Finding the right petrol credit card is not easy. The best choice will depend on your spending habits, petrol brand, and payment method. Our petrol credit cards guide explains the real benefits and savings on offer.

We’ll compare cashback rates and their conditions, and show you how to get the best return. We’ll cover reward point benefits. And we’ll help you choose between Conventional and Islamic options.

Is Cashback Capped for Petrol Credit Cards?

In Malaysia, petrol credit cards have a “cashback cap” that sets the maximum amount you can earn each month. To get the most value from your card check the monthly cashback cap on petrol and other categories you’ll use. Then check the total monthly cashback allowed.

The UOB One Card Platinum is a good example of a credit card with cashback capped for different spending categories. There is a monthly cashback cap of RM15 for petrol. And a RM15 cap each for dining, groceries, and Grab, giving you a total cashback of RM60 for the main four categories. Other cards, like the Alliance Bank Visa Signature, offer categorised cashback without a cap for petrol or dining.

If your spending habits don’t change much from month to month, then fixed cashback caps for each spending category will be fine. If you find that your spending varies from month to month, then a cashback card without caps by category will be better for you.

Most cashback credit cards have an unlimited cashback category. Those rates are usually very low, around 0.2% to 0.25%.  We won’t be focusing on these smaller uncapped categories in our guide.

How Do Spending Tiers and Weekend Cashback Work?

Cashback credit cards use spending tiers to determine your rewards rate. The more you spend, the higher your cashback percentage.

The UOB One Card Platinum keeps it straightforward with two spending levels. Spend RM1,500 or more monthly and earn 10% cashback. Spend less than RM1,500 monthly and you’ll only earn 0.2% cashback.

The RHB Cash Back Card offers four different tiers based on your monthly spending. Under RM1,000 gets you 0.2% cashback, while RM1,000 to RM1,999 earns 1% cashback. Step up to RM2,000 to RM2,499 and you’ll earn 2% cashback. Spend over RM2,500 and you’ll hit the top tier of 5% cashback.

If you want to avoid minimum spending requirements, other cards offer higher rates on specific days. The Maybank 2 Platinum Cards gives you 5% cashback on all retail spending during weekends. The Hong Leong Wise Card offers even higher weekend rates at 10% to 15% cashback.

How Do Petrol–Branded Credit Cards Work?

Petrol station-branded cards offer superior cashback rates for fuel spending. The Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Platinum gives you 8% cashback on petrol and retail spending at Petronas stations during weekends. Compare this to the Maybank 2 Gold Cards, which offers 5% weekend retail spending cashback across all merchants.

The RHB Shell Visa Credit Card takes it even further with up to 12% cashback for Shell petrol purchases. The standard RHB Cash Back Card only offers 5% cashback on petrol spending.

If you choose these branded cards there is a trade-off, higher petrol cashback comes at a cost. These cards offer lower or zero cashback on other spending categories like groceries or dining. You’ll  trade general spending rewards for greater fuel savings.

These cards work best for drivers who spend more on petrol than other categories. If you have several cars at home, consider a dual-card strategy. Use a petrol cashback card to maximise fuel rebates, then carry a separate general cashback card for grocery shopping, dining, and other expenses.

What’s The Difference Between Conventional and Islamic Cards?

If you want to save on petrol, choosing between conventional and Islamic credit cards from the same bank comes down to your personal preference. Banks design the cashback rates to be identical across both card types.

The RHB Shell Visa Credit Card and the RHB Shell Visa Credit Card-i both offer up to 12% cashback at Shell. Both cards share the same RM30 monthly cap and identical spending tiers.

The real difference between conventional and Islamic cards is that Islamic cards follow Shariah-compliant principles. Islamic financing operates on a fee-based structure instead of charging interest. Islamic cards also restrict transactions with non-halal merchants.

These Shariah principles don’t impact how petrol cashback gets calculated or paid out. This means both conventional and Islamic cards remain equally competitive for fuel savings.

Cashback vs Rewards Points

Cashback cards offer 5% to 15% rebates with monthly caps of RM50 to RM100. These rebates get deducted from your statement. You don’t need to do anything. Rewards cards provide much lower rebate rates. It takes more effort to claim points, but they don’t have maximum earning caps. This makes them worth considering if you’re a heavy fuel spender.

To explain how Rewards Cards work for Petrol, one of the best examples is the Maybank PETRONAS Visa Gold card. This gives you 8x Maybank TreatsPoints on weekend spending at Petronas stations. You need 32,000 TreatsPoints to redeem a RM50 Petronas gift card. With the 8x weekend bonus, you’ll earn those 32,000 points after spending RM4,000 at Petronas stations. This works out to 1.25% effective cashback. Not bad.

Most Malaysian drivers get better value from regular cashback credit cards. The higher rebate rates and automatic statement credits make them more rewarding for typical fuel spending patterns.

Only consider a rewards card only if you spend over RM4,000 on petrol monthly. At that spending level, the uncapped earning potential becomes more valuable than the convenience of cashback cards.

What Are The Best Petrol Credit Cards?

It depends.

Finding the best petrol credit card means matching the right card to your spending habits. It’s like choosing sports shoes, there’s no universal best option, no one size fits all. You need to find what works for your lifestyle and maximises your fuel savings.

At RinggitPlus, we researched dozens of petrol cards to identify the top performers. We focused on cards offering at least 5% cashback rates with monthly caps of RM50 or higher.

We excluded unlimited cashback cards with lower rebate rates. Most Malaysians don’t spend enough monthly to make 1% unlimited cashback cards worthwhile compared to higher-rate capped cards.

We focussed on higher spending tiers. Our recommendations target the highest cashback rates available on each card. This approach highlights the maximum potential savings for serious petrol spenders.

If your monthly spending falls below these higher tiers, contact us and we’ll help you find cards better suited to your spending patterns.

When banks offer Gold and Platinum versions with identical cashback rates, we recommend the Gold version. These cards typically have lower income requirements while delivering the same petrol rewards.

The Definitive Best Petrol Cashback Credit Cards

For most Malaysians, a cashback credit card that offers petrol rebates is the best option. These cards offer cash rebates at all petrol station brands, any day of the week, as well as good cashback on groceries and dining. If you spend between RM1,500 to RM3,000 per month on your credit card then these cards offer the best all-round rebates for you.

Best Petrol Cashback Credit Cards – Annual Income Under RM70,000

The UOB One Platinum Card offers a tiered cashback system designed for everyday expenses, providing up to 10% cashback on petrol, groceries, dining, and Grab transactions. To qualify for the 10% cashback rate, you will need to spend at least RM1,500 per month. 

You can earn up to RM15 per month for petrol, groceries, dining, and Grab for a total of RM60 in monthly cashback. If you spend less than RM1,500, the cashback is only 0.2%. The minimum annual income to apply for the UOB ONE Platinum card is RM36,000, and the annual fee is RM195. You can qualify for an annual fee waiver if you spend RM20,000 per year. 

The RHB Cash Back Credit Card offers up to 10% cashback for online groceries and food delivery, and up to 5% cashback on petrol, dining, utilities and groceries. Each of these categories has a RM10 monthly cap, that comes to a monthly total cap of RM50. 

To unlock the top tier of cashback, you’ll need to spend at least RM2,500 each month. All other spend has 0.2% cashback.You’ll need a minimum annual income of RM24,000 to apply, and the annual fee is RM70, which is waived for the first year. The annual fee in the second year onwards is waived with a minimum annual spend of RM10,000.

The Alliance Bank Visa Signature Credit Card offers a different approach to cashback. With this card, the highest 5% cashback only applies to what you spend between RM2,001 to RM3,000. That means you need to spend RM3,000 to earn the best 5% (RM50) cashback. There are also no caps by category so it doesn’t matter how much you spend on utilities, petrol, dining, groceries or online shopping. You earn cashback. 

The 5% cashback will apply to the total eligible spend between RM2,001 and RM3,000. You’ll need an annual income of RM48,000 to apply, and the annual fee is RM148, which is waived for the first year. Annual fees for the second year onwards can be waived with a minimum annual spend of RM12,000.

Best Petrol Cashback Credit Cards – Annual Income Over RM70,000

If you have an annual income over RM70,000, you can compare these premium card cards for your petrol cashback. Compared to the cashback cards for incomes under RM70,000, the premium cards offer slightly higher cashback along with other benefits such as airport lounge access. 

The RHB World Mastercard Credit Card is a premium credit card that offers up to 6% cashback for travel, petrol, and dining expenses. Each of these categories is capped at RM30, giving you a total cashback of RM90. You can also earn 2% cashback on overseas spending, which is capped at RM100. To enjoy the top tier cashback, you need to spend at least RM3,500 per month. 

As a premium card you also benefit from airport lounge access, complimentary golf course access and travel insurance. The minimum annual income required to apply for this card is RM80,000, and it comes with no annual fee for life.

The Maybank Visa Signature Credit Card offers 5% cashback on petrol and groceries with an impressive RM88 monthly cap. Even better, the card has no minimum spend tiers, and the cashback applies every day, not just on Fridays and weekends. 

You can also earn 1 Treatspoint for every RM1 spent locally, and 5 TreatsPoints for every RM1 spent overseas. The minimum income requirement is between RM70,000 and RM100,000 and the annual fee is RM550, which is waived for the first year. Annual fees for the second year onwards can be waived with a minimum annual spend of RM30,000.

The CIMB PETRONAS Visa Infinite-i Credit Card offers cashback up to 12% on PETRONAS transactions, including Setel and EV charging, and up to 6% on groceries and dining. You will need to spend at least RM4,000 to enjoy the top cashback tier. It is capped at RM60 per month for PETRONAS spending, and a combined RM60 per month for groceries and dining, bringing the total potential monthly cashback to RM120.

Other premium benefits include complimentary airport lounge access and unlimited 1% cashback on overseas spend (as long as your total monthly spend is over RM1,500). The minimum annual income required to apply is RM120,000, but this is reduced to RM60,000 for CIMB@Work customers. Annual fees are waived for now. 

Best Petrol–Branded Credit Cards 

Petrol-branded credit cards offer higher cashback rates for their brand partner, but the cashback on other spending is usually lower than the best cashback cards. These cards are best suited for people who spend more than average on petrol. If you have two or more cars at home, then it might make sense to have a credit card that gives you higher cashbacks just for petrol alone.

The RHB Shell Visa Credit Card is a tiered cashback card that offers up to 12% cashback for Shell Petrol and 5% for groceries, online shopping and e-wallets, and utilities. The monthly cashback is capped at RM30 for Shell Petrol and up to RM30 for the other categories combined, giving you a total monthly cashback of RM60 for local spending if you max out each category. 

To unlock the highest cashback tier, you will need to spend RM3,000 per month as well as a minimum spend per category to unlock that cashback. For groceries, a minimum spend of RM250 is required, RM500 for e-wallet and online shopping, and RM250 for utilities. You can also earn up to RM50 cashback on overseas spending, with a minimum spend of RM500.  

The minimum income to apply is RM24,000 and the annual fee is RM195, which is waived for the first year. Annual fees for subsequent years can be waived with 24 transactions per year.

The Maybank Islamic Petronas Ikhwan Visa Gold Card-i offers 8% cashback on Petronas station spending on weekends with no minimum spend required to unlock the rebate. The cashback drops to 1% on weekdays, with a monthly cap of RM50. The minimum income to apply is RM30,000 and annual fees are waived for life.

The CIMB Petronas Visa Platinum-i Credit Card also offers 8% cashback on Petronas spending (including Setel and EV charging) but you will need to spend RM2,000 per month to unlock this cashback. You can also earn up to 2% cashback on groceries, dining, and cashless parking.

Total cashback is capped at RM50 for Petronas spending and RM50 for groceries, dining and cashless parking, giving up to RM100 cashback per month. The minimum income to apply is RM24,000 and annual fees are waived for life.

The Public Bank Petron Visa Gold Credit Card offers up to 5% cashback for spending at Petron stations capped at RM50 per month. To enjoy the 5% cashback you will need to spend over RM800 per month at Petron stations alone. The minimum income to apply is RM24,000 and annual fees are waived for life.

Weekend Cashback Credit Cards 

The Maybank 2 Gold Cards and Hong Leong Wise Credit Card only offer higher cashback on weekends. If you find that most of your petrol, dining, and other retail spending is done on weekends, then these cards offer competitive cashback with lower or no minimum spend requirements. If you are a big spender and you find that your main cashback card is not providing enough rewards consider splitting your spending across two cards to double your cashback.

Similar to other Maybank cashback cards, the Maybank 2 Gold Cards offers 5% cashback with a RM50 cap on all retail spending, with no minimum spend requirement. 

Important to note the cashback only applies to spending on weekends and it is only for spending on the American Express Card, so you should double check if your regular petrol station, supermarket and restaurants accept AMEX before you apply. You need a minimum annual income of RM30,000 to apply and the annual fee is waived for life.

The Hong Leong Wise Credit Card is designed for weekend spenders, offering attractive cashback rates with a low minimum monthly retail spend of RM1,000. Cardholders can enjoy 15% cashback on dining, capped at RM20 a month, and 10% on both petrol and groceries, each capped at RM15 a month. For online transactions, including Grab, the cashback rate is 1%, with a monthly cap of RM15. In total, you can earn up to RM65 in cashback each month across these categories. 

To apply, a minimum annual income of RM24,000 is required. The card has an annual fee of RM98, which is waived for the first year if you make at least one transaction within 60 days of the card’s issuance. At the moment there is no annual fee waiver for the second year onwards.

So Which Is The Best Petrol Cashback Credit Card?

If you only want to have one credit card in your wallet then we recommend the standard cashback credit cards. With the UOB One Card Platinum, RHB Cash Back Visa Card, and Alliance Bank Visa Signature you should be able to earn RM50 most months by putting your petrol, groceries, utilities, and dining on the credit card. 

All of these cards also offer annual fee waivers, so the only cost in owning the card is the RM25 annual service tax. 

If you have annual income over RM70,000, you can consider the RHB World Mastercard, Maybank Visa Signature Card or CIMB Petronas Visa Infinite-i for higher cashbacks and other premium benefits.

We hope you find our Annual Petrol Cashback Credit Card guide useful, and that it helps you make an informed decision when you are comparing the many and various offers from the Banks.

All Credit Cards are updated throughout the year. We check and update product information on RinggitPlus every single day. When you’re looking for the best overview of all Credit Card offers in Malaysia, always check our main Credit Cards page.

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• TAGS:
• Alliance Bank
• CIMB
• Hong Leong
• How-To
• Maybank
• Petrol Credit Cards
• Petrol-Branded Cards
• Public Bank
• RHB
• Spending Tiers
• UOB
• Weekend Cashback