How to Use the DuitHub Reward Estimator to Find the Best Credit Cards

Finding the best rewarding credit card for yourself can be a daunting task. In Malaysia, there are over 200 credit card products available, and manually calculating the benefits, cashbacks, and rewards from month to month using an Excel sheet can be tedious. As a result, many people end up signing up for credit cards that are offered to them by banks, at roadshows, or through other online channels without fully understanding their options.

Even though some credit cards are advertised as the best for travel, they might not suit everyone's needs because spending behaviors vary greatly. For instance, a frequent traveler may spend more on overseas travel (flights and hotels), while a housewife might spend more on retail, groceries, and utilities. Additionally, not all credit cards are designed to reward travel-related spending, as evolving customer spending patterns create cardholders with entirely different spending profiles.

To help you navigate this complexity, we offer the DuitHub reward estimator. This tool simplifies the process by allowing you to input your spending habits and preferences, providing you with a personalized ranking of the best credit cards for your specific needs. By using the reward estimator, you can ensure that you choose a card that maximizes your benefits and rewards based on your unique spending behavior.

To maximize rewards, especially point transfers to airmiles or hotel points from your spending, there are two key factors to consider. First is the conversion rate of the points offered by the bank's loyalty program to the targeted airmiles or hotel points you wish to optimize. The second factor is the spending categories that qualify for earning rewards, as some cards are designed for specific purposes while most cards that reward general spending tend to offer lower conversion rates.

Below is an interface of the reward estimator tool, which you can access by clicking here.

Step 1: Enter Your Monthly Spending Start by entering your monthly spending in different categories. Although spending categories can get very detailed, we cover the main market segments to encompass most cases in today's credit card customer value propositions in Malaysia.

Step 2: Select Your Preferred Reward Type After entering your monthly spending, select the reward type you prefer. If you choose airmiles, you will be given the option to pick the frequent flyer program you want to optimize. The tool will then calculate the airmiles you will obtain based on your spending profile.

Step 3: View and Compare Credit Card Options Next, you'll see a list of credit cards sorted from highest to lowest rewards based on the inputted spending and targeted airmiles program. You can adjust the spending and targeted airmiles program to see how different spending profiles affect the list of top credit cards.

Example Profiles

Here are two examples of spending profiles with entirely different outcomes:

• Profile A – Frequent overseas traveler who likes to collect Enrich miles from frequent travel:
• Overseas: RM 1,000
• Travel: RM 1,000
• Dining: RM 500

• Profile B – Housewife managing household spending and wanting to collect Enrich miles for her next holiday:
• Retail/Food/Grocery: RM 1,000
• Utility: RM 1,000
• Online: RM 500

To create a fair comparison, both profiles have the same total spending of RM 2,500 but are across entirely different market segments.

Results For Profile A, the top card is the UOB Prvi Miles Elite Credit Card. However, for Profile B, the top card is the UOB Lady Credit Card. Interestingly, the top card for Profile A is ranked 89th for Profile B. This discrepancy occurs because, although the UOB Prvi Miles Elite Card offers very high rewards, especially for overseas spending, it gives zero points for utility spending. If this is surprising you, this following profile of online and E-wallet users, the best reward card for he or she would be UOB World Mastercard Credit Card.

If airmiles are not what you're looking for, you can select the option to optimize for the best cashbacks.

Example Profile: General Spender Consider the following spending profile of a general spender:

• Dining Restaurant: RM 500
• Food & Groceries: RM 300
• Online/Ecommerce: RM 500
• E-wallet: RM 300
• Utilities: RM 500
• Petrol: RM 500

Results This person spends across multiple segments and might be a young working adult who wants to be rewarded with cashbacks. For this profile, the top card is the RHB Shell Visa Credit Card, which offers around RM 106 cashbacks from the total spending of RM 2,600. Just double click on the cashbacks table,

if the person spend slightly less the next month, where the spending only up to RM2400, RHB Shell card no longer rewards up to RM106 as the reward would fall back to different cashback rates due to spending requirements were not met. 

Baseline:

By using the DuitHub reward estimator, you can find the best credit card tailored to your unique spending habits, ensuring you maximize your rewards and benefits.

Exploring New Credit Card Products

One interesting aspect of using the DuitHub reward estimator is the discovery of different credit card products that may better suit your needs. You might find an entirely new product that fits your spending habits more closely than your current card. Additionally, you can use the reward estimator to optimize for various purposes, such as maximizing cashbacks, rewards, or airmiles.

Optimizing with Multiple Cards

Eventually, you might find that holding multiple credit cards is the best strategy for maximizing your rewards. By combining different cards' customer value propositions, you can tailor your spending to get the most benefits from each card. For example, you might use one card for dining and travel, another for groceries and utilities, and yet another for online shopping and petrol. This way, you can maximize your rewards across all spending categories.