Maybank has announced a fresh round of changes to its TREATS Points (TP) and cashback programmes, effective from 1st December 2025. These updates primarily target exclusions on certain transaction types and introduce new earning caps on the Horizon card’s low-bonus categories.

While far from a complete overhaul, the tweaks could reduce the card’s appeal for bill payments and some high-value (low-mileage) local spend.

Here’s how the latest changes look.

New spend category exclusions

The following upcoming revisions apply to all personal Maybank credit and debit cards, expanding on previous exclusions (including as those introduced in July 2025). Here’s what’s new:

Transactions under specific Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) and matching certain descriptions will no longer earn any TP or cashback. This means zero miles or rewards on this spend.

• MCC-Based Exclusions:
  • 4829: Money Transfers
    (e.g. remittances like Western Union).
  • 6010, 6011, 6050, 6529, 6530, 6534, 7511: Cash Disbursements, Quasi-Cash, and Top-Ups
    (e.g. cash advances or funding digital wallets).
  • 7349: Cleaning, Maintenance, and Janitorial Services
  • 4900: Utilities
    (e.g. electricity, water, and gas bills via SP Services).
  • 5960, 6381, 6399: Insurance-Related Transactions
    Important exception: This does not apply to the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature, Platinum Visa, or Visa Infinite cards, where insurance can still earn rewards (subject to some new caps, detailed below)
• Description-based exclusions: Specific merchants or transaction labels:
  BAGUS, CANTINE, INSTAREM, RAZERPAY, SEDAP, SGEBIZ, SIMPLYGO, SINGAPORE E-BUSINESS, and SINGTEL DASH.
  These often relate to digital payments, remittances, or wallet top-ups.

Previously, utilities and these other categories earned at the base rate (0.4 TP per S$1 locally, equivalent to 0.16 mpd after conversion). Soon, they’ll earn nothing, potentially pushing users toward alternative cards for bill payments in particular.

These changes will also apply to cashback cards like the Maybank Platinum Visa card and the Maybank XL Cashback card.

Isn’t SIMPLYGO transit spend?

Yes and no… but mostly no!

Direct tap fares (bus / MRT rides) almost always post to your card account with the merchant description “BUS/MRT” in Singapore.

This is consistent across banks, including Maybank, Citi, UOB, DBS and HSBC. The MCC, if you’re interested, is 4111, which classifies it as transportation.

That MCC is still not excluded by Maybank, even after this change, and therefore should remain eligible for rewards (e.g. 1.2 mpd for transportation with the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature card).

Top-ups and other SimplyGo services are different.

These include adding value to a SimplyGo-linked EZ-Link card via the app, website, kiosks, or auto top-up, and they usually post on your account with descriptions like “SIMPLYGO”, “TL SIMPLYGO” or “TRANSITLINK SIMPLYGO”.

This distinction means Maybank is likely targeting top-ups and ancillary services to prevent rewards on what they see as quasi-cash or low-margin transactions, while leaving miles-earning for actual transport fares (i.e. when you actually tap to ride the bus or MRT) intact.

INSTAREM is a similar issue

Some of our readers have also been alarmed that transactions with the descriptor “INSTAREM” are also in the new exclusion list from 1st December 2025.

Don’t worry – “INSTAREM” and “AMAZE” are distinct transaction descriptors: “INSTAREM” typically appears on statements for direct Instarem remittances, transfers, or app-based services (e.g. funding or top-ups not via the Amaze card), while “AMAZE” (often as “AMAZE*” followed by the merchant name) is used specifically for spend processed through the Amaze wallet or a linked card, like the Maybank XL Rewards card.

Maybank Mastercards like this that can be linked with an Amaze card will therefore continue to earn miles, even after this change takes effect.

Additional impacts on the Horizon Visa Signature card

Maybank is also tweaking a few aspects of miles earning (and bonus miles earning) on its Horizon Visa Signature card, as part of these changes.

New cap on low-mileage categories

Local retail transactions in low-mileage categories – incorporating:

• Education
• Insurance
• Medical
• Rentals
• Professional Services

will continue to earn 0.16 mpd, however from 1st December 2025 earning will be capped at S$3,000 per calendar month. Utilities will be axed, and earn nothing, as mentioned above.

Spend beyond this level in a month earns zero TP – so zero miles.

This is a new restriction; currently, there’s no cap on these categories. It means the maximum monthly rewards you will be able to accumulate from this spend is just 480 miles (currently unlimited – albeit at a low earn rate).

Importantly, foreign currency (FCY) spend in these categories remains uncapped and eligible for higher bonuses (e.g. 2.8 mpd on overseas education, after meeting minimum spend).

This change hurts if you rely on large local payments in these categories to rack up some points (e.g. paying S$10,000 in annual insurance – now only the first S$3,000 will earn 0.16 mpd). It’s probably a way for Maybank to curb “abuse” of high-value, low-margin transactions like this.

Redefining eligible spend for bonuses and perks

Spend in the aforementioned “low-mileage” categories will no longer count as “Eligible Retail Spend” for:

• Accumulating the S$800 monthly minimum spend required to unlock bonus earning rates (e.g. 2.8 mpd on FCY and air tickets).
• Qualifying for complimentary airport lounge access (e.g. one free Plaza Premium Lounge visit per month with a S$1,000+ retail transaction in the previous three months).

Currently, these categories do contribute to the thresholds. Post-change, you’ll need to rely on other spend (e.g. dining, groceries, or general retail) to hit S$800, making bonuses harder to access if your spend pattern includes heavy bill payments.

In other words, even if you spend S$2,000 on insurance for example, it won’t help you hit the S$800 threshold or qualify for lounge access.

After the change, you’ll need to meet thresholds using other spend, making it harder to unlock bonuses if you were using big bills like medical or education payments to hit the S$800 easily each month.

Here’s a reminder of the card’s earn rates when you spend more than S$800 in a calendar month.

S$800+ total spend
in same calendar month

* Capped at S$10,000 spend per calendar month, thereafter 1.2 mpd

Does it make the Horizon Visa Signature unattractive?

Probably not. The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature remains a solid miles card for travel-focused spend, with an uncapped 2.8 mpd on FCY transactions and air tickets (after S$800 min. spend), plus occasional promos boosting the rate to 3.2 mpd.

Most of our readers are unlikely to be holding this card just to get an uncapped 0.16 mpd on things like insurance and education bills – but if you have large transactions coming up in those categories be sure to complete them by 30th November 2025, when a S$3,000 spend cap comes in.

Utilities will be a hit – sadly there are really no cards to speak of offering miles for these payments once Maybank joins the other major banks in removing this category for rewards accrual.

While the changes are disappointing, the Horizon card’s core strengths for FCY and travel spend remain intact – so it’s not time to cancel yet, but reassess your strategy if these new changes will impact you from 1st December this year.

For more details about the card, take a look at our recently-updated comprehensive review.

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature
	2.8 mpd uncapped FCY rate	2.8 mpd on air tickets	Fee-free for 3 years
READ OUR REVIEW

Maybank Horizon Visa Signature
2.8 mpd uncapped FCY rate	2.8 mpd on air tickets	Fee-free for 3 years
READ OUR REVIEW

While Maybank’s December 2025 changes strip rewards from utilities across all cards and tighten earning rules, specifically for Horizon VS cardholders, that product’s uncapped high-mileage categories like FCY and travel spend still keep it competitive.

Those using Maybank cards for transit rides needn’t worry – yet – these don’t describe as “SIMPLYGO” when posting to your account, and MCC 4111 remains intact for rewards earning.

However, do note that if you’re using the card for bill payments you may want to explore alternatives once the changes hit, especially if using those categories to meet the minimum spend threshold for all-important 2.8 mpd bonus miles.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)

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