Sponsored Post (long post with lots of examples)

This is my first sponsored post! I’ll be promoting cards from two banks at the end of this article but all opinion and cashback hack ideas here are my own.

Can I just say that I am actually a big fan of credit cards? I use them anyway and they have saved me a lot of money over the years, especially combined with other cashback hacks. During my recent Krabi trip (which costs me about RM900), I gave example how I used a credit card to make some payments, and got RM50 + RM66 in total cashback. That made the vacation so much sweeter 🙂

How to Combine Credit Cards with Other Cashback Hacks

There are a few steps to this, starting from the sign-up to the strategies you can use to combine and maximise your savings. Each step can add a layer of cashback and benefits. Don’t worry, I included plenty of examples.

First Layer – When You Apply

As much as possible, start getting your cashback as soon as you sign up for the credit card. Some credit cards have offers like giving away free stuff when you sign up (luggage bags seems to be really popular), but the best is getting pure hard cash.

All cards I’m promoting in this article will give you RM200 when you sign up via my link. That’s a good amount. I wish I knew this when I applied for my cards – I missed out on some sign-up bonuses 🙁

Second Layer – When You Use It

Some credit cards give x% in cashbacks, some give points which you can turn into cash rebates – both are good in my opinion.

Personally, I don’t particularly like cards for Airmiles or other types of benefits. I think getting cashbacks or cash rebates are the most versatile, but this is obviously up to you. In this article I talk only about cashback cards or cards with redemption system for cash vouchers.

What’s a good cashback amount? 2% and above is a good amount and a minimum for me. I see some offer like 0.5% – a bit too low in my opinion.

Third and More Layers – When You Combine it With Other Cashbacks

This is the fun part, because there are so many ways! I don’t think my list is exhaustive, but it’s a good start. Once you’ve secured your first and second layer, go ahead and add on as many extra layers as possible to compound your cashback value.

In this section, I give examples to show you how it works. You can use:

Shopback.my. A cashback website. Sign up and look for online merchants you like (they have many popular vendors like Lazada, Aliexpress and more!). Go to the merchant website from their link and you’ll get cashback credited to your account, which you can withdraw at a later date. The link is my referral link and gives you a RM5 bonus.

I use Shopback quite a lot. This is my account now 😛

Example – combining credit card with ShopBack:

Assuming you want to purchase an item worth RM100 with your credit card, and clicked via Shopback;

Auto-Billing Enrollment Bonus. I like doing auto-billing, because (1) one less thing to do every month, and (2) can get these types of bonuses. Plus you’ll never get slapped with late fee again, which is practical. I highly suggest you take advantage of this.

Example – combining credit card with Auto-Billing Enrollment Bonus:

Assuming you want to pay a bill worth RM100 with your credit card, and take advantage of RM30 auto-billing enrollment bonus;

Use Visa/Mastercard-specific offers. Frequently overlooked, many people don’t realise that Visa and Mastercard themselves come with their own offers. You can check all Visa offers here and all Mastercard offers here. If you get cards linked with Visa or Mastercard, you are automatically eligible for these offers.

Example – combining credit card with Visa/Mastercard-specific offers:

Assuming you want to pay a dining bill worth RM100 with your credit card, and take advantage of 20% discount by Visa;

Petrol Loyalty Cards. If you have a favourite brand of petrol, it makes sense to get the loyalty card. Many of the major brands have their own loyalty cards – see this article for a comparison and how the point system works. Usually, you can redeem roughly about 1% from the points you collected, which is better than nothing.

Example – combining credit card with petrol loyalty cards:

Assuming you want to fill up RM100 worth of petrol with your credit card;

BonusLink/BCard points for cash/voucher redemption. Another redemption card that is accepted at many places, and frequently come with extra point bonus campaigns. The redemption system is obviously different for different categories, but you can roughly redeem vouchers at 1-1.5% value. You can check BonusLink here and BCard redemption here.

Example – combining credit card with BonusLink/BCard:

Assuming you want to purchase an item worth RM100 with your credit card from a BonusLink/BCard participating merchant;

Layering It Up

This is where it gets really cool – there’s nothing stopping you from layering the cashbacks on top of another as long as it doesn’t breach any T&C. For example, I know that you can combine credit card cashback + Shopback + BCard pretty easily.

Example:

Assuming you want to purchase an item worth RM100 with your credit card from a BCard participating merchant;

It also works with petrol – most of them accept both loyalty cards and BonusLink.

Example:

Assuming you want to fill up RM100 worth of petrol with your credit card;

Good, no? Every extra % counts, because a sen unspent is a sen earned!

(Note: If you know of more layers, please tell me in comments!)

Which cashback credit cards should you get?

Feel free to do your own research (in fact, I highly encourage it). Look for cards that you can use to layer and combine your cashbacks, for maximum savings.

In terms of credit card preferences, here’s what I think is good:

No annual fee. Some people say you can call customer service to get them waived, but I prefer not having them in the first place.

Visa and/or Mastercard. I have an Amex card, and honestly sometimes it’s a nightmare to find a place that actually accept it. My Amex card has been refused even for groceries at hypermarket. What good is a card if you can’t use it? Visa/Mastercard all the way.

The more straightforward, the better. Ain’t nobody got time for complicated T&Cs.

2% or more in cashback. Of course.

Low minimum income. None of the cards here require you to be a millionaire in order to apply.

I’ll give you 4 card recommendations from 2 banks – two each from Ambank and Standard Chartered – all are decent cards, but only 1 of them fit into my strict requirements. Also, I’m providing an example of a GREAT card with good points collection system but requires high minimum income (and a jet-setting lifestyle, apparently), just so you know how they set the bar in credit card world.

EDIT: This section is outdated and referral link no longer works, sorry 🙁

Best credit card from Ambank for High-Income Individuals: World Mastercard/ Ambank Visa Infinite / Ambank Islamic World Mastercard-i / Ambank Islamic Visa Infinite

If you are eligible for this, I have no words. You baller, you.

You need a minimum yearly income of RM120k/year to be eligible for this card, but if you do you get quite a sweet deal. This card (and all other cards from Ambank) has no annual fees.

This card is best for:

Traveling . You get free access to selected airport lounges which is pretty dope. And free travel insurance coverage when you charge it to the card.

Points collection . 5x points for every overseas transaction (except online transaction) – redeem RM150 cash rebate for 30,000 points which is effectively 2.5% cashback

Free protection against theft or accidental damage within 30 days after purchase . This is cool – if you buy expensive stuff (smartphone, for example), you get free protection for a month in case anything happens to it.

ProTip: Use this referral link and you get RM200 in sign-up bonus upon successful application!

Good card? Yep. Erm, need more realistic choices? Even I don’t qualify for this one lol.

Best credit card from Ambank: Ambank CARz / Ambank Islamic CARz



These cards only require RM24k/year income (Gold) or RM48k/year (Platinum), which is a lot more affordable than the card above.

This card is best for:

Petrol . When you use this card to spend for petrol (any petrol), if you pay in full, you get 2% cash rebate for up to RM20 (i.e RM1000 spending on petrol).

Collecting CARz Points . According to the website, RM1=1 CARz points (exclude petrol), and points accumulated ‘can be used to redeem auto-related goods and services’.

T&C for this card.

ProTip: Use this referral link and you get RM200 in sign-up bonus upon successful application!

Ambank is also Shopback-friendly.



And they also have a cash rebate thing going on when you enrol for Auto Billpay.



Best credit card from Standard Chartered (with Annual Fee): Cashback Gold Mastercard

Minimum income requirement for this card is RM24k per annum, which is RM2000 a month. Most of Standard Chartered credit cards have annual fees – this one costs RM185.50 per year to use (but definitely call them – they might waive it if you ask nicely).

This card is best for:

Everyday spending . Cashback between 2-5% on spending. I think hitting the 2% or 3% should be fairly easy, especially if you use it to buy groceries and stuff. See the table below for breakdown of how much you need to spend with the card in order to claim the cashback, and the maximum cashback you can get.

T&C for this card

ProTip: Use this referral link and you get RM200 in sign-up bonus upon successful application!

Best credit card from Standard Chartered (without Annual fee): Standard Chartered Gold Mastercard

Minimum income requirement for this card is RM24k per annum, which is RM2000 a month. Most of Standard Chartered credit cards have annual fees – this is the ONLY one that doesn’t 🙂

This card is best for:

Points Collection. This card can be used to collect 360 Reward Points. According to this page , 85,000 points gets you RM100 in cash vouchers, which is effectively only 0.0012% cashback.

T&C for this card.

ProTip: Use this referral link and you get RM200 in sign-up bonus upon successful application!

Conclusion

To the best of my ability, I have researched all the credit cards offered from both these banks, and these were the ones that I can recommend for their respective benefits. To recap, I like cards with no annual fees, issued in Visa/Mastercard (not Amex), fairly straightforward, have more than 2% cashback, and have low minimum income (which means easier to apply for). Out of the above, the Ambank CARz one looks good.

If you’re looking for credit cards, you should take advantage of sign up offers. Again, you can use this referral link and get RM200 in sign-up bonus upon successful application.

Layering cashback credit cards with other cashback or cash rebate programs is a good way to maximise your savings. It’s NOT an excuse to spend more, mind you, so don’t be like, eh I saved RM1, I can now buy more things.

Do you have any other cashback hacks that can be used in this case? Any hacks involving credit cards not included here? Please share in comments 🙂 Find this post useful? Please share it around!

Thanks for reading my first sponsored post. Being a blogger can be time consuming and pays nothing so it’s neat that CompareHero thought my ideas are good enough to pay for. Thanks, guys for helping to pay the blog hosting costs for the next renewal 🙂

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