Finally, a dedicated thread for GIA-i. Already 4 pages after only 2 days. Well done, AIYH. Thanks for sharing my blog article as well.

One thing about GIA-i, you won't only risk losing your capital if Maybank goes bankrupt. It can happen too if the investment is losing money. The risk is very low though as the money is invested by Maybank in providing loans to its customers. It has not happened before so far, just to want to highlight it here to clarify any doubt. As for risk level, I would say the risk is lower than money market funds and bond funds but higher than FD / CASA (even those without PIDM protection from institutions like Bank Rakyat, MBSB etc. because the principal & interest are guaranteed by those institutions, only not insured by PIDM).

I think it is important to calculate the profit / interest to ensure we are getting the rate we assume we are getting. That way, we will know if the rate dropped or if we lost any capital. If you see the amount you get is less than initial amount, then & only then, you should start to worry if Maybank is really in trouble. Then, can decide if want to continue with it or not. But, so far, so good.

It depends on when you do the upliftment.

Less than 3 months - no profit will be paid

Above 3 months - 50% of total profit amount accrued will be paid


It is actually a feature of the product, one of its selling points compared to FD. So early upliftment cannot be considered as misusing it.

Bank Islam has a product very similar to Maybank GIA-i called Wafiyah Investment Account. The indicative rates p.a. are: -

1 Month - 3.50%
3 Months - 3.60%
6 Months - 3.70%

More info:
http://www.bankislam.com.my/home/personal-...oducts/wafiyah/


Anyone here with experience on this account?

UOB recently revised their rate for eAccount, now more than 50k only can get 3.08%.


Maybank's Islamic FD (NOT GIA-i) used to offer 0.1% higher than conventional FD, however, they are now the same for both.


Actually the difference is only 0.05%.


As for premier banking, there is the OCBC Premier Save Account: -

3.6% p.a. - 200k & above (current promo)
3.1% p.a. - 200k & above (board rate)
1% p.a. - less than 200k

Are you aware that OCBC also revised their T&Cs for OCBC 360?

I have posted about the changes in the OCBC 360 thread. I guess not many people saw it there, so here it goes: -

You are welcome. I have also been making 3 split payments to the same credit card account to get the bonus interest as well. Now need to find other ways to get the bonus interest. IBG payment to other banks' CC or loan account is considered bill payment. Not sure if IBG to other banks' CASA is considered as bill payment or not. Is IBFT included as well?


Can consider Bank Islam's Wafiyah Investment Account. The rates are even higher. I shared it here before: -

Have you checked your bonus interest for OCBC 360? Does IBFT count as bill payment?

For people who do not have any credit card or not eligible to apply for one, can consider OCBC 360-i Account (islamic version of OCBC 360 account). Can get up to 4.1% p.a. if fulfill all the conditions. Instead of spending RM500 on credit card, one needs to spend RM500 on debit card to get the bonus interest of 1.2%.


It's supposed to be 1k only according to the website but for some reason, the system will only allow min. 10k placement. 1k placement only valid for 2-12 months placement. Can still try to place for 12 months to get 3.25% p.a. after 16/6. I believe can still withdraw without penalty if placed before 1/8.


Actually, banks are required to disclose any changes to their T&Cs with 21 days prior notice. I do not know if it is a BNM requirement or industry standard but most banks would follow this practice.


Other good options to consider: -

i) Affin Hwang Aiiman Money Market - min 5k, last year's return 4.xx%
ii) KAF Money Market Fund - min 1k

These two funds are not available through Fundsupermart but can be purchased through eUnitTrust.

Do note that not all money market funds are exactly alike. Some only invest in bank deposits like RHB Cash Management Fund 2, while others like Pacific Cash Fund invest heavily into short-term bonds. Hence the return and volatility would be different among them.


Pacific Master Money Market Fund is a fixed price fund, so the NAV would not change at all. The distribution is on a monthly basis. In this case, the distribution really matters cause that is the return of the fund. I think this is the closest equivalent to GIA as far as money market funds are concerned. You put the money there, at the end of the calendar month, you get the distribution (equivalent to profit). Unlike GIA though, you will not get the profit immediately upon withdrawal.

Can open at any branch, OCBC Bank or Al-Amin.


That is a good question. I am not sure about that as I am unaware how the distribution will be calculated.

According to the Prospectus: -

Thanks for your support. Have been really busy, so no time to update the site. Will update it when time permits.


Do share the outcome. Thanks.

Some tips for HLB Pay & Save, FPX transactions are also counted as E-payment. Can use it to top up ASNB funds or purchase UT online for e.g. So, no need to pay for the IBG fees.

Actually, for HLB Pay & Save, it's 2.2% (1.9% + 0.3%) for more than 5k. It's still less than OCBC 360 though.

I agree, can even withdraw from ATM anytime you need the money. If have 200k, can consider getting both OCBC 360 Account & OCBC 360 Account-i. But need to spend another RM500 on debit card-i (to get the maximum interest rate).


Good to know that. What if we withdraw / sell everything before the following month, the interest would be credited to the savings account then?

Great news indeed. For those with balance above 50k, it is even better than money market funds like PMMMF & RHB CMF 2 & Bank Islam's Wafiyah Investment Account.

The latest rate is 3.68% or 3.69% p.a. Do note however that the rate is not fixed or guaranteed. You will only know about it when they declare the distribution the following month.

No, that was the case a few years back. Not anymore. Starting from 1/8/2018, the ability to get profit based on number of days only applies to 1 month placement. For all other tenures, you must complete it to get the profit, meaning not based on number of days completed. So need min. 5k to enjoy the flexibility.


For GIA-i, the underlying asset is loan to Maybanks' customers (retail financing).

Actually, there is another option. It is Phillip Master Islamic Cash Fund (PMICF). It works almost the same as PMMMF but it invests in Shariah-compliant instruments. The unit price is fixed at RM1.00 though instead of RM0.50 for PMMMF.