All the Petrol Credit Cards in Malaysia

Petrol credit cards provide rewards, usually in the form of cashback, to cardholders for petrol or petrol station retail transactions. As the Malaysian government is removing subsidies on petrol and diesel, it is expected that the petrol credit card market in Malaysia will become more competitive. These cards are typically co-branded between issuing banks and petrol station companies. In this article, we present a review of all the petrol credit cards available in the market.

Using the DuitHub credit card explorer, we found 19 credit cards that are either petrol co-branded or cashback cards that offer cashback from petrol transactions. The focus here will be on major petrol brands, starting with the national oil brand PETRONAS, the largest petrol station provider in Malaysia, followed by Shell, Petron, and BHP. Caltex doesn’t have any co-branded credit cards at this moment.

PETRONAS

PETRONAS has more than 1,000 petrol stations nationwide, making it the largest petrol retailer in the country. Currently, two banks issue PETRONAS co-branded credit cards: Maybank and CIMB Bank. Maybank has been partnered with PETRONAS for a long time, offering four different co-branded cards: Maybank Islamic Petronas Visa Platinum Card, Maybank Islamic Petronas Visa Gold Card, Maybank Petronas Visa Platinum Card, and Maybank Petronas Visa Gold Card. Both the Maybank Petronas Visa Platinum and Gold cards are rewards cards, earning 8x TreatPoints for every RM1 spent at PETRONAS stations. The Maybank Islamic Petronas Visa Platinum and Gold cards are cashback cards, offering 8% cashback with a monthly cap of RM50. Additionally, the Maybank Islamic Petronas Visa Platinum Card provides 1x TreatPoints for all other local spending. These cards are designed to meet the spending needs of the general public.

CIMB and PETRONAS also offer four co-branded cards, two from Visa and two from Mastercard. Compared to the mass-market cards from Maybank, the CIMB and PETRONAS co-branded cards target the sub-affluent and affluent market. The CIMB PETRONAS Visa Infinite credit card is one of the best cashback cards, offering a monthly cashback of RM120+ if cardholders spend more than RM4,000, providing a 12% cashback on petrol. The CIMB PETRONAS Visa Platinum offers a monthly cashback of RM100 with 8% cashback on petrol if spending exceeds RM2,000. While the Visa cards target the affluent market, the CIMB PETRONAS Mastercards (CIMB and CIMB Islamic PETRONAS Mastercard Platinum) directly compete with the Maybank PETRONAS credit cards, offering RM30 cashback on petrol spending.

Shell

Shell is the second-largest petrol retailer in Malaysia, with slightly fewer than 1,000 petrol stations nationwide. The RHB and RHB Islamic Shell Visa Credit Card is one of the best cashback credit cards, offering a 12% cashback rate capped at RM50 monthly on petrol spent at Shell, and 5% cashback on grocery, online, e-wallet, and utility spending, also capped at RM50 monthly. With an annual income requirement of RM24,000 and annual fees waived if you swipe more than 24 times per year, these cards are popular for their rebates and the ability to bind users to Shell for their petrol spending.

If cashback isn’t your priority but you frequently use Shell petrol, the AmBank BonusLink Visa Signature and AmBank BonusLink Visa Platinum cards let you earn BonusLink points from petrol transactions at Shell. You earn 30 BonusLink points for every RM20 spent at Shell, Parkson, dining, groceries, online, and entertainment. Overseas spending rewards you with 6 BonusLink points for every RM20 spent. This is far more rewarding than the typical BonusLink card, which only gives you 1 BonusLink point per 1 liter of petrol. You can get 300 Enrich Miles points from 2,000 BonusLink points, making the overall miles per Ringgit for the AmBank BonusLink Visa Signature credit card 0.15 miles per Ringgit, lower than the Maybank PETRONAS Visa Platinum credit card rate of 0.4 miles per Ringgit.

Petron

Petron is the third-largest petrol retail network in Malaysia, with close to 800 petrol stations nationwide. The Public Bank Petron Visa Gold credit card rewards cardholders with a 5% cashback on RM50 spent at Petron stations if they spend over RM800 monthly. You also get 0.1% unlimited cashback for all other spending using the card.

BHPetrol



BHPetrol has a strong retail network with 400 retail stores nationwide. BHPetrol has a co-branded card with Affin Bank, offering a 10% cashback, capped at RM50 monthly, on BHPetrol transactions if you spend over RM3,000 monthly. However, the 10% cashback is only available for weekend transactions. The Affin Bank BHPetrol Mastercard also rewards 1 AFFIN Rewards point for every RM1 spent on all other retail transactions, equating to 0.07 miles per Ringgit towards Enrich Miles Points.

Others

Apart from the co-branded cards mentioned above, there are many other credit cards that emphasize petrol spending, especially those offering cashback on petrol. The Maybank Visa Signature rewards cardholders with 5% cashback, capped at RM88 monthly, on petrol and grocery spending. If you spend more than RM1,500 on petrol per month, this card would be your choice because you can get up to RM88 from petrol alone, making it the highest petrol cashback card if only petrol spending is considered. Plus, you’re not limited to a specific petrol brand as the cashback applies to any petrol station.

Another popular cashback card is the UOB One Visa Platinum credit card, which offers RM15 cashback for petrol spending, with a total cashback potential of RM60+ if spending requirements are met. The AmBank Islamic Visa Platinum Carz offers up to 5% cashback on any petrol spending, capped at RM80 monthly. However, to qualify for this cashback, you must make a partial credit card payment in your statement cycle, which may incur interest fees, offsetting the cashback earned. If you make full credit card payments, the cashback rate drops to 2%, capped at RM20 monthly.

Bottom Line

Selecting the best petrol credit card for your petrol spending is crucial in the long run as it can save you significant money. Drivers tend to choose petrol stations close to their workplace or home, making PETRONAS and Shell the most popular brands. Thus, co-branded cards from Maybank and CIMB are good choices depending on your spending behavior. If you’re not tied to any brand, a generic cashback card that offers cashback on petrol will do the job.