The Premier Cards of Infinite World Elite and Reserve

Although not issuing cards directly, payment card services corporations such as Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and others process transactions on debit and credit cards and provide some benefits to the cardholders. In the process, they divided the benefits into different levels, and you often see the likes of Visa Infinite, Mastercard Travel World Elite, Amex Reserve, etc. These are the highest tiers of cards from Visa, Mastercard, and Amex respectively. The highest tier branding is designed for high-net-worth individuals and usually comes with top benefits. At the same time, it has a high threshold of income to meet before someone qualifies for the cards.

In this article, we are trying to deep dive into the landscape of the premier cards in Malaysia. It shouldn’t be confused with premier banking credit cards, which are meant for customers who have high-income savings with the issuers. We are looking at the cards that are open for application to anyone who meets the criteria set by the issuers, without becoming premier/premium banking customers.

Visa Infinite

Visa Infinite is the highest tier of Visa credit cards, and most banks in Malaysia issue Visa Infinite credit cards as their most premium cards. Maybank, CIMB, UOB, Hong Leong Bank, Public Bank, Ambank, RHB, and many others have their own Visa Infinite credit cards. Most of the cards target high-income cardholders with an annual income of more than RM100,000, with a few exceptions like the Alliance Bank Visa Infinite credit card, which only requires an annual income of RM60,000 to qualify for the card.

Most of the Visa Infinite cards reward cardholders in the form of loyalty points for airmiles and other redemptions. The Alliance Bank Visa Infinite credit card earns 1.33 miles per Ringgit for local spending and 0.83 miles per Ringgit for overseas spending. UOB Visa Infinite comes second with 0.94 miles per Ringgit for overseas spending, and 0.59 miles per Ringgit for local spending. The only two Visa Infinite cards that provide cashback are the Muamalat Pos Visa Infinite, which gives 8% cashback for local retail, food, and grocery spending, capped at RM100 per month, and 1% unlimited cashback for overseas spending. The other is the Public Bank Visa Infinite, which provides unlimited cashback for local and overseas spending at a rate of 2%.

Visa Infinite credit cards are usually used as co-branded cards as well, given their premium status which attracts many brands to work with the issuers to release top-tier credit cards. The Ambank Enrich Visa Infinite, a co-branded card between Ambank and Enrich, allows cardholders to fast-track their Enrich points earning. The Maybank Manchester United Visa Infinite and Maybank Mercedes Benz Visa Infinite are two credit cards associated with top brands from different industries. Benefits such as lounge access, travel insurance, and golf club access are some of the top benefits that Visa Infinite cardholders usually get.

Mastercard World Elite

Mastercard offers the World Elite credit card tier for its premium cardholders. While Visa Infinite is more geared towards general spending, Mastercard World Elite credit cards are usually associated with travel. Very often, issuers take the brand of World Elite as the full credit product, just to emphasize them as travel credit cards. The CIMB Travel World Elite credit card and UOB Prvi Miles Elite are the two Mastercard World Elite credit cards in the market. Not only are they the top offers from Mastercard, but they are also the credit cards that earn the highest rewards in miles if airmiles redemptions are something you focus on. The CIMB Travel World Elite rewards 1.25 miles per Ringgit spent for overseas spending and 0.25 miles per Ringgit for local spending. Meanwhile, the UOB Prvi Miles Elite rewards 1.11 miles per Ringgit spent for overseas spending and 0.56 miles per Ringgit for local spending.

Both credit cards offer access to Plaza Premium Lounges. The CIMB Travel World Elite extends this benefit to Plaza Premium First, the top tier of what Plaza Premium Lounges can offer. While the UOB Prvi Miles Elite doesn’t offer access to Plaza Premium First, it has its own private lounge at Plaza Premium Lounge, where you get almost similar treatment to Plaza Premium First at KLIA Kuala Lumpur. The CIMB Travel World Elite credit card also comes with travel insurance with coverage up to 1 million Ringgit, while the UOB Prvi Miles Elite only provides personal accident insurance with a sum insured up to RM300,000.

American Express Reserve

American Express's credit card presence in the Malaysian market is less than that of Visa and Mastercard, as not many merchants accept them, making them less popular among cardholders. While American Express does issue its own credit cards, most American Express credit cards in Malaysia are issued by Maybank. The top-tier Maybank 2 Cards Premier is the highest tier credit card Maybank offers, in the form of two cards, where cardholders receive an American Express Reserve credit card and a Visa Infinite credit card. The Maybank American Express credit card earns 0.5 miles per Ringgit for overseas spending, while local spending earns 0.2 miles per Ringgit.

Similar to Visa Infinite and Mastercard World Elite, the American Express Reserve from Maybank also grants access to Plaza Premium Lounge and decent travel insurance coverage up to 1 million Ringgit. On top of that, Maybank American Express Reserve card owners can enjoy dining offers from multiple hotels and restaurants with more than 40% off bills.

Summary

In this article, we presented the top-tier credit cards from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. There are other payment networks such as UnionPay and Discover, but their presence in the Malaysian credit card market is still minimal. There is still room for more high-net-worth credit cards, especially for Mastercard World Elite, where Hong Leong used to have a co-branded card with Emirates, but it is no longer available. Due to the competition of cards, we expect the top-tier credit cards to come with more benefits or benefits that meet the spending trends of cardholders.