First Look | AmBank Revamps Its SIGNATURE Priority Banking Credit Cards
Regular Refined Points readers will know that I have rarely had anything flattering to say about AmBank’s credit cards.
Earlier this year, I criticised its portfolio-wide airline miles devaluation, which somehow left its affluent banking customers with a proposition that struggled against cards requiring no banking relationship whatsoever.
Just incase you missed that news, AmBank basically devalued its credit cards so badly until its AmBank SPB Visa Infinite (which requires RM200K AUM) had WORSE benefits than its own RM100K annual income credit card 😂.
The subsequent discontinuation of Club Marriott benefits gave me even less reason to reconsider that position.
Terrible miles earning rates, boring travel benefits and a particularly ridiculous approach to supplementary lounge access.
Which makes AmBank’s latest announcement exceptionally surprising.
The bank has apparently begun communicating a wider refresh of its SIGNATURE Priority Banking credit card proposition under the upcoming Beyond Privileges Rewards Programme earlier this month, but given that I wasn't an AmBank customer (for obvious reasons), I didn't receive that email, and had to wait for the updated product pages to give you all my first impressions.
I have already covered the new Plaza Premium First lounge access benefits. However, the wider package is considerably more interesting, particularly for AmBank SPB Metal Visa Infinite.
For qualifying principal cardholders, the refreshed AmBank SPB Metal Visa Infinite looks spectacular, and I can't believe I'm saying this for an AmBank credit card 👀
Meanwhile, AmBank's latest and greatest Platinum tier (a newly created RM500K AUM tier) has a respectable footing amongst competitorsm, mainly because there aren't that many in the first place, besides the UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite.
What's perhaps hilarious however is that AmBank's "Gold" tier, which is basically the RM200K AUM base of customers, has a proposition so poor that it makes me wonder whether the proposition was developed by the same team that revamped AmBank's SPB Metal Visa Infinite.
And despite the improvements, AmBank has retained two restrictions that deserve absolutely no praise, and are likely an immediate deal-breaker for Malaysians who are able to differentiate the difference between excellent value and gimmicky value.
Two Credit Cards, Three Reward Tiers
AmBank still has two conventional cards, the AmBank SIGNATURE Priority Banking Visa Infinite and the AmBank SIGNATURE Priority Banking The Metal Visa Infinite.
Gold and Platinum customers use the same AmBank SIGNATURE Priority Banking Visa Infinite, with different benefits, while Diamond is where the AmBank SIGNATURE Priority Banking The Metal Visa Infinite enters the picture.
The bigger change is how you qualify. AmBank’s new reward tiers require both a minimum Primary AUM and a qualifying CASA/Wealth allocation.
Term | ELI5 Equivalent |
AUM | The qualifying assets you hold with the bank, including eligible deposits, investments and insurance/takaful holdings under its definitions. |
CASA/-i | Current and savings accounts, including their Islamic equivalents. Your FD is a deposit, but it is not CASA. |
Wealth | Under AmBank’s notice, qualifying investments and bancassurance/bancatakaful products held with the bank under your name. Your portfolio with an unrelated broker does not count. |
The CASA/Wealth amount sits within your total AUM. Platinum therefore requires RM500,000 overall, including at least RM100,000 in qualifying CASA and/or Wealth. RM400,000 in FD plus RM100,000 in qualifying savings could satisfy both thresholds; RM500,000 entirely in FD however would not.
Here is how that compares with other Malaysian banking relationships and their associated cards:
Card / relationship | Minimum qualifying balance through the standard asset route | Separate CASA/Wealth allocation |
AmBank SPB Visa Infinite — Gold | RM200,000 Primary AUM | RM50,000 CASA/Wealth |
AmBank SPB Visa Infinite — Platinum | RM500,000 Primary AUM | RM100,000 CASA/Wealth |
AmBank SPB The Metal — Diamond | RM2 million Primary AUM | RM500,000 CASA/Wealth |
CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite | RM250,000 AUM | None for Preferred membership; bonus-points campaign has separate CASA conditions. |
RHB Premier Visa Infinite | RM200,000 AUM | None under the standard Premier asset route. |
Standard Chartered Beyond — Priority Banking | RM350,000 AUM | No separate allocation specified for the qualifying card benefits; AUM assessed at month-end. |
Standard Chartered Beyond — Priority Private | RM3 million AUM | No separate allocation specified for the qualifying card benefits; AUM assessed at month-end. |
Hong Leong Infinite P / HLB Priority | RM300,000 AUM | A current/savings account is required, but the membership terms specify no separate allocation floor. Card issuance remains by invitation. |
UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite | RM500,000 AUM | No separate allocation specified for standard Privilege Banking membership. |
UOB Visa Infinite Metal | RM3 million AUM | At least RM500,000 in investments; by invitation. CASA alone does not satisfy this condition. |
HSBC Premier World Mastercard | RM300,000 total relationship balance | No separate allocation specified in the standard relationship requirement. |
HSBC Premier Travel Mastercard / Premier Elite | RM3 million total relationship balance | No separate allocation specified in the standard relationship requirement; card by invitation. |
AFFIN INVIKTA Visa Infinite | RM200,000 AUM for INVIKTA membership | No separate allocation specified in the membership’s asset route. |
Interestingly, AmBank’s approach is uncommon, as you can see from the table above, which states that few banks in Malaysia have three clearly identifiable "wealth" tiers, although "card" tiers definitely exist.
In the case of UOB Malaysia, the UOB Visa Infinite, UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite, and UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card are clearly positioned one tier higher after another, although the UOB Visa Infininte Metal's latest requirements shows that a minimum of RM500K in investments are required, which is what AmBank's newest Diamond tier seems to mimick.
From my perspective as a quantitative trader, this is a capital allocation decision. RM100,000 in savings, an FD and a unit trust are three different propositions for return, liquidity, fees and risk. If moving RM100,000 means earning one percentage point less annually, that is RM1,000 of opportunity cost before you have visited a single lounge.
The benefits need to justify both how much money AmBank wants and where it wants that money sitting. Gold, in particular, has a lot of explaining to do, as you'll see below.
Airline Miles Earning Rates
Going back to my usual writing format, Refined Points is an airline miles blog, so we start with miles per Ringgit (MPR). A larger points multiplier means very little until you account for the conversion rate.
Using AmBank’s current conversion rate of 12,000 AmBonus Points to 1,000 Enrich Miles, here is what that actually delivers:
Program | Reward tier / card | Local Spend | Local Dining | Overseas Spend (excluding online) |
Enrich Miles 12,000 : 1,000 Miles | Gold — AmBank SPB Visa Infinite | 1X point / 0.08 MPR | 3X points / 0.25 MPR | 7X points / 0.58 MPR |
Platinum — AmBank SPB Visa Infinite | 1X point / 0.08 MPR | 6X points / 0.5 MPR | 10X points / 0.83 MPR | |
Diamond — AmBank The Metal Visa Infinite | 1X point / 0.08 MPR | 6X points / 0.5 MPR | 15X points / 1.25 MPR |
The local dining accelerator is a welcome addition. AmBank has finally acknowledged that affluent Malaysians occasionally eat in Malaysia, but Platinum’s 0.83 MPR overseas and 0.5 MPR on local dining are respectable rather than exceptional.
The UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite offers 1.00 MPR overseas and 0.50 MPR on local dining, with a RM1,000 monthly dining spend requirement for the latter. AmBank’s Platinum tier therefore enters a competitive market with an improved proposition, but no obvious lead on miles earning.
Then there is the decision that makes absolutely no sense, which is that all overseas online transactions remain excluded from the advertised overseas accelerators across all three tiers.
Airline tickets, prepaid hotels, train reservations and attraction bookings are precisely the things travellers purchase before leaving home. AmBank is improving the rewards for spending during the trip while excluding a substantial part of the spending required to organise it.
Apparently, booking a holiday becomes more deserving of rewards when you find a physical counter. What the heck 😂.
To be precise, the public wording establishes exclusion from the overseas accelerators. AmBank’s general rewards terms provide a base point for eligible retail purchases, so the notices alone do not establish that every foreign-currency online transaction earns zero points. The confirmed restriction is already bad enough.
For me, that makes these cards selective spending tools. The dining accelerator creates a useful role locally, but overseas online bookings still belong on a card that properly rewards them.
Airport Lounge Access
I have already covered the changes in my AmBank lounge access article, but they deserve another look in the context of the entire proposition.
From 1 November 2026:
Reward tier | Eligible card | Annual lounge entitlement |
Gold | AmBank SPB Visa Infinite / eligible existing Metal card | 8X access to Plaza Premium Lounge |
Platinum | AmBank SPB Visa Infinite / The Metal | 12X access to Plaza Premium First |
Diamond | AmBank SPB Visa Infinite | 12X access to Plaza Premium First |
Diamond | AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite | Unlimited Plaza Premium First and LoungeKey access |
As I've mentioned above, AmBank's "Gold" tier is a remarkably weak proposition, especially when compared to the barrage of lounge access benefits we have today across other cards in the market.
The CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite, which requires RM250,000 AUM, offers 8X access to Plaza Premium First globally, currently allocated as four per half-year. The RHB Premier Visa Infinite offers up to unlimited plaza premium first access, although that comes with RM100K spend a year.
Even when we're looking outside of the AUM spectrum, there's no tangible reason one would consider the AmBank SPB Visa Infinite for lounge access, when cards such as the Maybank World Elite Mastercard and UOB Visa Infinite exists for Plaza Premium First access and DragonPass access respectively.
AmBank's Platinum tier is where things start to get more credible. 12X access to Plaza Premium First gives AmBank something worth discussing, and honestly, I'd rate this as an edge over the UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite, although UOB Privilege Banking’s 12X DragonPass global access offer broader network coverage and allow an accompanying guest.
AmBank’s Laughable Supplementary Access Policy
Now now, before we move on, here is probably the most hilarious feature of this entire proposition: supplementary cardholders must independently meet the banking qualifications to obtain lounge access 😂
Your spouse does not inherit your Gold, Platinum or Diamond eligibility simply because you give them a supplementary card. Each person must qualify separately.
To understand how ridiculous this becomes, consider a couple seeking the same tier of lounge benefits:
Reward tier | Principal cardholder must qualify with | Supplementary spouse must independently qualify with | Minimum across both people |
Gold | RM200,000 AUM, including RM50,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM200,000 AUM, including RM50,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM400,000 AUM, including RM100,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth |
Platinum | RM500,000 AUM, including RM100,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM500,000 AUM, including RM100,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM1 million AUM, including RM200,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth |
Diamond | RM2 million AUM, including RM500,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM2 million AUM, including RM500,000 qualifying CASA/Wealth | RM4 million AUM, including RM1 million qualifying CASA/Wealth |
At that point, your spouse has already done the financial heavy lifting of qualifying as a standalone affluent banking customer. Subject to normal credit approval, they could seek their own principal card. Calling their lounge access a “supplementary benefit” is therefore a bloody joke.
That is why I continue to call this “fake supplementary access”. In fact, I'm going to coin the term "AmLounge Access" just for the laughs 😂.
According to AmBank's product page, it clearly states the following:
Where credit card-i benefits/privileges are applicable, that Principal and Supplementary cardholders will need to qualify for the respective Reward Tiers (either Gold, Platinum or Diamond) to enjoy the benefits/privileges.
The access technically exists, but the principal cardholder’s banking relationship does nothing to establish the supplementary holder’s eligibility. AmBank effectively requires a second independently qualified customer before delivering the supposed family benefit.
A Diamond customer could meet every requirement, receive the Metal card and still find that their supplementary spouse does not qualify for complimentary lounge entry. The spouse would need their own qualifying relationship; a lower personal tier would provide only that tier’s entitlement.
Let's be absolutely clear, this is a garbage policy for a premium travel card. Couples travel together. Families travel together. Printing “principal and supplementary” in a benefits table looks considerably more generous than the reality facing those families.
Airport Limo
If you've managed to read until here, this is where the good news starts to come out, so let me cut to the chase. This is one of the most exciting benefits I've seen in ANY Malaysian credit card to date. Not because of the benefit itself, but simply because this is Bolt's first ever partnership with any Malaysian credit card.
I’m using Bolt extensively in the UK, and my experiences have been excellent. Having also used Grab extensively, I consider Bolt the superior service across the board. That is my personal assessment, but it explains why this partnership has me unusually excited about an AmBank benefit.
In fact, I'm still scratching my head in disbelief as to how AmBank (of all banks), managed to secure and even think about partnering with a brilliant platform like Bolt.
Anyway, enough of my fanboyism. Here is what the bank has announced:
AmBank reward tier | Local Bolt benefit | Annual overseas Bolt credits | Maximum annual face value |
Gold | 2 rides from KLIA, capped at RM100 each | — | RM200 |
Platinum | 4 rides from KLIA, capped at RM100 each | — | RM400 |
Diamond / The Metal | 4 rides from KLIA, capped at RM100 each | RM200, usable in selected countries | RM600 |
While admittedly RM100 per local ride is surprisingly generous, the useful comparison includes ride frequency, direction and qualification requirements. It's unlikely that Bolt has a wider fleet coverage than Grab in Malaysia, so I'm interested to see how this unfolds.
It's also worth noting that the overarching local benefit itself is slightly disappointing from a recurrence perspective, given that the UOB PRVI Miles Elite offers basically 24X per year (2X a month), while the AmBank SPB Visa Infinite only offers 2X for the entire year.
Here's what the market looks like for airport limo benefits:
Malaysian card | Transfer benefit | Redemption limit | Main conditions and coverage |
UOB Visa Infinite | Grab capped at RM120, or a pre-booked limousine | 12/year; 1/month across both options | RM5,000 on airlines, hotels and/or travel agencies in the preceding 30 days. Klang Valley to KLIA T1/T2. |
UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite | Pre-booked limousine | 12/year; up to 2/month | RM5,000 qualifying travel spend in the preceding 30 days; book at least 3 working days ahead. To KLIA T1/T2, within the specified 70km allowance. |
UOB Visa Infinite Metal | Pre-booked local limousine | Unlimited | Klang Valley to KLIA T1/T2; book at least 3 working days ahead. No per-ride spending trigger listed in the published local-limo terms. |
UOB PRVI Miles Elite | Grab capped at RM80 | Up to 2/month | 3 overseas transactions in the preceding 45 days. From KLIA T1 to Klang Valley. |
UOB Zenith — discontinued | Grab capped at RM180 | Up to 2/month | Existing holders: 3 overseas transactions in the preceding 45 days. From KLIA T1 to Klang Valley. |
StanChart Beyond — Priority Banking | Grab capped at RM60 | 6/year | Maintain RM350,000 month-end AUM. To/from seven participating Malaysian airports; principal cardholder only. |
StanChart Beyond — Priority Private | Local: Grab capped at RM100/ride. Overseas: airport limousine transfers with a USD110 allowance per entitlement. | 6 local rides/year, plus 4 overseas entitlements/year at RM3m–below RM5m AUM. Overseas allocation increases to 8 at RM5m–below RM10m, or 12 at RM10m+. | Local rides serve participating Malaysian airports; overseas transfers operate between selected overseas airports and accommodation. |
StanChart Journey | Grab cashback capped at RM65 | 1/month | RM2,500 qualifying travel spend in the preceding 90 days. Transfers from Malaysian airports; principal cardholder only. |
AmBank’s RM100 allowance therefore sits above the UOB PRVI Miles Elite’s RM80 and StanChart Beyond Priority Banking Visa Infinite's RM60.
The popular UOB Visa Infinite does offers RM120 off, as well as its own limo designation, but requires RM5,000 qualifying travel spending. Regardless, it's clear that AmBank did its research, and the benefit is competitive without needing to pretend it wins every column.
For AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite cardholders, the RM200 annual overseas Bolt credit is simply brilliant. It extends the transport benefit to the destination itself, and is arguably the most interesting addition here, especially since it isn't limited to airport transfers only.
Still, this is an exceptionally promising move from AmBank and warrants a closer look in a separate article.
Complimentary ALL Accor+ Explorer Membership for The Metal
Another interesting addition is complimentary first-year ALL Accor+ Explorer membership for eligible Diamond-tier AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite cardholders.
This feels like a welcome replacement for AmBank’s previous Club Marriott benefit, which closed to new registrations and renewals from July 2026. However, the replacement is considerably narrower, given that this particular benefit is reserved for The Metal Visa Infinite cardholders, rather than the broader range of cards previously eligible for Club Marriott.
I’ve already covered ALL Accor+ Explorer and whether it is worth paying for. It is essentially a paid hotel and dining membership, separate from Accor’s free ALL loyalty programme.
Here is what AmBank’s cardholder notice promises:
Benefit | Announced entitlement |
First-year membership | Complimentary for eligible Diamond-tier Metal cardholders |
Complimentary accommodation | One complimentary night stay, subject to redemption terms and availability |
Dining | 30% off dining bills at participating venues, subject to programme exclusions |
Hotel stays | 15% off eligible stays |
Membership renewal | Available upon meeting RM100,000 minimum annual card spending |
The inclusion of a complimentary night makes this particularly interesting, as that doesn't appear to be available in the Hong Leong Bank Opus Visa Infinite Privilege, which has the same benefit advertised.
Product | Complimentary Explorer membership | Complimentary nights included |
HLB Opus Visa Infinite Privilege | 12 months through Visa’s benefit | None |
AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite | First year | One, subject to redemption terms |
It remains to be seen whether the complimentary night carries a monetary cap, and which properties and room categories will be eligible. Personally, I’d ideally use it at a Sofitel or Fairmont.
It's also likely that the complimentary night requires another night at an expensive qualifying rate, the useful comparison is the total cost of the stay against the best equivalent booking available elsewhere. A “RM1,000 free night” is not automatically RM1,000 saved.
As I explained in my earlier review, Red Hot Rooms are another major reason to explore the programme. The standard membership offers selected hotel deals at up to 50% off. Those can be considerably more compelling than a routine 15% discount, although AmBank’s notice does not yet spell out every membership inclusion.
The renewal spend criteria however deserves some scrutiny too. RM100,000 annually is roughly RM8,333 a month. That may be manageable if The Metal becomes your main spending card, but I would not divert that much spending solely to retain a hotel membership, especially since you earn almost nothing from online FX spend 😂.
Eligible cardholders should redeem through AmBank’s designated process. For everyone else, you can explore the paid ALL Accor+ Explorer membership here.
When planning a stay, browse Accor hotel offers here and compare the same property on Trip.com. Compare the final price, room type and cancellation terms before deciding, a membership discount is only useful when it produces a competitive booking.
Other Benefits
The most interesting additional benefits sit with Diamond customers holding The Metal:
Other benefits | AmBank's Published Benefits | Conditions |
Airport Meet & Assist | Two uses at selected international airports | RM30,000 retail spending in the month before and/or the month of service; otherwise the cost is charged back |
Selected dining privileges | Up to 50% off at restaurants including Shangri-La Hotels, Oriental Group and Napa Refined | Participating outlets and offer-specific terms apply |
I'll point out that while the Airport Meet & Assist (which essentially sounds like a fast track service) benefit is desirable, it needs a more restrained valuation. A RM30,000 spending condition around the service month makes it highly dependent on timing, especially for a credit card (or cards in this case) that offers almost zero rewards for online spend!
Likewise, “up to 50% off” dining needs to be assessed against the actual restaurant list and dining conditions. The useful number is how much you save on meals you would otherwise buy.
Taken together, these additions make The Metal look substantially different from the product AmBank previously offered. Exceptionally surprising, frankly, given the bank’s recent track record.
I will cover the revamped AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite in a separate review, including its competitive positioning and the conditions attached to these benefits. This article is the overview of the three-tier proposition.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations if you've made it all the way down here! I'll start by acknowledging that AmBank has finally produced a revamp worth paying attention to, which was obviously surprising given the endless devaluations across the last year alone.
However, the improvements are distributed very unevenly.
Tier | My initial assessment |
AmBank SPB Visa Infinite (Gold) | Horrendous, Bolt is the saving grace, but even that isn't enough. |
AmBank SPB Visa Infinite (Platinum) | A decent proposition, particularly for existing customers. |
AmBank SPB The Metal Visa Infinite (Diamond) | Actually really good, but the online spend exclusions and "supplementary" lounge access gimmick is likely a deal breaker for the ultra-rich. |
For new customers, Gold looks dead-on-arrival to me. There is absolutely zero justification for obtaining this card with so many better competitors in the market, from both a card and wealth proposition perspective.
Platinum is decent. The local dining accelerator, Plaza Premium First access and airport rides give it a coherent role. But a new customer comparing where to place RM500,000 has every reason to examine UOB’s proposition closely.
The AmBank SPB Metal Visa Infinite (Diamond) is the exceptional surprise. For qualifying customers who use the hotel, dining and lounge benefits, I see it as a strong competitor in Malaysia’s affluent card market. Its appeal comes from the combined package; the miles rate alone does not dominate the competition, and I'd reckon the card will eventually have a spend problem, as the Ultra-Rich will likely consolidate online FX spend onto other credit cards.
For now, I'll say that AmBank has earned a place back in the conversation, and that this was a particularly redeeming revamp, especially given how the bank has crucified the AmBank Enrich Visa Infinite so poorly.
Kingsley, you're a memer!!😁
Yeah the supp lounge thing is really stupid 🙃