Maybank has unveiled two new credit cards: the XL Rewards and XL Cashback, which offer up to 4 mpd or 5% cashback respectively on all foreign currency (FCY) spend, as well as local spend on dining, shopping, travel, and entertainment.
That’s an impressive list of bonus categories, and even though the 4 mpd rate is capped at a somewhat restrictive S$1,000 per month, that’s the direction most cards are headed these days.
I’ll certainly be adding this card to my collection, and I imagine many of you will too. However, there’s one little condition which I’m sure is going to spark an almighty kerfuffle: you can only apply for this card if you’re younger than 40.
Overview: Maybank XL Rewards and Cashback Cards
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| Maybank XL Rewards Card | Maybank XL Cashback Card | |
| Annual Fee | S$87.20 (Waived for 2 years) |
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| Bonus Earn Rate | 4 mpd | 5% cashback |
| Bonus Cap | S$1,000 per calendar month | S$1,600 per calendar month |
| Min. Spend | S$500 per calendar month | |
| Bonus Categories |
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| T&Cs | Link | Link |
| Apply |
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| Note: If you don’t see the XL Cards listed, try applying via this page on desktop | ||
Maybank will have two cards under the XL banner: XL Rewards and XL Cashback.
I’ll be focusing on the XL Rewards Card in this post, but both have the same annual fee, minimum spend and bonus categories, and you can apply for both cards if you wish.
Annual fee
The Maybank XL Rewards Card has an annual fee of S$87.20, which is waived for the first two years.
Subsequently, the annual fee will be waived with a minimum spend of S$6,000 in a membership year.
Bonus earn rate
The Maybank XL Rewards Card earns 10X TREATS Points per S$1 (4 mpd) on:
- All online and offline FCY spending
- Online and offline SGD spending in the following categories
| Category | MCCs | Description |
| 🍽️ Dine |
5811 | Caterers |
| 5812 | Restaurants | |
| 5814 | Fast Food | |
| 5462 | Bakeries | |
| 🛍️ Shop |
5262 | Marketplaces |
| 5310 | Discount Stores | |
| 5311 | Department Stores | |
| 5331 | Variety Stores | |
| 5399 | Misc. General Merchandise | |
| 5621 | Women’s Ready to Wear | |
| 5631 | Women’s Accessory and Specialty | |
| 5651 | Family Clothing | |
| 5655 | Sports and Riding Apparel | |
| 5661 | Shoe Stores | |
| 5691 | Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores | |
| 5699 | Misc. Accessory and Apparel | |
| 5941 | Sporting Goods Stores | |
| ✈️ Travel | 3000 – 3299, 3300 – 3308, 4511 | Airlines |
| 4722 | Travel Agencies | |
| 7011 | Hotels and Lodging | |
| 📽️ Play | 4899 | Cable, Satellite, Pay Television and Radio |
| 5813 | Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Nightclubs | |
| 5815 | Digital Goods: Books, Movies, Music | |
| 7832 | Theatres | |
| 7993 | Video Amusement Game Supplies | |
| 7994 | Video Game Arcades |
The 4 mpd earn rate requires a minimum spend of S$500 per calendar month, and is capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. Any spend in excess of the cap earns 0.4 mpd.
| ❓ What counts as minimum spend? |
| The S$500 minimum spend consists of both bonus and non-bonus spend. That said, there’s little reason to use the XL Rewards Card outside its bonus categories anyway. |
Maybank is casting a very wide net with the bonus categories—this would be the right card to use for food delivery, restaurants, air tickets, hotel stays, Klook and Pelago, streaming and newspaper subscriptions, and offline and online shopping (even covering Shopee Pay- 5262; which for the avoidance of doubt is not the same as Shopee Pay top-ups- 6540). If all that’s not enough, you can still buy HeyMax vouchers (5311) to cover categories like groceries, transport, furniture and electronics.
Moreover, the 4 mpd rate for FCY spend applies to all MCCs (except exclusion categories, obviously), even education, hospitals and utilities.
Maybank tracks the minimum spend and bonus caps by posting date. However, it will consider all transactions charged in a given month and posted by the 10th of the following month to be part of the month in which they were charged.
| 💳 Maybank XL Card |
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| Transaction Date | Posting Date | Counts Towards |
| Month X | By the 10th of Month X+1 | Month X |
| Month X+1 | By the 10th of Month X+2 | Month X+1 |
For example, if I charge a S$100 transaction on 31 August 2025 and it posts on 2 September 2025, that S$100 will count towards August’s minimum spend and bonus cap.
Therefore, it should be very safe to make transactions up till the last day of the calendar month, as 10 days is more than enough time for them to post.
Welcome offer for XL Cards
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| Apply here |
| Note: If you don’t see the XL Cards listed, try applying via this page on desktop |
The Maybank XL Cards are offering the following welcome bonus:
- First 2,000 new-to-bank customers: S$60 cashback upon activating the card and making a minimum spend of any amount
- Subsequent new-to-bank customers: S$10 cashback upon activating the card and making a minimum spend of any amount
The 2,000 cap is shared between the XL Rewards and XL Cashback variants, and this offer is only available for new-to-bank customers, defined as those who:
- Do not currently hold any principal Maybank credit cards or CreditAble accounts
- Have not cancelled any principal Maybank credit cards or CreditAble accounts in the past 9 months
In addition to this, the first 15,000 applicants will receive a complimentary 12-month Etiqa Trip XpLorer Protect policy, which covers overseas medical expenses (including so-called adventurous activities) up to S$5,000.
What can you do with TREATS Points?
TREATS Points can be transferred to four airline partners (though Malaysia Airlines Enrich and airasia rewards are close to worthless in my opinion, leaving Asia Miles and KrisFlyer as the only realistic options).
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (TREATS Points: Partner) |
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25,000 : 10,000 |
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12,500 : 5,000 |
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12,500 : 5,000 |
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4,000 : 2,000 |
A S$27.25 conversion fee applies to all transfers, and TREATS Points are pooled among all Maybank cards.
As a reminder, you’ll need to download the Maybank TREATS app to convert TREATS Points to KrisFlyer miles. This is a separate app from the Maybank2u SG app that’s used for all other internet banking matters.
TREATS Points expire after 12-15 months, depending on when they were earned. However, if you have a Maybank Visa Infinite or Maybank World Mastercard, or spend at least S$24,000 in a membership year on your Maybank XL Rewards Card (not the XL Cashback Card), you’ll receive a Rewards Infinite membership that makes your points evergreen.
So, about that age cap…
OK, let’s address the elephant in the room. The Maybank XL Cashback and Rewards Card are exclusively for applicants 21-39 years of age. Anyone aged 40 and above will be rejected. Clutch your pacemakers and shake your walking sticks all you want, but it’s very much a hard restriction.
While there are bank accounts that restrict the age of applicants (e.g. you must be 18-26 years old to open a StanChart JumpStart account), this is the first credit card I can think of that stipulates a maximum age (with the obvious exception of student-focused S$500-limit cards, such as the DBS Live Fresh).
I sought clarity on this policy from Maybank, and was told that you can apply for the XL Card so long as you are below 40 years old at the time of application.
Don’t worry— once you turn 40, the card won’t be cancelled. You can continue to use it as per normal, and even receive a new card whenever the expiry date comes round. However, if you choose to cancel it, you will never again be able to apply for a Maybank XL Card.
This is a policy that is sure to spark unhappiness in some quarters, and I’ll share some thoughts on it in the days to come. In the meantime, I can’t wait to read the letters to the Straits Times forum section…
Conclusion
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| Apply here |
| Note: If you don’t see the XL Cards listed, try applying via this page on desktop |
The new Maybank XL Rewards Card offers 4 mpd on an extensive range of bonus categories, and those who can max out the bonus cap each month can rack up an extra 48,000 miles per year.
If you’re already using the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature, Maybank World Mastercard or Maybank Visa Infinite, this would be a no-brainer to add to your portfolio since TREATS Points pool.
However, the age restriction will limit the eligibility pool for this card, and if you’re turning 40 soon, you should get your foot in the door as soon as possible.
What do you make of the Maybank XL Cards- and that 40 year age cap?
Can I apply both miles and cashback version of this card?
How to encourage ageism in the age of ageism! https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/age-race-prejudice-bias-chinese-privilege-survey-5258501
Called maybank. The cards will only be launched on 1 Aug 2025
i can assure you they are very much live now.
XL card is not available when you apply.
one workaround suggsted: Scroll all the way down and tap “Fill in Form”. SingPass option not available right now
Seems like they’ve removed it from the form as well. There’s a placeholder there but with no image, and if you select it, the form gives an error.
I got no issue, just applied
try this: https://apply.maybank.com.sg/cards/index.htm?sc=acq67#/creditcardstart
Managed to apply. Use desktop browser and not mobile.
i must chong right now, turning 40
I cant see either of these cards on the Maybank application page
me too
Does pairing with Amaze work for this card?
It’s a MasterCard. Why not?
Is it worth it with the amaze fee?
It’s worth it if you’re spending on the specified categories abroad. Not worth if you just want to spend locally – just use the naked card.
Damn… i am old uncle…
I can be a woman, but I can’t be young again 😦
Can apply to ica to change age?
/S
This is the first time that my first thought is HEY I can apply followed by I AM TOO OLD For this card?!
Just learned that this Maybank card only takes applicants under 40. Bold strategy—alienate the demographic with actual income and credit history. But hey, who needs responsible adults when you can hand out credit to people still figuring out how taxes work? Bravo, corporate logic at its finest.
Precisely their target demography, these are groups that might never constantly meet the 1000 limit monthly as they would have likely go broke after a few. Business exposure is reduced.
Hey Boomers silly of you to think that only above 40 have actual income and credit history. Don’t be salty.
40 this year but birthday is in Nov, was rejected as age limit was not met.
wow this is prob the best 4mpd card now. online / offline based on very wide whitelisting MCCs, and blacklisting MCC approach on foreign currency spend.
it is better than the old HSBC revolution, which is now utterly trash; And a lot more flexible than citi rewards as its online only.
Wondering if Maybank excluded txn with Amaze? if not can save 1% fx fee using amaze spread on eligible spend.
Welcome gift is meh, but applied anyway, the long term value within the card is just something I cannot igrnore.
If we apply for this card as a NTB customer now, and we subsequently apply for the world Mastercard say sometime in June 2026 in order to qualify for the RI programme so that the Treats points do not expire, will the points earned before joining the RI programme be converted to non-expiring points too?
If we can link this card to Instrarem to spend money on dinner overseas to get 4mpd?