Cash back credit cards are great as we earn pocket money with it. You guys will notice prior to the existence of Maybankard 2 AMEX Card, the AMEX thread was kind of slow (still is) until AMEX Gold Credit Card was introduced where we can earn 5X Membership Points which is equivalent to 2.5% for Petrol, Groceries, Books and Utilities. Then OCBC Titanium Card was introduced and many of us were excited since we earn 2 times more than AMEX Gold CC.

But that all change with Maybankard 2 AMEX where we earn unlimited 5X Treats Points which is equivalent to 2.5% returns based on cash vouchers or on the spot conversion to cash at selected merchants PLUS 5% cash back every weekends. I am sure most of you guys have the Maybankard 2 Cards by now and enjoying the cash back and seeing your points grow pretty fast.

But why stop there? Many seniors here have earn more pocket money with their credit cards. But first you must have the cash in hand to pay for your transactions in order to make money. Want to know how? Here are the steps in general.

1. Get a card that offers free annual fee waiver for life. If you have to pay annual fee, before you even start earning money with your credit card you are already in the negative.

2. Get a cash back card or cards since most of these cards have a cap.

3. Swipe your card after the Statement Date and enjoy up to 45 days free credit (once again if you have Outstanding Balance, this won't apply as you'll be working for the banks by paying interest on the new transactions).

4. Then do 0% Balance Transfer or go for 0% installment and deposit the money you are suppose to pay towards the credit card outstanding balance into FD. Once again, you need the money in hand prior to your purchase, else you earn nothing but you do save on interest charges with some little bit work.

To read my full article on how to optimize earning pocket money with your credit cards, click below link to read it. In the article I gave examples of using different combinations of credit cards for different transactions to optimize earnings.

Click here to read my article Earn Pocket Money with Credit Cards.

Of course, we can also earn money indirectly by getting a free annual fee credit card that offers you discount at a particular merchant that you patronize often, just make sure you earn more than RM50 to cover the GST.

For those who have children in private primary & secondary schools, International Schools, Colleges or Universities which accept credit cards, you too can earn back some cash from the tuition fees. Click here to read my article Education Bills - Which Is The Best Card To Use? In this article I have also touched on two items that may earn you more pocket money:
1) If you like charge RM68K and above, do look into HLB Fortune Card where you may earn more than 1% cash back.
2) For overseas expenses, I have listed cards that rewards you more.

The OCBC Great Eastern Credit Card earns you 1.5% cash back for education bills; and the monthly cap is RM200 and RM250 for the Great Eastern Titanium and Platinum respectively. If you have GE insurance policy, you should seriously consider the OCBC Great Eastern Credit Card where it also earns you up to 3% cash back for your GE insurance policy. Click here to OCBC site to learn more. And if you do spend above RM20K per month, you should also look into this card where you can earn up to 3% cash back.



And for those who wants to be educated on how credit cards can make you poorer day by day, click here to read my article Credit Cards are Cash Cow for Banks. Are You Working for the Banks.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Nov 18 2011, 09:13 PM

That one you have to pay interest lah. Not guaranteed the money you get will make you more.

*Edited*

HLB BT rates higher than FD rates. Use it to invest in Gold or Stocks?

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 19 2011, 10:46 AM

oh yes, that's Time Traveler's method. I guess that is what gerrardling meant.

But like you mentioned, there will be some cost involve (i.e. interest payment to HLB) and need some work to as you cannot settle in full HLB BT prior to the expiry of the BT plan. If the amount is substantial then it is worth the effort but for RM10K and below, wasting time.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 19 2011, 11:18 AM

gerrardling, yes do BT to save insterest charges for housing loans do make sense. However, I have mentioned that using BT to reduced housing loan interest does not constitute "earning" money but savings on interest charges because net net you still be in the negative. It is no different from one having no money to pay their credit card bills and thus do balance transfer to save interest charges. FYI, I have stopped tap fish and found new hobby which still requires me to tap tap on the computer screen but so far making me money.


aeiou, yes you can BT every month as long as you have credit in CIMB.

many here go to step 5 and transfer their outstanding amount in CIMB BT to MBB BT. To maximize returns, you need MBB 2 AMEX and CIMB. With MBB 2, automatically you'll earn 2.5% upfront which is more than earning you can earn from FD (any other card would earn you much less except for MBB WMC). And then transfer the MBB 2 outstanding to CIMB and then back to MBB2 account. So you can drag your payment up to 18 months.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 19 2011, 01:47 PM

oh cannot lah since not permitted to do it myself but you can No, that one not enough to buy my fags, and furthermore that one is click click not tap tap. This one fun too but time consuming like tap fish. That's why hardly post anything for last 2 weeks.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 24 2011, 06:34 PM

Bro, not really drag "Principal" amount for 18 months.

Up to step 4, if you do BT to CIMB, you have about 6-7 months to settle in full outstanding balance from the day you swipe your card. By doing another step further i.e. BT 0% 12 months with MBB, the last payment will be 18 months or so from the date you swipe your card. During this 12 months, you use once again deposit the amount meant to pay off CIMB BT in FD, but the amount in FD reduces monthly since you got to repay MBB BT. If you got income coming in everymonth to pay the MBB BT, just lock in FD for 12 months.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 19 2011, 02:26 PM

if you ask me, for RM1,350 below with MasterCard or Visa - HLB Essential is good with 1%. If you spend between RM1,350 to RM5,000 - Alliance Plat which also gives you unlimted access to KLIA Plaza Premium Lounge. But seriously, if you spend below RM1000/month, you only get back less than RM10/ month and after deducting GST, you get peanuts, so might as while go with Alliance Plat and get free makan at KLIA Plaza Premium Lounge.

RM1.35 - RM5K monthly lah bro.

With RM4000 premium per year, you only get RM40/year with HLB essential and after deducting GST, you get Minus RM10. Better you stick with your existing card that earns you 0.5% and get positive returns.

opps, just reread, it's RM4000 bi annually, still making money with Essential

Go lah read my article where I mentioned about Alliance Plat.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 19 2011, 02:49 PM

just to add with RM8000 insurance premium, with you sticking with MBB 2 Visa/MC, you can earn RM40 and not need to pay additional GST which comes out more than if you had signed up for HLB Essential just for the same insurance premium where you earn RM30 after GST which is less!

good lah, means you not spending unnecessary and saving much more that you can earn from the cash back. If you had read my article RM103 billion Credit and Balance Transfer written back in 2009, I posted a quote where a study reveal that a person having a credit card spend 17% more than a person using cash! For example. tifosi mentioned in Citibank thread that his expenses increase RM200-RM300 because of AMEX Free coffee offer.

haha, no lah happened to just read tifosi's comment yesterday. As for paying for others, if the cash back was like uncap maybe worthwhile but to earn less than RM50 and do other people's work I think not worth it. What if they conveniently forgets to pay you back

For Maybankard 2 Cards and non-Islamic cards confirm it is 0% 12 months. For Islamic cards like Petronas, I really no idea. Call CS to confirm.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Sep 21 2011, 06:12 PM

UOB Cash back - only petrol and groceries capped at RM30 each and other type of transactions uncapped. Please go to UOB Thread for more info. . Only Petrol you get 5% cash back capped at RM30 or pumping RM600 Petrol.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Oct 2 2011, 10:48 AM

This should be posted at BT Thread. In my blog I have published two articles where I have informed that CIMB and MBB 0% BT extended to 3st December 2011. For my readers easy reference, I even have a Balance Transfer Page - click here.

The other Bank offering 0% BT is Public Bank.

Recently I published an article titled Education Bills - Primary Secondary College and University - Which Is The Best Card To Use? This article would be informative for those who have kids where the school accept credit card. Click here to read the article and hopefully you can earn some money back from your kids' tuition fees.

In the above article I have also touched on two items that may earn you more pocket money:

1) If you like charge RM68K and above, do look into HLB Fortune Card where you may earn more than 1% cash back.
2) For overseas expenses, I have listed cards that rewards you more.

The OCBC Great Eastern Credit Card earns you 1.5% cash back for education bills; and the monthly cap is RM200 and RM250 for the Great Eastern Titanium and Platinum respectively. If you have GE insurance policy, you should seriously consider the OCBC Great Eastern Credit Card where it also earns you up to 3% cash back for your GE insurance policy. Click here to OCBC site to learn more. And if you do spend above RM10K per month, you should also look into this card where you can earn up to 3% cash back.