Review: Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature, which underwent a major revamp in late 2023 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 — what’s appealing is the absence of a cap for FCY spend, and a generous S$10,000 monthly cap for air tickets.

Moreover, this is one of the only cards left on the market to still offer rewards for education, hospitals, insurance premiums and utilities, so if you can overlook the relatively short validity of TREATS Points, this could very well be worth considering.

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 relative 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 education, hospitals, insurance and utilities 3-year annual fee waiver (and should be fairly easy to waive after that)	S$800 minimum spend required for bonus miles Limited transfer partners 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. 

Apply
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	0.16 to 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 AirAsia

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card comes in two different varieties: 

1. The “classic” Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card
2. The Maybank Privilege Horizon Visa Signature Card

(1) is available to the general public, while (2) is for Maybank Privilege Banking customers with a minimum deposit or investment of S$50,000.

	Horizon	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

Both cards have identical earn rates, but the Privilege version has additional benefits such as S$20 off two Grab rides to the airport per year, a perpetual annual fee waiver, and half the minimum spend requirement for lounge visits.

This article will focus on the classic 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. Up to two supplementary cards are free for life.

Subsequent years’ annual fees will be automatically waived with a minimum total spend of S$18,000 per membership year. Maybank does not appear to be strictly enforcing this rule, however, as there are many data points from customers who have received waivers without meeting this threshold.

No miles are offered upon approval or renewing this card.

What welcome offers are available?

Apply

New-to-bank customers who apply for a Maybank Horizon Visa Signature will receive a Samsonite INTERLACE Spinner 67/24 EXP luggage (worth S$520).

A minimum spend of S$1,300 within the first two months of approval is required. 

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

0.16 mpd

SGD transactions on education, insurance, medical, utilities, rental and professional services will earn 2 TREATS Points per S$5 spent (0.16 mpd). 

This sounds low, but given that other banks usually exclude most of 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.

For the avoidance of doubt, you will still earn either 1.2 mpd (<S$800 per calendar month) or 2.8 mpd (≥S$800 per calendar month) on all of these categories if they are spent in FCY, as the FCY spending bonus takes precedence.

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 sections 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, both online or in-person.

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, education payments and utilities bills will all be included in the S$800 figure. However, insurance premiums are not included, despite the fact they earn rewards. 

Transaction date or posting date?

Technically speaking, Maybank tracks minimum spend and bonus caps by posting date, not transaction date.

In practice, however, all transactions charged in a given month and posted by the 6th of the following month are considered to be part of the month in which they were charged.

In other words, you can comfortably spend up till the last calendar day of the month, and not have to worry about transactions “leaking” into the following month (it’s not impossible, but six days should be more than enough time for even the slowest of merchants to post).

Which cards track spending by transaction date vs posting date?

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 on the 7th 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
• Charitable donations
• Government services 
• Prepaid account top-ups, e.g. GrabPay and YouTrip

For avoidance of doubt, you will earn rewards on education, insurance premiums, hospital bills and utilities payments. While the earn rate is just 0.16 mpd when in SGD, 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 expire one year from the quarterly period in which they were earned, which means a validity of 12-15 months. 

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.

Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard 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 the TREATS Points earned on your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card too.

How does the Maybank Rewards Infinite programme work?

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 in a single redemption.

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 four airline partners at the following ratios.

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (TREATS Points: Partner)
	25,000 : 10,000
	12,500 : 5,000
	12,500 : 5,000
	4,000 : 2,000

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.

All conversions have an admin fee of S$27.25.

Transfer time

Conversions to KrisFlyer miles are generally completed within 1-2 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.

I wouldn’t consider this to be a major selling point, since many other credit cards offer lounge access for free.

Maybank SaveUp account

SaveUp is Maybank’s high interest savings account, and spending at least S$500 per calendar month on the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature qualifies as one activity for bonus interest.

That said, you’ll need at least three activities to earn a decent interest rate, so in addition to crediting your salary or making GIRO bill payments, you’ll have to take out a loan or purchase selected investment or insurance products.

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

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature

🦁 MileLion Verdict

☑ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It Leave It

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

Two reasons. 

The first is caps. Obviously, you should try to max out the FCY spending bonuses on the Maybank XL Rewards Card and UOB Visa Signature Card first, but once those two are out of the picture, the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature can step in to offer an uncapped 2.8 mpd on the remainder (though 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 or Maybank XL Rewards Card, but their S$1,000 monthly caps will likely 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 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. 

So that’s my review of the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature. What do you think?