How Maybank Family & Friends’ MYR/IDR Category Works

Maybank Family & Friends is a great card that has been recently made even better. 8% cashback is hard to ignore for all but the staunchest of miles purists, and the addition of new kinds of spend eligible for the high cashback rate makes the card more compelling than ever before.

One recent enhancement is the inclusion of Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). Previously only supporting Malaysian Ringgit (MYR), these 2 currencies now get 8% cashback in addition to the 5 categories picked by Maybank Family & Friends cardholders, making it a very attractive choice for travellers visiting the 2 neighbouring countries.

There are, however, a couple of caveats to take note of.

Selected categories will be prioritised

When it comes to assigning the category for a MYR or IDR transaction, one’s selected categories will take priority. For instance, if I picked Dining as one of my 5 categories and I paid at a Malaysian restaurant, the spend will go to the Dining category instead of the MYR/IDR category.

Depending on how you were planning to use your card, this can be a good or bad thing. If you have more expenses to make at Malaysia or Indonesia, this is a positive thing since your dining expenses there would go under your Dining category’s S$312.50 cap, freeing up your MYR/IDR category’s S$312.50 cap for other expenses.

On the other hand, if you were looking to max out your MYR/IDR category during your trip and save your Dining category’s cap for your dining in Singapore, this would be an annoyance since your Dining category will be filled up first.

Once your Dining category is filled up, excess spending will then flow over to the MYR/IDR category. Just for the avoidance of doubt – if Dining isn’t one of your selected categories, dining transactions in MYR/IDR will count directly under MYR/IDR category for 8% cashback. Also, I used Dining as an example since it is a common use case, but it also applies to any other category you have selected.

Amaze transactions will not count towards MYR/IDR

Another point to note is that Amaze transactions will not count towards the MYR/IDR category. Amaze converts all foreign currency spend into local transactions (read: SGD) which will thus not be considered MYR, IDR, or any other foreign currency. (This is not unique to Maybank Family & Friends and affect all card rewards that target foreign currency transactions.)

Do this when spending in MYR/IDR

So when spending in Malaysia or Indonesia, here’s the optimal way to use your Maybank Family & Friends card:

When you still have capacity in your Dining category, you should use Maybank Family & Friends through Amaze to reduce your foreign currency transaction fee and still get 8% under the Dining category.

If the Dining category is maxed or Dining isn’t one of your selected category at all, you would want to stop using Amaze so that your transaction will be counted as MYR/IDR spend.

Here’s a hastily drawn flow chart to illustrate:

Again, I use Dining as an example and you can swap it out with any other category you may be spending on in Malaysia or Indonesia.

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Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

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