Maybank Family & Friends Card Review | What You Need To Know

Best for 5 Categories You Commonly Spend on

• You have the freedom to choose 5 of the 10 categories and change it every quarter. However, if you don’t make a choice, the default cashback categories will be applied. Do take note of the cashback cap of S$20 or S$30 per category.
  • Eg. If dining is one of my chosen categories, the maximum effective spending would be S$375 (S$30 ÷ 8%), earning you S$30 for that category. If you spend beyond S$375 in the dining category, you will not earn any more cashback

These are the 10 Categories Option:

• Updated: Maybank added more merchants for categories under Dining, Online Shopping, Entertainment, and Transportation. MCC 5812 & 5814 (Fast Food) is now included under Dining categories which makes it more easy to use compared before where you have to keep track of whether you are ordering from a fast food or a restaurant. Online Fashion Category is now changed to “Online Shopping” and is much more specific with the commonly used online shopping sites like Lazada, Shopee, and Taobao. Under Transport category, E-Vehicle Charging is now included.

Best To Check the Benefit Optimizer Regularly:

• You can effortlessly monitor your spending across various categories on the Benefit Optimizer, helping you track whether you’ve reached the minimum monthly spending and if you’re staying within the optimal spending for each category.

Instarem Amaze Card — How It Works with Maybank Family & Friends Card

Instarem Amaze is a payment processor that sits between the merchant and your credit card. When paired with your Maybank Family & Friends Card, it can help route eligible overseas transactions as online spend, allowing them to qualify for your selected bonus categories and earn up to 8% cashback.

One key advantage of using Amaze for overseas spending is lower foreign currency costs. Instead of paying the usual 3.25% FCY fee charged by most banks, Amaze converts foreign currency transactions into SGD and charges your card in SGD, resulting in an FX spread of about 2%.

Rule of thumb: Use Amaze mainly for overseas spending in your chosen bonus categories.

Important notes:

• Amaze converts foreign currency transactions into SGD before charging your linked card

• Please note that Amaze now charges a 1% fee (minimum S$0.50) on all SGD-linked transactions, removing the previous fee-free threshold for spending below S$1,000. To avoid this fee, I recommend using Amaze mainly for overseas transactions in the selected categories. Amaze is generally more useful for foreign spending, as it converts foreign currency transactions into SGD and typically reduces the usual 3.25% FCY fee to about a 2% FX spread before charging your card.

• You can link up to 5 Mastercard cards

 

Use my referral code Ac6aso or use my link below for extra sign up bonus instarem points

Apply Here

 

Exclusion List:

• 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);

• EZ 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
• MB * MONEYBOOKERS.COM
• NETS VCASHCARD
• OANDA ASIA PAC*
• PAYPAL* BIZCONSULTA
• PAYPAL* CAPITALROYA
• SKR*Skrill.com
• SKR*xglobalmarkets.com*
• SKYFX.COM*
• TRANSIT*
• TRANSITLINK*
• TRANSIT LINK*
• WWW.IGMARKETS.COM.SG
• WWW.PLUS500.CO.UK
• WWW.MYEZLINK.COM.SG
• YOUTRIP*

• Effective 1 July 2025:
  • MCC 7523 – Automobile Parking Lots & Garage
  • MCC 8651 – Political Organisations
  • MCC 8661 – Religious Organisations
  • MCC 8398 – Charitable and Social Services Organisations

Buffs: 

• Effective 1 October 2024, more MCCs are added to the cashback categories
  • Dining & Food Delivery – MCC 5814
  • Transport – MCC 5552
  • Entertainment – MCC 7929
  • Online Shopping – MCC 5262, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399
• Indonesian Rupiah added to additional bonus category to earn 8% cashback

Nerfs:

• Effective 1 January 2025, there will be changes on the cashback structure and categories (refer to this post for more info):
  • Cashback Structure:

    • From 2026, you’ll need to spend S$1,600/month to get the full 8% cashback.
      Spending S$800–S$1,600 will still earn bonus cashback, but at a lower 6%.

       

• • Cashback Categories:
    • The Pharmacy category will be removed and replaced entirely with Automotive.
      • MCC 5541, 5542, 5532, 5533, 5599, 7531, 7535, 7538, 5552
      • This means purchases from pharmacies will no longer earn 6–8% cashback from 2026.
    • “Commute” will be changed into “Transport”
      • MCC 4111, 4121, 4789, 4112, 4131
    • “Data Communication & Online TV Streaming” to “Telco & Streaming”
    • “Retails & Pets” to “Kids & Pets”

• Effective 1 July 2025, these are added to the exclusion list:
  • MCC 7523 – Automobile Parking Lots & Garage
  • MCC 8651 – Political Organisations
  • MCC 8661 – Religious Organisations
  • MCC 8398 – Charitable and Social Services Organisations

Advantages:

• Quite versatile and generous cashback for daily spending
• Benefit optimizer is useful for tracking the spending of each category
• Can use with Amaze for overseas transactions to save on FCY fee

Disadvantages:

• High minimum monthly spending required, especially after the nerf
• Need to track spending by category

• How to choose my categories: To choose your desired Categories, the Cardmember needs to download the Maybank TREATS SG mobile app, then select and confirm the categories on the Benefit Selection page. This choice will apply to the first Lock-In Period (3 months), and no changes can be made once confirmed; You can change the categories quarterly and you may choose depending on your spending needs. The categories will take effect the following month.
• What happens if I cannot hit the minimum spend every month: You can use your card to purchase FairPrice gift cards and spend them at NTUC. This can help you reach the minimum spend requirement. Alternatively, you can prepay your telco or internet bill. Once you’ve met the minimum spend, you can keep your card for future use.

Read Terms and Conditions here