First Look: Maybank XL Cashback and Maybank XL Rewards – Great Cards… With An Age Limit?!

Not one but two new cards are being released and Maybank has very kindly given me a preview before the official launch today so I can bring you this article. Stay subscribed for more great deals and exclusive updates! You also can get a jump at limited deals like the sign-up offer you’d see later in this article.

To the delight of Team Value, Maybank has launched both a cashback and miles card that have pretty compelling use cases and earn rates. On selected categories, Maybank XL Cashback offers 5% cashback while the Maybank XL Rewards offers a 4 miles per dollar earn rate.

Though separate cards, these are twins that are nearly identical with the exception of their earn rates and spend caps. Based on what I can see so far, the XL Cards are really good cards with strong use cases, but there is a big requirement: applicants need to be 21 to 39 years old to apply for the card. Oof, but there are ways to sidestep this (kinda) so read on for more.

Get 5% cashback or 4 miles per dollar on 5 categories

Both XL cards give their earn rate on 5 categories:

Category	Examples
Dining	Restaurants, fast food, food delivery etc.
Shop	Online marketplaces (e.g. Shopee), department stores etc.
Travel	Airlines, online travel agencies etc.
Play	Bars, KTVs, cinemas, online streaming etc.
Foreign currency transactions	Both overseas and online

These are excellent categories to have and to be perfectly clear, you don’t have to choose because all these are included categories which make the cards’ coverage very wide for common transactions.

The Dining category includes Merchant Category Codes (MCC) 5812 and 5814 which cover most restaurants and eateries in Singapore, and for good measure you even get 5813 thanks to the Play category which would cover gastropubs and bars.

Popular shopping portals Shopee and Lazada are part of the Shop category, naturally, and thanks to the inclusion of 5311, Heymax vouchers are also eligible for the cards’ cashback or miles.

5% cashback for travel?!

In particular, the Travel category is really useful given how many other cashback and miles cards do not give good rewards for your flight bookings or online travel agencies (OTA) spending. OTAs include Expedia, Agoda, even Airbnb, though direct hotel bookings are notably not part of the MCCs of the cards for bonus cashback or miles.

Nonetheless, getting 5% cashback for travel-related expenses is unheard of, and having another 4 miles per dollar option here is really welcomed given recent nerfs to cards like DBS Woman’s World Mastercard and UOB Lady’s Solitaire.

To top it off, foreign currency transactions also earn the 5% cashback or 4 miles per dollar earn rate. There is Maybank’s usual 3.25% fee for foreign currency transaction, but it’s a fee that is lower than the rewards given by whichever XL card you choose to use overseas.

Minimum spend and spend caps

The only requirement for both cards’ earn rates is that you have to make a minimum spend of S$500 within the month, failing which you will get a negligible 0.2% cashback or 0.4 miles per dollar earn rate.

S$500 monthly minimum spend is pretty fair (and expected) for a cashback card offering 5% cashback, though having a minimum spend is relatively rare for miles cards given the numerous 4 miles per dollar options that do not require it at all.

	XL Cashback	XL Rewards
Earn Rate	5% cashback	10X TREATS Points (4 miles per dollar)
Min. Monthly Spend	S$500	S$500
Base Rate	0.2% cashback	1X TREATS Point (0.4 miles per dollar)
Cap	S$80 cashback (S$1,600 monthly spend)	10,000 TREATS Points (4,000 miles) (S$1,000 monthly spend)

Apart from their earn rates, spend caps are where the nearly identical cards differ a bit. Per month, Maybank XL Cashback gives a maximum cashback of S$80 per month which is reached with S$1,600 of spend, while Maybank XL Rewards gives a maximum 10,000 TREATS Points (or 4,000 miles) which is reached at S$1,000 of spend.

I intend to put each card through its paces with fuller reviews comparing them to competing cards, so stay subscribed for that.

Cashback vs Miles… Why not both?

Cashback vs miles is an age-old debate, but Team Value knows that the best side to be on is whichever gives the best value possible. Personally, I feel that 5% cashback and 4 miles per dollar are almost on par, with 4 miles per dollar being slightly better. Maybank XL Cashback does have a higher spend cap, so it can be more useful for a pricier holiday or online purchase perhaps.

It’s good that there is no need to choose and you can own both cards if you wish. Each card will come with its own minimum spend and spend cap of course, and you can use the cards that best suits your spend.

⚠️ If you can’t see the cards while using SingPass to apply, scroll all the way down after tapping apply and tap “Fill in Form”.

Age is just a number… but the number needs to be below 40

When I had an online meeting with representatives from the bank, I told them that they’re going to get quite a bit of backlash for the age limit. This isn’t exactly unprecedented since StanChart Jumpstart Account exists, but something tells me that the age restriction of the XL cards is going to get significantly bigger pushback. Despite my concerns, the team I spoke to seemed set in their position of targeting the younger demographic of people 21 to 39 years of age.

I’m not sure whether to be flattered to still be included in this segment of people, or somewhat concerned that I am almost too old to qualify for a credit card. Well, it could be worse — MCCY defines youths as those up to age 35… not that I’m giving Maybank any more ideas.

To be clear, the age limit applies only at application; cardholders can keep their Maybank XL cards beyond the age of 40.

Sidestepping the age limit

There are a couple of ways to get the card beyond the age limit. The first scenario would be if you have been a Maybank DUO Platinum Mastercard cardholder because your card would be automatically replaced with the Maybank XL Cashback regardless of your age. That’s one way the “under 40” rule can be avoided, though this is only for existing cardholders of the DUO card which has since stopped new applications.

Another way – not that I’m recommending it – would be to get a friend or relative who meets the age requirement to sign up for the card and make you the supplementary cardholder. This is by no means a neat solution, because trust aside, such an arrangement could work reasonably well for cashback but not for miles since one’s points can only be transferred to the primary cardholder’s own frequent flyer programme.

Perhaps providing loud boisterous feedback could be considered – feel free to leave comments here or on the Telegram to show your polite displeasure and throw accusations of ageism. It worked — I think — for UOB Lady’s… or it could be because UOB just didn’t want to see me in a wig anymore.

Good cards, if you can qualify

If you have lived as long as me, you’d recall that once upon a time, a long long time ago, all we had to worry about was whether our annual income number was big enough to apply for credit cards. Now, we exist in a time where our age can be too senior for a card at just 40 of age. The Maybank XL cards are solid but the whole age limit thing feels like a troubling and unnecessary precedent.

The jokes are ripe with this one, but I’m not nearly old enough to be making dad jokes, especially about a topic as serious as this. Surely there are better ways to target a certain demographic without making entire segments of people feel… Xtra Lousy? Oh no, that was definitely a dad joke and Maybank is never approving my card now.

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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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