Maybank is rolling out some changes to its TREATS Rewards Programme from 1st July 2025, including reduced earn rates on selected cards for transactions such as insurance premiums and education fees, while new rewards exclusions will include spending on charitable and religious donations, plus parking fees.
Thankfully the changes are relatively minor, though Maybank Horizon Visa Signature cardholders need to take note of a few important things. Here’s how it looks.
New rewards exclusion categories
Effective from 1st July 2025, the Maybank TREATS Points Rewards Programme will be revised and all retail transactions charged under the following Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) will no longer be eligible to earn TREATS Points:
- MCC 7523 – Automobile Parking Lots & Garages
- MCC 8651 – Political Organisations
- MCC 8661 – Religious Organisations
- MCC 8398 – Charitable and Social Services Organisations
For example, you can currently earn 0.4 mpd when you use the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature card to make donations to charity under MCC 8398, but these transactions will no longer earn any miles from 1st July 2025 onwards.
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature changes
In addition to these new reward exclusion categories, there will be some additional changes for Maybank Horizon Visa Signature cardholders from 1st July 2025.
- 0.24 mpd earning for local Education, Insurance, Medical and Utilities spend will be cut to 0.16 mpd, a 33% reduction
- Rentals and Professional Services spend will be added to the 0.16 mpd earn rate list
- Insurance payments will be excluded from the accumulation of S$800 minimum monthly spend to unlock the card’s bonus 2.8 mpd earn rate for FCY spend and Air Ticket transactions
Here’s how the card’s earning categories and rates will look from 1st July 2025, for those making at least S$800 eligible spend per calendar month.
Earn Rates
S$800+ total spend
in same calendar month
(from 1st July 2025)
| Spend Type |
Spend Category |
Earn Rate |
| Local | Education Insurance Medical Utilities Rentals [new] Professional Services [new] |
0.16 mpd |
| Dining Food Delivery Supermarkets Transport Petrol Department Stores Selected Retail Stores Hotels Cruises Travel Packages |
1.2 mpd | |
| All other Local Spend |
0.4 mpd | |
| FCY | All FCY Spend | 2.8 mpd |
| Local or FCY |
Air Tickets* | 2.8 mpd* |
* Capped at S$10,000 spend per calendar month, thereafter 1.2 mpd
The 33% cut in earn rates for some local spend is disappointing, but these categories are typically excluded from miles earning by most credit cards anyway, and they currently only earn 0.24 mpd using this card, which likely isn’t setting anyone’s balance on fire.
Do be careful to ensure that you do not account for Insurance payments using this card to reach the S$800 monthly minimum spend to unlock the bonus 2.8 mpd rates shown above, since that’s the major draw for the Maybank Horizon HVS for most of our readers.
For more details about this card, take a look at our recently-updated comprehensive review.
| Maybank Horizon Visa Signature |
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2.8 mpd uncapped FCY rate |
2.8 mpd on air tickets |
Fee-free for 3 years |
| READ OUR REVIEW | |||
| Maybank Horizon Visa Signature | ||
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2.8 mpd uncapped FCY rate |
2.8 mpd on air tickets |
Fee-free for 3 years |
| READ OUR REVIEW | ||
Summary
Maybank’s upcoming changes to its TREATS Rewards Programme are relatively modest, but worth noting. The new exclusion categories for charitable donations, religious organisations, political groups and parking fees align with industry norms and shouldn’t significantly impact most users’ earning potential.
For Maybank Horizon Visa Signature cardholders, the reduction in earn rates for education, insurance, medical, and utilities spending from 0.24 mpd to 0.16 mpd is disappointing but not devastating – these categories already offered minimal returns.
The bigger concern is ensuring insurance payments don’t form part of your S$800 monthly minimum spend calculation, since this could inadvertently block access to the card’s attractive 2.8 mpd rates on foreign currency spending and air tickets – it’s main selling point.
Overall, the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature remains a solid option for foreign currency spending, particularly with its uncapped 2.8 mpd rate and current fee-free promotion. Just be mindful of the revised earning structure when planning your monthly spend strategy from July onwards.