Enjoy 1 night free stay at over 100 participating AccorHotels with Maybank Cards!

As the holiday season approaches, we know that you have caught the travel bug! Treat yourself to a vacation (or staycation!) without breaking the bank when you book with your Maybank Card!

With over 100 participating AccorHotels spanning across three countries to choose from, you will definitely be spoilt for choice.

Here are four participating AccorHotels hotels where one will definitely suit your budget.

Indonesia

  • 4 star: Novotel Batam

novotel1

Just a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore, Batam is one of the favourite locations Singaporeans enjoy escaping to over a long weekend. Novotel Batam is located near the iconic Trans Barelang Bridge where you and your family can go to snap pictures. Sports enthusiasts, you can spend the day playing golf at the Palm Spring Golf Country Club, which is located within walking distance from the hotel. Perfect for holidays, guests can take advantage of the hotel’s pool, health centre, sauna and Kids Club. Novotel’s modern and airy room gives you and the family the space you need to relax.

  • 5 star: Pullman Jakarta Indonesia

Pullman Jakarta

To satisfy your adventurous spirit, Pullman Jakarta Indonesia is the ideal hotel for you as it is located a stone’s throw away from the main historical monuments of the city. The National Monument, The National Museum, Cathedral Church and the Istiqlal mosque are only a few minutes away by taxi. Furthermore, two of the largest malls in Jakarta: Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia are only a short walk from the hotel.

Singapore

  • 5 star: SO Sofitel Singapore

SO Sofitel Singapore

Located right at the heart of Singapore, SO Sofitel Singapore is the embodiment of luxury indulgence. The 5-star boutique hotel incorporates French heritage charm with a dash of local flavour into their furnishing, making you feel as though you have escaped into the Parisian winds without feeling homesick. Its prime location also makes it a great choice if you want to be right at the heart of the nightlife in Singapore.

  • 4 star: Novotel Clarke Quay

Novotel Clarke Quay

Situated along the historical Singapore River, Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay offers a blend of history and hip. Surrounded by the iconic entertainment hub of Singapore, Clarke Quay houses over 150 restaurants and bars making it the hottest nightspot of the city. The rooms showcase magnificent views of Marina Bay, Singapore River or the lush greenery of Fort Canning Park.

Maybank Cardmembers, you’re in for a treat! From now till 7 May 2017, indulge in an extra night for free with a minimum of 2 nights booked at any participating Accor hotels in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

More hotels available, find out more and book now at http://www.accorhotels.com/maybank with preferential code MAYB32.

Key information:

  • Valid for booking from 7 April to 7 May 2017
  • Valid for stay from 1 May to 31 July 2017
  • Payment must be made with a Maybank Credit or Debit Card

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Best Cash Rebate Credit Card in Singapore for Frequent Travellers

Heartland Boy recently took a leap of faith to accept a job assignment in the chaotic streets that is Jakarta.

As a recently married and henpecked husband, he agreed voluntarily to fly back to Singapore on weekends so as to spend time with his lovely wife, Ms Heartland Girl. Heartland Boy does not have the luxury of having his company fund his weekly trips home; so minimizing his airfares were a huge priority for him. Therefore, Heartland Boy set out to look for the best cash rebate credit card for frequent travellers, instead of the typical credit cards that issue air flyer miles.

ANZ Optimum Mastercard

After comparing across various credit cards in the market, the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card is the best cash rebate credit card for frequent travellers due to its headline grabbing 5% cash rebate. In this programme, the cash rebates are awarded in the form of Optimum dollars but essentially, they are effectively as good as cash. Therefore, for simplicity, Heartland Boy shall address Optimum dollars as cash rebates in this article.

Source: https://sg.anz.com/apps/optimum/

HOW ANZ OPTIMUM WORLD MASTERCARD CREDIT CARD WORKS

  • Select 1 out of these 4 categories. [Dining&Leisure, Travel, Shopping, Groceries]

ANZ Optimum Mastercard categories

Table 1: Definitions of the categories under the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card

  • The selected category, otherwise known as a core category, will earn 5% cash rebate, while the remaining 3 categories (non-core categories) will earn 1% rebate.
  • The cash rebate is calculated based on every multiple of S$10 where the transaction amount will first be rounded down to the nearest S$10. The table below illustrates the different type of transactions and the cash rebates applicable.

ANZ Optimum Dollar IllustrationTable 2: Cash rebates applicable on the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card

  • The cash rebates will accumulate daily and eventually be rounded down to the nearest dollar on your monthly statement. Therefore, assuming that those were the only 2 transactions for the entire month, the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card holder will earn a total of S$11 cash rebate for that particular month.
  • Once you have accumulated a minimum of $50 in cash rebates, you can choose to “redeem” the cash rebate to offset the cost of your future transactions. Redemption of cash rebates are in multiples of S$50.

What Heartland Boy likes about ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card

  • With a cash rebate of 5%, it is easily the best cash rebate credit card for frequent travellers.
  • No minimum spend is required on the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card to earn the cash rebate. Therefore, even if you charge S$20 for your core category on the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card, you already earn S$1 cash rebate for the month.
  • There is no limit to the amount of cash rebate you can earn in a single month.
  • Cash rebate earned have a long validity period of 3 years.

Tips on optimizing the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card (pun intended)

  • As card holders are allowed to change their core categories every quarter, you may want to switch category in anticipation of some big ticket expenditure. For instance, if you are booking year-end holidays for the family, it will be good to switch to “Travel” category to earn the maximum 5% cash rebate. After completing this big ticket expenditure, card holders can still switch back to their original core category in the next quarter.
  • Note that the maximum amount of cash rebate awarded per transaction is S$30. This translates to S$600 and S$3000 per transaction for your core and non-core categories respectively. If your transaction exceed the quantum, you may want to break up your transaction into separate receipts and payments to qualify for more cash rebates.
  • ANZ is having a credit card promotion now whereby new-to-bank customers who apply for the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card and have their credit cards approved by 15 March 2016 and spend at least S$488 on their Credit Card will earn a cash rebate of S$100! Readers who are eligible should take advantage of this credit card promotion!

In reality, the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card is a fantastic credit card as long as one is a “heavy” user of any of the four categories. For instance, a parent with a large family may find the 5% cash rebate on groceries very useful. Heartland Boy also thinks that readers can be creative and utilise a suite of credit cards to leverage on their respective strengths. For instance, Heartland Boy uses the ANZ Optimum World MasterCard Credit Card to book air tickets and the OCBC 365 Credit Card to pay for bills at restaurants.

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Ultimate Guide To Handling Credit Card Debt

The credit card is one of the most powerful tools of our nation’s consumers. With that power comes great responsibility. Financial problems can occur if you are missing your credit card bills’ deadlines, constantly transferring balances, and paying your primary card debt with a supplementary card.

In Singapore, over 9 million credit cards were issued as of November 2015. The credit card debt of these cards, worth over S$5 billion, are in the form of balances rolled over to the next statements. Shocking and scary at the same time, is it not?

This is why handling your debts is vital to personal finance. May this tips help keep you on track:

1. DETERMINE THE BALANCES AND INTEREST RATES

The first step in taking control of your credit card debt is understanding how much you really owe on each of your cards. Write down the balances and interest rates for each card. If the interest rate is above 10% then you must transfer this balance to the lowest “interest giving” account. This way, you will be able to pay off the balance at an interest rate you can afford.

2. REQUEST A CREDIT REPORT

Request for your credit card report/s to assess the total amount of debt you owe as well as how bad the situation is. A credit report has the records of your payment history, credit facilities, late payments, bankruptcies, and defaults.

If you saw some inconsistencies or problems on your credit report, call the various authorities to fix the issues. Remember that you are able to repair any past mistakes sighted on your credit report.

3. CONSIDER A DEBT REPAYMENT PLAN

Be honest about your situation to your bank and discuss if you can convert your outstanding balances and unsecured loans into a debt repayment plan. To ease your burden, the debt repayment plan allows you to repay your credit card debt by installments. Pay the debts with higher interest rates first followed by those with lower interest rates but, watch out for penalties.

4. PAY MORE THAN THE MINIMUM

Making the lowest possible payment leads to more interest and time spent in debt. Pay more than the minimum requirement in order to get rid of these dilemmas.

For instance: If the outstanding balance on your card is S$2,000 and its interest rate is 18%, you are required to pay a minimum of 2% of your balance each month. Paying the minimum of S$40/month means that it would take you more than 5 years to pay off your debt in full. During that time, you paid an additional of over S$4,000 in interest. If you increased your payment even slightly, you can get rid of your debt in no time!

5. SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP

If the above options sound confusing and unattainable, it is time to battle your debt with the experts. Luckily, there are a number of organizations and individuals that are qualified to give you support to finally get rid of your financial problems. Start by approaching the Credit Counselling Singapore through ccs.org.sg.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (CC0 Public Domain)

Image Credits: pixabay.com (CC0 Public Domain)

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

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Lethal Credit Card Mishaps You Must Avoid

A recent study showed that 85,352 Singaporeans have unsecured debt and missed payments attached to their credit card bills. Whether it is due to untidiness or carelessness, these missed payments increase the charges and interest rates to further trap you into a vicious debt cycle.

These credit card mistakes are lethal as it causes great destruction to your finances.

SETTLING YOUR BILLS LATE

One of the most harmful credit card mishaps are late payments. Not only are you bound to pay the “late payment charges” but you also have to pay interest rates for some banks. Interest rates elevate your outstanding balance with each passing day.

For example, if the minimum payment is not received upon the due date, you will have to pay S$60 for your DBS Live Fresh Card and S$80 for your OCBC 365 Credit Card. If you pay your outstanding balance by the due date of your statement and there are no additional balances from the previous statements then you will pay no charges.

Solution: Stay organized to keep up with your bills. Set aside some time in the beginning of the month to make a list of the bills you are expecting to receive. Put it on your working desk or create a file for it. It is safer to pay the bills at least two days before the due date.

Alternatively, you can get your payments automated. Since you are prepared for the bills earlier on, you may have available money in the bank to pay it the same day as you received it. If you have automatic payment scheduled and you still received a billing statement, call your bank or creditor.

GETTING INFLUENCED BY THE PERKS

A number of Singaporeans are swayed by the credit card companies because of the free gifts and the attractive reward system they offer. While there is totally nothing wrong with desiring these things, it is a mistake to choose a card for its benefits alone. These “free gifts” you receive upon signing up usually come with several terms and conditions.

For example, credit card company A offers you a free luggage as a welcoming gift. However, you have to fulfill the minimum purchase of S$1,500 to claim this gift. If you cannot accomplish this within the given amount of time then your “gift” will no longer be received.

Solution: Before choosing a credit card, you must compare its entire features as well as its fine print. In the fine print, you will discover the different charges, limits to rebates and terms of the welcoming gift.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (CC0 Public Domain)

Image Credits: pixabay.com (CC0 Public Domain)

CLOSING OUT YOUR CARDS

Closing out your cards because they are underused or because you had finally paid off your entire balance may not be the best move for your credit score. Remember, two important elements of the credit score are the utilization rate and the average age of your credit accounts. The goal is to have a long credit history and a low utilization rate. Both of these elements are affected if you closed out your cards.

Solution: Keep your credit cards in a safe place and make a purchase every once in a while to demonstrate that you are a good steward of your card. Immediately pay off the balance too.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

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