credit
• 10,000 KrisFlyer miles (in the form of 25,000 TREATS points)

Cardholders must spend a minimum of S$600 per month for the first two consecutive months after approval. For example, if your card is approved on 15 November 2023, your spend periods are:

• Spend Period 1: 15 November 2023 to 14 December 2023
• Spend Period 2: 15 December 2023 to 14 January 2024

Per clause 4(a) of the T&Cs, you also need to apply for a CreditAble account to be eligible for the gift. However, there is no need to charge anything to this facility if you don’t wish to. 

If you’re approved for the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature but rejected for the CreditAble account (or forget to apply), you can still qualify provided you spend S$650 per month for the first two consecutive months. 

How many miles do I earn?

🇸🇬 SGD Spend	🌎 FCY Spend	⭐ Bonus Spend
0.24 – 0.4 mpd	2.8 mpd*	Air tickets: 2.8 mpd* Selected local trxns: 1.2 mpd
*Temporarily upsized to 3.2 mpd for a limited time

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

Currency	Category	Earn Rate
Local	Education Insurance Medical Utilities	0.24 mpd
	Dining Food Delivery Supermarkets Transport Petrol Department and Retail Stores Air Tickets Hotels Cruises Travel Packages Car Rental	1.2 mpd
	All other local spend	0.4 mpd
FCY	All FCY spend	1.2 mpd

0.24 mpd

Local 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
• Local transactions in the following categories:

0.4 mpd

Any local 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

Currency	Category	Earn Rate
Local	Education Insurance Medical Utilities	0.24 mpd
	Dining Food Delivery Supermarkets Transport Petrol Department and Retail Stores Hotels Cruises Travel Packages Car Rental	1.2 mpd
	All other local spend	0.4 mpd
Local or FCY	Air Tickets	2.8 mpd*
FCY	All FCY spend	2.8 mpd
*Capped at S$10,000 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 foreign currency spend on donations, education, utilities, and private hospitals too!

Air ticket spend is classified as transactions posted in Singapore dollars (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. 

Do note that Maybank is running a limited-time promotion that upsizes the earn rates on FCY spend and air tickets to 40 TREATS points per S$5 spent (3.2 mpd). The details can be found in the expandable section below.

All FCY transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, which means using your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.02 cents (at 3.2 mpd) or 1.16 cents (at 2.8 mpd).

💳 FCY Fees by Issuer and Card Network
Issuer	↓ MC & Visa	AMEX
Standard Chartered	3.5%	N/A
American Express	N/A	3.25%
Citibank	3.25%	N/A
DBS	3.25%	3%
HSBC	3.25%	N/A
Maybank	3.25%	N/A
OCBC	3.25%	N/A
UOB	3.25%	3.25%
BOC	3%	N/A
CIMB	3%	N/A

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?

Maybank’s T&Cs are silent as to how base and bonus TREATS Points are awarded, so it’s unclear whether they post as one lump sum, or in two separate batches. 

How are TREATS Points calculated?

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

General local spend (0.4 mpd)	Round down transaction to the nearest S$5, divide by 5, then multiply by 5
Selected local spend (1.2 mpd)	Round down transaction to the nearest S$5, divide by 5, then multiply by 15
Air tickets & FCY (2.8 mpd)	Round down transaction to the nearest S$5, divide by 5, then multiply by 35
Air tickets & FCY (3.2 mpd)	Round down transaction to the nearest S$5, divide by 5, then multiply by 40

The minimum spend to earn points would be S$5, whether in local or foreign currency. This has been the case ever since 1 January 2023, when Maybank switched from S$1 earning blocks to S$5 earning blocks.

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

General local spend (0.4 mpd)	=ROUND (ROUNDDOWN(X/5,0)*5,0)
Selected local spend (1.2 mpd)	=ROUND (ROUNDDOWN(X/5,0)*15,0)
Air tickets & FCY (2.8 mpd)	=ROUND (ROUNDDOWN(X/5,0)*35,0)
Air tickets & FCY (3.2 mpd)	=ROUND (ROUNDDOWN(X/5,0)*40,0)
Where X= Amount Spent

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.

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 3.2 mpd!

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

What do I need to know about TREATS Points?

❌ Expiry	↔️ Pooling	💰 Transfer Fee
12-15 months	Yes	S$27
⬆️ Min. Transfer	✈️ No. of Partners	⏱️ Transfer Time
Varies	4	7 days (to KF)

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).

Points Earned	Expire On
1 Jan to 31 Mar 2023	31 Mar 2024
1 Apr to 30 Jun 2023	30 Jun 2024
1 Jul to 30 Sep 2023	30 Sep 2024
1 Oct to 31 Dec 2023	31 Dec 2024

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

If you’re a member of RI, your TREATS Points will never expire. 

Maybank Visa Infinite, World Mastercard and Catholic High Alumni Platinum Associates cardholders are automatically granted an RI membership, so if you hold one of these cards then the TREATS Points earned on your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card will also never expire (since they pool).

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.

A S$27 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 a week. 

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

Accidental Death	S$1,000,000
Medical Expenses	N/A
Others	Missed Connection :S$400 Luggage Delay: S$400 Lost Luggage: S$1,000
Policy Wording

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 3.2 mpd promo T&Cs
• Maybank Horizon Visa Signature T&Cs
• TREATS Rewards Programme

Summary Review: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature

Apply Here

With its limited-time bonuses of 3.2 mpd on FCY spend (uncapped) and air tickets (capped at S$10,000), the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Even after these rates revert to the regular 2.8 mpd, there’s still a case to be made for using this card in order to preserve the 4-6 mpd caps on other specialised spending cards.

It’s also refreshing to see so few rewards exclusion categories, with cardholders able to earn points or clock welcome offer minimum spend on charitable donations, education, insurance premiums or utilities bills. 

Main drawbacks are the limited lifespan of TREATS Points and the need to clock at least S$800 a month to enjoy the upsized miles, but if their uncapped nature is what draws you, then it’s unlikely a minimum spend requirement will be much of a barrier in the first place.