Maybank XL Rewards Card offering 50% larger bonus cap for new cardholders

With its 4 mpd on foreign currency (FCY) spend, as well as local dining, shopping, travel and entertainment, the Maybank XL Rewards Card has fast become a crowd favourite — at least among those aged under 40.

This bonus rate is usually capped at S$1,000 per calendar month, but for new applicants, Maybank is now increasing the bonus cap by 50% to S$1,500 for the first four months. This allows cardholders to earn up to 6,000 miles per month, instead of the regular 4,000 miles. 

Maybank XL Rewards Card offering upsized bonus cap for new cardholders

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Customers who apply for a Maybank XL Rewards Card from  1 July to 30 September 2026 will enjoy an upsized bonus cap of S$1,500 per month for the first four months of approval, instead of the usual S$1,000.

For example, if my card is approved on 5 July 2026, my monthly bonus cap will be S$1,500 for July, August, September and October 2026, before reverting to S$1,000 from November 2026 onwards.

There is no requirement for you to be a new-to-Maybank customer to enjoy this promotion. All that matters is that you were approved for a Maybank XL Rewards Card during the period of 1 July to 30 September 2026.

Terms & Conditions

The terms and conditions of this offer can be found here.

What are the bonus categories?

The Maybank XL Rewards Card earns 10X TREATS Points per S$1 (4 mpd) on:

• All online and offline FCY spending (including education and hospitals)
• Online and offline SGD spending on dining, shopping, travel and entertainment

This is subject to a minimum spend of S$500 per calendar month, and capped at S$1,000 per calendar month (or S$1,500 for the first four calendar months, if you’re eligible for the abovementioned promotion).

If you fail to meet the minimum spend, or spend above the cap, you’ll earn just 0.4 mpd, so it’s crucial to track your spending accurately.

Dining

The Dining category covers most of the MCCs you would expect, including restaurants, fast food, bakeries, caterers and food delivery.

That said, do note the omission of the following:

• MCC 5441 (Confectionery): Aroma Truffle, See’s Candies, Candy Empire, Laderach, TWG Tea
• MCC 5499 (Misc. Food Stores): Nespresso, Bengawan Solo via Kris+, Bee Cheng Hiang, Hockhua Tonic

Shopping

Of all the MCCs in the Shopping category, the most important is MCC 5311 (Department Stores). Why? Because that’s the MCC used for HeyMax voucher purchases.

Get 200 Max Miles when you open an account and complete your first transaction
Sign up here
Airalo Amazon Best Denki Courts Foodpanda Giant GetGo Grab IKEA iShopChangi Klook MINISO Natureland	NTUC FairPrice Oddle Eats Pelago Pupsik Ryde Shein Shell Sheng Siong Sephora TADA TANGS ZALORA
All voucher purchases code as MCC 5311 (Department Stores)

By buying HeyMax vouchers with the Maybank XL Rewards Card, you can effectively earn 4 mpd on merchants like Best Denki (5732), Grab rides (4121) or IKEA (5712), which would not have been eligible for bonuses had you charged them directly.

Travel

The Travel category includes airlines, travel agencies and hotels.

Do note that hotels which code under MCC 3501-3999 are excluded. While this range typically covers major hotel chains like Accor, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott, it’s not always so straightforward. A hotel’s brand affiliate does not guarantee it will fall within this MCC range — for example, the Westin Kuala Lumpur codes as MCC 7011.

Exercise caution, and check MCCs before paying. 

Entertainment

The Entertainment category includes bars (so in case you missed it under Dining, don’t worry — it’s here), movie theatres, and streaming entertainment subscriptions such as Disney Plus, Netflix and YouTube Premium.

You can pair it with Amaze

To pre-empt a commonly-asked question: yes, you can pair the Maybank XL Rewards Card with Amaze. 

However, this only makes sense in certain scenarios.

SGD spending, non-whitelisted category

Don’t use Amaze, or the XL Rewards Card for that matter. You’d earn only 0.4 mpd either way, but Amaze would make it even worse with its 1% admin fee for SGD transactions.

SGD spending, whitelisted category

Don’t use Amaze. Using a naked XL Rewards Card would be sufficient to earn 4 mpd, and we don’t want to incur the 1% admin fee for SGD transactions if we don’t have to.

FCY spending, whitelisted category

Use Amaze + XL Rewards to reduce the FCY fee to ~2%, while still earning 4 mpd.

FCY spending, non-whitelisted category

Use a naked XL Rewards Card to earn 4 mpd, with a 3.25% FCY fee.

If you brought Amaze into the picture, you’d earn 0.4 mpd with a ~2% FCY fee, because the transaction effectively becomes SGD spending in a non-whitelisted category.

Cardholders must be below 40!

The real hurdle to getting a Maybank XL Rewards or Cashback Card isn’t income, it’s age.

Maybank will only accept XL Card applications from customers aged 21-39 years old; anyone 40 or older will be automatically rejected. Eligibility is based on age at the time of application, and you can submit an application so long as you’re 39 years and 364 days or younger.

For the avoidance of doubt, you can retain this card even after you turn 40 — it’s not like Maybank sends a collection agency to your house to confiscate it. What’s more, it will still be renewed each time the expiry date comes around. But if you choose to cancel it after turning 40, you will never be able to apply for an XL Card again!

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)
	25,000 : 10,000
	12,500 : 5,000
	12,500 : 5,000
	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.

Conclusion

Apply

The Maybank XL Rewards Card is now offering new cardholders an upsized bonus cap of S$1,500 for the first four months, instead of the usual S$1,000.

You’ll still need to meet the minimum spend of S$500 per month, but otherwise, this is a very useful card to add to your collection — especially if you already max out the bonus caps on blacklist cards like the DBS Woman’s World Card or UOB Visa Signature.