Nerfed: New Exclusions For Maybank Cards From 1st December 2025
From 1st December 2025, Maybank is adding new exclusions to its cards. These include utilities, insurance-related transactions (except for some cards), and a couple of other categories that would likely raise a few eyebrows.
Exclusions for 13 new Merchant Category Codes (MCC)
The bank is listing 13 new MCCs that would be excluded from 1st December 2025:
| MCC | Description |
|---|---|
| 4829 | Money Transfer |
| 6010, 6011, 6050, 6529, 6530, 6534, 7511 | Cash Disbursement/Quasi-cash/Top-ups |
| 7349 | Cleaning, Maintenance & Janitorial Services |
| 4900 | Utilities |
| 5960, 6381, 6399 | Insurance Related^ |
The list of cards usable for utility bills is going to shrink further with the notable exclusion of MCC 4900. Maybank currently makes up 3 of the 8 cashback cards I listed, and a whopping 4 out of 5 miles cards that are usable for utility bills.
Excluding 7349 will affect cleaning services, notably apps like Urban Company, Sendhelper and other similar apps and services.
Insurance-related transactions, an often excluded category, also features in Maybank’s table, though Maybank cards commonly used for these categories like Maybank Platinum Visa, Maybank Horizon Visa, and Maybank Visa Infinite cards are spared from this.
Other MCC are excluded to tighten the usual stance against giving rewards for things like top-ups or money transfers.
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Instarem and SimplyGo join the naughty list with other services like… RazerPay
Maybank has also published a table of 9 services that are specifically named and excluded. This includes services like RazerPay which has long passed on and others which are presumably money transfer/top-up related:
| BAGUS | CANTINE | INSTAREM |
| RAZERPAY | SEDAP | SGEBIZ |
| SIMPLYGO | SINGAPORE E-BUSINESS | SINGTEL DASH |
Amaze transactions and bus/MRT rides are not affected
The inclusion of Instarem and SimplyGo in this table is likely to raise eyebrows, but these are here for Maybank to exclude top-ups from earning rewards.
Amaze transactions are not affected because exclusions targeting Amaze will name it specifically. The same goes for public transirt rides which will show up with the transaction description of “BUS/MRT” rather than SimplyGo.
Until more updates follow, using Maybank cards through Instarem Amaze or at bus/MRT gantries will not be affected.
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Thanks to Thomas for sharing
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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