The biggest nerf of the year so far...

The year 2025 has not been favorable so far, with numerous reductions affecting bank savings accounts and credit card programs. Some of the significant changes include:

• Lowering of interest rates for UOB Stash, UOB One, OCBC 360

• Reduction of DBS Woman's bonus spending from $1.5k to $1k per calendar month

• UOB KrisFlyer credit card bonus miles from 3 mpd to 2.4 mpd

• Reduction in lounge visits for UOB Visa Infinite and Citi Prestige

The most significant impact is on the Maybank Platinum Visa. Take a look at my earlier blog HERE to see how I (along with many others who were gratefully influenced by me) utilize the Maybank Platinum Visa + CardUp to receive approximately 1.5%~ (3.3% Rebate - 1.8% CardUp fee) rebates on specific expenses like income tax and mortgage, up to $2k per month.

So what happened? Maybank continues to offer the same rebate rates for the three tiers of monthly spending. However, certain transactions (insurance, education, professional services) are now limited to qualifying for only up to 30% of the spending. CardUp uses a MCC code that is excluded under the "professional services" category.

This means that previously, you could pay $2,000 towards your taxes or mortgage using the card and receive a 3.33% rebate. Now, only $600 of the $2,000 spent on taxes or mortgage will count towards the rebate. That also means, to get 3.33% rebate of that $600, you STILL need to spend an additional $1400 on other kinds of spending (retail, online, travel).

Below table illustrates the new spending criteria:

Source: Maybank

YIKES!

Unfortunately, I haven't found an alternative to this "hack" yet. Until I do, I'm redirecting what I used to spend on the card to direct debit or GIRO for the time being.

It was enjoyable while it lasted. On the bright side, at least the interest rates for housing loans are finally decreasing.