Review: Maybank World Mastercard – Get Unlimited 2.8 to 3.2 Miles Per Dollar on Foreign Currency Spend

It wasn’t a very interesting card before, but Maybank World Mastercard now offers an earn rate of 2.8 to 3.2 miles per dollar on foreign currency transactions. What makes it particularly compelling is that there is no limit to this earn rate and the card gives its rewards on many commonly excluded categories of spend like education and hospital expenses. It continues to give 4 miles per dollar earn – also without a limit – on certain merchants and petrol.

For those who are making larger overseas purchases (or happen to shop a lot at one of the select merchants this card gives 4 miles per dollar for), this is one card to take a good look at.

New Earn Rates for Foreign Currency Spend

Maybank World Mastercard cardmembers can now earn up to 3.2 miles per dollar in the form of Maybank TREATS Points depending on the amount of spend within the calendar month:

Monthly Spend Amount	Earn Rate on Foreign Currency
Less than S$800	1X TREATS Points (0.4 miles per dollar)
At least S$800	7X TREATS Points (2.8 miles per dollar)
At least S$4,000	8X TREATS Points (3.2 miles per dollar)

The monthly spend amount takes into consideration amounts spent in Singapore dollars too, though SGD transactions only earn 1X TREATS Points or just 0.4 miles per dollar so it might not be something you would want to use for local spending. Optimally, you would want to use this card only if you can spend at least S$800 worth of foreign currency spend within the calendar month.

3.25% Foreign Currency Fee

Maybank charges 3.25% in fees for foreign currency transactions. Using this card overseas is thus a chance to buy miles at a good rate. To that end, you do get pretty decent rates if you can hit the minimum spending of S$800 or S$4,000.

Spend Tier	Foreign Currency Fee	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile
Less than S$800	3.25%	0.4 miles per dollar	8.13¢ 🙂‍↔️
At least S$800	3.25%	2.8 miles per dollar	1.16¢ 🙂‍↕️
At least S$4,000	3.25%	3.2 miles per dollar	1.02¢ 🙂‍↕️

While the cost per mile isn’t too bad, other popular options may prove better depending on how much you are spending:

Card	Foreign Currency Fee	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile	Remarks
Citi Rewards + Amaze	~2%	4 miles per dollar	~0.50¢ 🤩	No minimum spend. Capped at S$1,000 per statement month
UOB Visa Signature	3.25%	4 miles per dollar	0.81¢ 🤩	S$1,000 minimum spend on foreign currency transactions. Capped at S$2,000 per statement month
KrisFlyer UOB	3.25%	3 miles per dollar	1.08¢ 🙂‍↕️	✈️ S$800 minimum spend on Singapore Airlines Group within the membership year 🍴 For dining and online shopping (Remember that UOB recently excluded Amaze)

From small amounts to S$1,000 within a statement month, Citi Rewards + Amaze has been a really popular combination given how easy it is and how cheaply you can get miles this way. UOB Visa Signature is also a good choice with a relatively roomy S$1,000 to S$2,000 spend.

I will have a future piece covering more cards to use for overseas spend, so for a fuller comparison, stay subscribed for updates.

No Cap, No Category Requirement

The issue with these two cards would be that their earn rates top out at S$1,000 or S$2,000 spend, while Maybank World Mastercard has no cap on its earn rate. This makes Maybank World Mastercard the card of choice if one has larger overseas expenses.

KrisFlyer UOB + Amaze has been a great combo for those with bigger spending, but this pairing is not going to be possible come 1st October 2024 after UOB’s recent nerf takes effect. This raises KrisFlyer UOB’s fee to 3.25%, making its cost per mile pretty much comparable to that of Maybank World Mastercard.

	Maybank World Mastercard	KrisFlyer UOB
Earn Rate	2.8 / 3.2 miles per dollar	3 miles per dollar (1.2 base, 1.8 bonus given at card anniversary)
Requirement	Foreign Currency Transactions	Dining or Online Shopping
Minimum Spend	S$800 / S$4,000 within calendar month	S$800 on Singapore Airlines Group transactions within the membership year

What makes Maybank World Mastercard easier to use would be its lack of category requirement – the transaction just needs to be charged in foreign currency. KrisFlyer UOB would only offer its 3 miles per dollar earn rate on dining and online shopping. While KrisFlyer UOB has no minimum monthly spend, you would need to clock at least S$800 of spend on Singapore Airlines Group transactions with the UOB card.

No Conversion Fees, No Expiry, No Separation of Points

Having no cap nor category requirement makes the Maybank World Mastercard a pretty easy card to use. There are more things that are absent here that helps with the appeal with this card – the TREATS Points earned with Maybank World Mastercard do not expire, nor are there any conversion fees to be paid. Many banks charge an admin fee of S$27.25 for transferring your points to your airline of choice which has always felt like a money grab to me.

There is also no separation of points here and all your Maybank TREATS Points can be pooled together for miles redemption. You can thus use this card simultaneously with Maybank Horizon Visa and manage only one account of points. Horizon Visa users may find it worthwhile having the Maybank World Mastercard just to save on the conversion fee!

Perhaps having no minimum redemption amount would be great, but similar to many miles cards, you have to redeem your points in blocks of 10,000 miles (25,000 TREATS Points).

No Exclusion For Education or Hospital Expenses

Yet another thing absent would be exclusions for things like education or hospitals. Such expenses can be quite large, and going abroad for studies or medical treatment is not uncommon. These are categories often excluded by other banks’ credit cards, so the absence of such exclusions is a very notable thing.

4 Miles Per Dollar on Petrol and Select Merchants

On top of the enhanced earn rates for foreign currency spend, Maybank World Mastercard is retaining its 10X TREATS Points (4 miles per dollar) earn rate on petrol (within Singapore) and a few select retailers and dining establishments. This earn rate is also uncapped (with some exceptions), though the list of merchants is relatively sparse and includes mostly higher-end restaurant chains and branded labels.

How much you spend at places like Imperial Treasure or Victoria’s Secret can sway the value proposition of this card greatly. If you wanted to buy a S$5,000 thingy at Michael Kors or Longchamp, few cards are able to get you a full 4 miles per dollar earn rate on the entire spend amount.

As you can probably tell by now, I don’t shop much at such places (I can barely pronounce the brand names), so the list doesn’t excite me much, but I can see this card coming in immensely useful for some people.

Other Benefits

The card also offers side benefits, though I don’t spot many of material importance, but perhaps that’s because I’m not a golfing kind of guy. Even the card’s lounge access benefit is pretty lame since it comes with a minimum spend of S$1,000 which many other lounge cards do not.

You can see more benefits and the full list of merchants getting 10X TREATS Points here.

Sign-up Promo

Refer to the sign-up box below for sign-up promo. As of time of writing, there is curiously no option for miles for this card. For that, you may wish to get the Maybank Horizon Visa as your first Maybank card before applying for the World Mastercard.

Conclusion

Maybank World Mastercard may not be something that is relevant everyday, but as a situational card it seems highly useful for quite a few scenarios. Going on a branded shopping spree in Paris buying designer handbags or paying for expensive hospital treatment/school fees overseas? Few cards would be able to get you miles like this card can.

Stay subscribed for more ways to earn miles (and something very exciting and miles-related coming soon)!

The good:

• Unlimited 2.8 / 3.2 miles per dollar earn rate for foreign currency spend
• Unlimited 4 miles per dollar on certain merchants and petrol
• No category requirement
• No exclusions on education/hospital spends
• No annoying things like conversion fees or points expiry

The bad:

• Minimum S$4,000 spend requirement for 3.2 miles per dollar earn rate is quite high
• Lounge benefit has a S$1,000 minimum spend requirement

The ugly:

• Not being able to hit the S$800 minimum spend during your holiday and getting only 0.4 miles per dollar on S$796 of spend

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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