Question to those that have been using the Cash Back Gold Mastercard..

Looking at the cashback % table, there's a max rebate cap.. E.g. if you spend 500, cashback is 2% and cap is RM 10.

therefore, even if i spend 799, my cashback is still capped at RM 10, right?

so, a strategy to maximize cashback would be to always push it to the next tier if it's already close to it? e.g. swipe RM 1 online transaction to get into the 3% tier, instead of using UOB VOX/PBB VS for their 6%?

ya.. this card is different from you:nique, because the % cashback is on total (not tiered)..

but my opinion is, the % cashback mentioned is kind of redundant/useless because we'll always be limited by the rebate cap per tier..

if i were to spend RM 700 on retail transactions, instead of 2% of RM 700 (which is RM 14), I will only get RM 10 due to the rebate cap..

This would mean, the cash back I would get would always be as follow:
RM 10 if I spend between RM 500 to RM 799.99: effective cashback of 1.25% to 2%
Between RM 24 - RM 25 if I spend between RM 800 - RM 833.33: effective cashback of 3% (this is the only range where the % cashback is relevant)
RM 25 if I spend between RM 833.34 to RM 1499.99: effective cashback of 1.66% to 3%
RM 50 if I spend RM 1500 or more: effective cashback of up to 3.33%

still one of the better "generic" cashback cards.. just need to monitor more..

oh? SC's rebate is on total, no? so by spending that 1%, I will push the entire total into the 3% tier? total cash back would be RM 24 (for RM 800 spending) instead of RM 10 (for RM 799 spending).

extra RM 24 by swiping additional RM 1..

I requested SC to change my Statement date to the 1st.. so my cashback quota cycle is in sync with my statement cycle.. easier to track..

reducing they can do easily..

increasing, they'll need you to resubmit your income documents for approval.. even if you had a higher credit limit previously..

If you spend RM 1300, you will only get 3% on non Insurance or Petrol retail spend, subject to a cap of RM 25.

So if the RM 1300 is not on Insurance or Petrol, then you will only get RM 25 (cap), which is only an effective cashback of 1.9%.

The way to maximize the cash back % is by spending exactly RM 500, RM 833 or RM 1500. That way, you will get either 2%, 3% or 3.33% effective cash back.

Just Plat effective cash back is 3.4% (only for petrol, ecommerce, auto bill) and need to spend 2.5k to hit that cash back..

Gold Mastercard effective cash back is 3.33% (for all* categories), and need to spend 1.5k (* at least 1k on non-petrol & non-insurance, subsequent 500 can be on petrol & insurance)..

for me, still Gold Mastercard better.. and can use other cards for 5% petrol cashback..

This post has been edited by donhue: Oct 13 2016, 05:23 PM

edited my earlier reply..

you need to spend RM 85 / 15% (i.e. RM 567) on those 3 categories, and another RM 1,933 on others to maximize your cash back..

if you spend less, then the effective cash back is less.. e.g. if you spend 1,500, you can get back RM 28, which is a 1.86% cash back, but if you spend 2,499, cash back cap is still RM 28, so you'll get back only 1.12%..

for these kinds of cards, you'll need to target to spend to the minimum of the highest tier in order to max your cash back..

if you're nitpicking on the 0.2% on the remaining spend, the most accurate way to maximize cash back would be:

Petrol / Online / Auto-Bill = RM 540.60 (Cash back 15% = RM 81.09)
Dan lain-lain = RM 1959.40 (Cash back 0.2% = RM 3.91)
Total spend = RM 2500, Cash back = RM 85..

ya.. 2.5k spend just to get 3.4% cash back of RM 85..

for me, SCB Gold is much easier.. 1.5k spend to get 3.3% cash back of RM 50..