Just used the Maybank Amex card at Ikea yesterday to redeem the RM30 for RM500 spent in one receipt. I thought the original offer was for the first 1000 customers only but it seems that it's still available which is cool.

So 6% Ikea gift card + 5% cashback on weekends + 2% (or whatever 5x treats points is valued now) is quite a decent haul if anyone's buying stuff at Ikea.

Once you have your receipt, go to the Ikea returns counter and get a RM30 Ikea gift card. You can redeem it immediately or come back another day.

I've had this happen on both my Maybank and Citibank cards. I called up Citibank immediately, I received it at something like 630pm and was able to talk to someone immediately. Card cancelled etc. so that was easy.

In Maybank's case I received the SMS late (was traveling) and only contacted them many hours after. Maybank on their part cancelled the card, and in fact left the card inactive for close to a month while I was overseas. In the end the charges did not appear on the card at all. I'm not sure if the charge was blocked or if the authorization was denied or something else.

While the fraud tools are in place, consumer protection for credit cards (or for anything else) in Malaysia is sadly lacking. I never have to worry about anything on my US based debit/credit cards, a single message to the bank is enough to reverse the charges but I'm always afraid of fraud on my Malaysian cards.