What Is The Best Petrol Credit Card In Malaysia?
Jacie Tan
24th February 2021 - 10 min read
As Malaysians, we are fortunate to enjoy some of the cheapest fuel prices in the region. Nonetheless, petrol expenses can take up a considerable chunk of our monthly expenditure, especially for those who of us who have to spend a lot of time on the road each day. Of course, we can’t control fuel prices that are updated every week, but one sure thing we can do is to get a petrol cashback credit card.
A petrol cashback credit card gives you a percentage of cashback when you spend on fuel or in some cases, on general items at petrol stations. If you’re a frequent driver, you’ll definitely be spending on petrol whether you like it or not – so why not get yourself a credit card that will ensure you get a little bit of that spending back? Here are some of the best petrol cashback credit cards in Malaysia.
Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i
Cashback: 8% for Petronas spend on weekends, 1% on weekdays
Monthly cap: RM50
Annual fee: Free for life
Minimum income requirement: RM30,000 per year (RM2,500/month)
The Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan offers 8% cashback on all retail spend at Petronas stations on weekends and a lower rate of 1% from Monday to Friday. If Petronas is your fuel brand of choice, the generous 8% rate with no minimum spend requirement makes it a rewarding cashback credit card. The weekend requirement becomes a minor issue when you consider how much cashback you can earn. If you spend around RM300 on petrol each month, you’ll earn RM288 in cashback in just one year with this card – that’s almost one month’s worth of fuel!
As the Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan doesn’t offer cashback for any spending outside Petronas stations, it’s a good example of a straightforward credit card you would use just to earn cashback for petrol. However, if you do use your Ikhwan card for other purposes, you’ll get 1x TreatsPoints for every RM1 spent – except at government bodies, Petronas stations, or other petrol stations.
There is also a Platinum variation of the Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan, which offers the exact same benefits as the Gold but has a minimum income requirement of RM60,000 per year.
Maybank Islamic MasterCard Ikhwan Gold Card-i
Cashback: 5% on petrol and groceries every Friday and Saturday
Monthly cap: RM50 total cashback
Annual fee: Free for life
Minimum income requirement: RM30,000 per year (RM2,500/month)
For those who don’t want to be limited to only one brand of petrol, the Maybank Islamic MasterCard Ikhwan Gold-i is a good option. Moreover, since you can earn cashback on your grocery expenditure as well as petrol, you have a higher chance of full reaping the cashback benefits with this card compared to the Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan.
The Maybank Islamic MasterCard Ikhwan Gold-i also offers 1 TreatsPoint for every RM1 spent locally and overseas (except for spending on government bodies). With no minimum spend requirement to enjoy the cashback benefits and a lifetime annual fee waiver, the Maybank Islamic MasterCard Ikhwan is set to give you a steady cashback return each month – provided you keep your spending to the two designated days of the week.
Those who earn RM60,000 per annum and above can opt for the Maybank Islamic MasterCard Ikhwan Platinum-i, which shares the same benefits as its Gold counterpart. Alternatively, you can consider getting the Maybank Visa Signature which also offers 5% cashback on petrol and groceries, but at a higher cap of RM88 per month.
Citi Cash Back Credit Card
Cashback: 10% on petrol, groceries, dining, and Grab every day
Monthly cap: RM10 for petrol
Annual fee: RM120 (waived for first 3 years)
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000 per year (RM3,000/month)
The Citi Cash Back Card offers 10% cashback on four categories, with a cashback cap of RM10 per category. This credit card has the advantage of offering a high rate of cashback every day of the week with no restrictions on where you fuel up. However, the RM10 cap makes it less suitable for those who spend more than RM100 on petrol monthly. It’s a better option for those who don’t need to fuel up as much, but still want a card with a high petrol cashback rate.
Do note that there is a minimum spend requirement of RM500 a month in order to be eligible for the 10% cashback rate. All the same, this amount shouldn’t be too difficult to reach especially if you are using this card across all categories to achieve the maximum cashback returns each month. There is also a Citi Cash Back Platinum variant that comes with a higher cashback cap, but the minimum spend requirement for the Platinum is much higher at RM1,500 a month.
Hong Leong Wise Gold
Cashback: 8% cashback on petrol, groceries, & dining on weekends
Monthly cap: Up to RM18 for petrol
Annual fee: RM98
Minimum income requirement: RM24,000 per year (RM2,000/month)
Offering cashback on petrol, groceries, and dining with a minimum monthly spend of RM500, the Hong Leong Wise is quite similar in some ways to the Citi Cash Back Card. However, even once you meet the minimum spend, you still have to make sure to fuel up on the weekends in order to get the 8% rate – otherwise you will only get 1% in cashback.
With the cashback cap, you can earn cashback on up to RM225 worth of petrol expenditure each month on the 8% rate. Moreover, the Hong Leong Wise holds up very well as a general cashback credit card too, offering up to RM54 in cashback across its three categories each month. This credit card comes in two variants, but the Hong Leong Wise Platinum has the exact same benefits as the Gold.
Affinbank BHPetrol ‘Touch & Fuel’ MasterCard Contactless
Cashback: 10% for BHPetrol spend on weekends, 2% on weekdays
Monthly cap: RM50
Annual fee: RM150 (free for the first year)
Minimum income requirement: RM24,000 per year (RM2,000/month)
Interestingly, the Affinbank BHPetrol “Touch & Fuel” Mastercard Contactless did not start out as a cashback credit card. It was initially a reward credit card that offered the benefit of petrol cashback under a long-standing campaign run by Affin Bank. However, the petrol cashback has now been accepted as a permanent feature of the card.
As such, you get 10% cashback on BHPetrol spend on weekends and 2% on weekdays, capped at RM50 per month using the Affinbank BHPetrol “Touch & Fuel” Mastercard Contactless. Other ordinary retail spend gets you 1 Affin Rewards Point for every RM1. With no minimum spend requirement, a high cashback rate, and decent cashback cap, the Affinbank BHPetrol ‘Touch & Fuel’ Mastercard a more than worthy petrol cashback contender for those who pump at BHPetrol stations.
Maybank 2 Gold Cards
Cashback: 5% on weekends
Monthly cap: RM50
Annual fee: Free for life
Minimum income requirement: RM30,000 per year (RM2,500/month)
The ubiquitous Maybank 2 Cards can also be used a petrol cashback card; the 5% on all retail spend offered by the American Express half of the pair applies to petrol transactions too. For those of you who didn’t know, the Maybank 2 Cards come as a pair consisting of the Maybank 2 American Express Card and the Maybank 2 MasterCard/Visa. The American Express offers 5% cashback on weekends and 5x TreatsPoints on weekdays, whereas the MasterCard or Visa offers 1x TreatsPoints on all expenditure.
If you’re looking for a general cashback and rewards credit card that can give you cashback on your weekend petrol transactions, this is definitely a solid choice. The Maybank 2 Cards are free for life, but as they come in a pair you’ll have to pay double SST for the two cards. If you earn more than RM60,000 a year, you can opt for the Maybank 2 Platinum Cards; they are also free for life but come with the added benefit of complimentary travel insurance.
UOB ONE Card
Cashback: 5% on weekends, 1% on weekdays
Monthly cap: RM10 for petrol
Annual fee: RM68 per year
Minimum income requirement: RM24,000 per year (RM2,000/month)
The UOB ONE Card is a great weekend petrol credit card as it offers 5% cashback on weekends at all petrol stations with no minimum spend. With a cashback cap of RM200 just for petrol, it has the most generous cap out of all the credit cards listed here. Besides giving cashback for petrol, the UOB ONE Card also offers decent rates on cinema (8%), groceries (2%), and telecommunication (2%) spending on the weekends, with a lower rate of 0.2% for weekday spend and all other retail.
You could also go for the UOB ONE Platinum, which offers the same cashback rates as the UOB ONE Card but with higher monthly cashback caps for each category.
Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Mastercard
Cashback: Up to 15% on petrol, online purchases, and auto-bill payments
Monthly cap: RM12–RM20 for petrol
Annual fee: RM250 per year (first year free, waived with RM20,000 annual spend subsequently)
Minimum income requirement: RM36,000 per year (RM3,000/month)
The Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Mastercard offers different rates and cashback caps depending on how much you spend in a month. The cashback rates for JustOne Platinum are as follows:
| Monthly spend | Cashback rate | Monthly cap |
| RM0 – RM999 | 0.2% | RM2 |
| RM1,000 – RM1,499 | 5% | RM12 |
| RM1,500 – RM2,499 | 10% | *RM28 |
| RM2,500 and above | 15% | *RM60 |
* Further capped at RM20 per category
As such, you’d have to spend at least RM1,000 each month on your JustONE Platinum in order to get an at least decent cashback rate for your petrol expenditure – but at that tier, the cashback cap is quite limiting considering how much you would have to spend. Therefore, the Standard Chartered JustOne Platinum Card is best for those who use this card to pay all the bills and online shopping as well as petrol expenses, thus unlocking the most worthwhile cashback returns.
RHB Shell Visa Credit Card
Cashback: Up to 12% on Shell petrol, groceries, online, e-wallets, and utilities every day
Monthly cap: RM50 for petrol
Annual fee: RM196 (waived for first year and subsequently upon minimum of 24 swipes per year)
Minimum income requirement: RM24,000 per year (RM2,000/month)
This newest edition to the best petrol cashback credit card list is one of the strongest contenders. The RHB Shell Visa Credit Card is a tiered cashback credit card that offers up to 12% cashback capped at RM50 on Shell petrol expenditure. It also has different cashback rates and a separate cashback allowance for its other categories of spend, as can be seen below.
| Total Monthly Spend | Shell Petrol | Groceries, Online, E-Wallet, Utilities |
| RM800 – RM1,499.99 | 5% | 1% |
| RM1,500 – RM2,499.99 | 8% | 2% |
| RM2,500 and above | 12% | 5% |
| Monthly Cap: | RM50 | RM50 |
While the RHB Shell Visa Credit Card does have a separate (and more rewarding) cashback mechanism for its petrol expenditure, the minimum spend requirement is shared across the categories. Fortunately, even when viewed as a whole, the RHB Shell Visa Credit Card can be seen as a very rewarding cashback credit card, so big household spenders shouldn’t have an issue reaping the high maximum returns from this card, petrol-related or otherwise.
A Petrol Credit Card For Everyone
Yes, we may have shortlisted the best petrol credit cards on the market, but when it comes to choosing a card for yourself, you’ll have to look at your own usage patterns an spending habits in order to select the right one. Some people don’t like fueling up on only one fuel brand or on certain days of the week, so don’t go for a card that has these conditions if you don’t think you can follow the card’s cashback conditions.
Besides that, always remember that one of the best ways to maximise your cashback returns is to have different cashback cards for different purposes (if you’re able to manage it). When picking your credit card for petrol cashback, don’t forget to consider what other areas of your expenditure you can get cashback for – and plan your cashback credit card arsenal with this in mind.
About THE AUTHOR
Jacie Tan
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Comments (1)
You have forgotten to mention the best petrol and groceries credit card ever which I personally think should hold the top spot. It is the Maybank Visa Signature. Rewarding 5% at all petrol stations and groceries everyday with no minimum spend required and capped at RM88 (Max spend RM1760) this credit card deserved the top spot. But there’s a caveat. Minimum annual income of RM70K – RM100K.