Maybank eVibes Card
Earn unlimited 1% cashback on most purchases
Maybank eVibes Card Overview:
Designed with students and young adults in mind, the Maybank eVibes Card provides a number of features and benefits to help meet their financial needs. With its fuss-free 1% cashback reward, this makes it more easy to use for someone who’s still starting with managing their finances!
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 18 to 30 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: must not exceed S$30,000 (locals/PRs)
- Must be existing tertiary students or National Service Full-time (NSF) men that are accepted to these institutions: LASALLE, NAFA, NIE, NP, NTU, NUS, NYP, RP, SIT, SMU, SP, SUSS, SUTD, TP & SIM
Key Benefits:
- Unlimited 1% cashback on most purchases with no minimum spend requirement
- Technically free annual fee, after 2 years of waived service fee, just charge your card with any transactions every 3 months for the service fee to be waived
- No income required
Best Used by Students
- Students are also able to get 1% cashback for most educational institutions (Read the Best Credit Card for Education for more in-depth information). Also, this credit card can be used basically anywhere! May it be in-store purchases, online transactions, contactless payments (Samsung Pay). Basically anywhere where Visa is accepted.
- Important Considerations
- School Acceptance: Verify if your educational institution accepts credit card payments.
- Processing Fees: Inquire about any additional fees associated with card transactions. If the processing fee is 2%, and your cashback benefit is only 1%, using the credit card wouldn’t be financially advantageous.
- Important Considerations
Exclusion List:
- Payments made to government or government-related institutions, agencies or companies or for government or government-related and services (court cases, fines, bail and bonds, tax payment, postal services, parking lots and garages, intragovernment purchases and any other government services not classified here);
- Betting or gambling transactions;
- Brokerage/securities transactions;
- Transactions made via AXS or SAM;
- Transactions of a corporate/commercial nature;
- Payment to insurance companies or for insurance premiums;
- Transactions classified under the following Merchant Category Codes (“MCC”):
- Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment (MCC 6012)
- Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Non-Fiat Currency (for example: Cryptocurrency), Money Orders (Not Money Transfer), Account Funding (not Stored Value Load), Travelers Cheques, and Debt Repayment (MCC 6051)
- Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load (MCC 6540)
- FlexiCash, FlexiPay, 0% Interest Instalment Plans, funds transfers, cash advances, finance charges, late payment charges, annual fees, reversals, interest charges, any other miscellaneous charges charged to the Cardmember, or payment of funds to prepaid accounts such as those listed below (the following examples are not exhaustive and Maybank reserves the right to amend the list from time to time without giving prior notice or reason to any party):
- LINK PTE LTD (FEVO)
- EZ Link
- EZ-LINK*
- EZLINK
- EZ-Link
- EzLink
- EZLINKS.COM
- EZ Link transport
- EZ-LINK (IMAGINE CARD)
- EZ-Link EZ-Reload (ATU)
- BANC DE BINARY
- BANCDEBINARY.COM
- Flashpay ATU
- MBMONEYBOOKERS.COM
- NETS VCASHCARD
- OANDA ASIA PAC
- PAYPAL* BIZCONSULTA
- PAYPAL* CAPITALROYA
- SKRSkrill.com
- SKRxglobalmarkets.com*
- SKYFX.COM*
- TRANSIT*
- TRANSITLINK*
- TRANSIT LINK*
- WWW.IGMARKETS.COM.SG
- WWW.PLUS500.CO.UK
- WWW.MYEZLINK.COM.SG
- YOUTRIP*
- Any transactions deemed by Maybank at its sole discretion to be unsuitable or inappropriate to be considered as an Eligible Transaction.
Advantages:
- Effortless cashback of 1% on all purchases
- Technically, you won’t pay for any fees
- Student friendly credit card
Disadvantages:
- Low credit limit of S$500 making it a little restrictive (but there is a workaround below)
How to pay for school fees above S$500 using this card: Your credit limit represents the maximum amount you can borrow on your credit card, typically repaid in full by the next billing cycle. In this example, a S$500 limit signifies the bank’s extension of credit up to that amount. To leverage a 1% cashback benefit on school fees (e.g., S$4,000), consider making an upfront payment of this amount to your credit card. This effectively increases your available credit by S$4,000. You can then use the card for your school fee payment.
Final Thoughts:
- The Maybank eVibes Card provides a transparent and uncomplicated entry point for students into the realm of credit cards. Its consistent 1% cashback on all purchases, devoid of minimum spending requirements, presents a clear advantage, particularly for educational expenses. Furthermore, the waived annual fee for the initial two years enhances its budget-friendliness.
- However, responsible financial management is paramount, given the S$500 credit limit. Instances of students strategically neglecting to repay their S$500 outstanding balance have resulted in disqualification from future credit lines with the bank, effectively nullifying access to lucrative sign-up bonuses offered on other Maybank credit cards.
- Therefore, I strongly advise students to prioritize timely and complete repayment of their credit card balances. This fosters a history of financial prudence and a robust credit score, both invaluable assets for their future.
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
💡 We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.
