CIMB Devalues Preferred Visa Infinite Lounge Access

CIMB appears to be pretty busy in recent weeks, given that this is now the third article I’m writing on the bank across the last few days.

While my earlier articles on the launch of the CIMB Private Wealth World Elite and CIMB’s Asia Miles conversion promotion leaned more positively, this one is a little disappointing.

The current CIMB Preferred lounge access campaign will expire on 30 June 2026, and from 1 July 2026 onwards, CIMB is introducing a revised Plaza Premium Lounge access structure for eligible CIMB Preferred cardholders.

Let’s cut straight to the chase.

CIMB Takes a Page from Maybank’s Book

This is something you do not see every day. CIMB has effectively taken a page from the Maybank World Elite Mastercard’s lounge access playbook by splitting its lounge access quota into half-yearly buckets.

Source: Maybank World Elite Mastercard

Previously, eligible CIMB Preferred cardholders enjoyed 8X access to Plaza Premium’s lounge network under the existing campaign.

Source: CIMB Preferred Comms Email

From 1 July 2026 onwards, this will be restructured into:

• 4X access from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026

• 4X access from 1 January 2027 to 30 June 2027

On paper, CIMB can still say the card offers 8X access in total. Technically, that is true. But in practical terms, this is a less flexible benefit than before.

The problem with semi-annual capping is simple: people do not travel in neat six-month blocks just to make life convenient for a bank’s cost-management team.

Some customers may not travel at all in the first half of the year, but may take multiple long-haul trips during the peak December travel season. Others may have family trips, business travel, or year-end holidays where lounge access becomes significantly more valuable. Under the new structure, anyone who has not used their lounge access earlier in the year will not be able to bring forward that unused flexibility into the second half.

A CIMB Preferred customer who previously expected to have up to 8X lounge visits available for the year now sees the usable allocation restricted to 4X per half-year cycle. The total number may remain the same, but the freedom to use it when it actually matters has clearly been reduced.

This is especially relevant for European travellers, where CIMB’s Plaza Premium footprint has historically been one of the card’s stronger selling points. Plaza Premium’s broader network with third party lounges across Europe is genuinely useful, and I have personally found some of these lounges in Europe to be better than certain airline-operated lounges when travelling across cities for work.

So yes, this is not a complete massacre. CIMB is not removing the benefit entirely, and eligible customers still retain access to over 150 selected Plaza Premium First and Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide.

But let’s not pretend this is customer-friendly. It is a small change in wording, but a meaningful change in usability.

Shared Access?

In addition to the half-yearly cap, CIMB has also clarified that access will now be shared between the CIMB Preferred Primary Account Holder and the Member Assignee Account Holder.

This is arguably the more interesting part of the update.

For the longest time, there has been confusion around whether supplementary cardholders or member assignees were entitled to lounge access under the CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite proposition.

I have received countless emails from Refined Points readers citing CIMB Relationship Managers who claimed that supplementary lounge access was not included.

As a CIMB Preferred user myself, I can confidently say that this was never entirely accurate. As long as the supplementary cardholder was properly designated as a Member Assignee, lounge access worked without issue.

The latest communication from CIMB effectively puts that debate to rest. Supplementary access, or more accurately Member Assignee access, was always possible. The issue was never the benefit itself, but the inconsistent communication around it.

That said, the updated wording now makes it clear that the 8X access is shared between the Primary Account Holder and Member Assignee Account Holder.

If the previous structure was interpreted as separate access for both parties, then this is undeniably a clear-cut devaluation. If it was always meant to be shared, then CIMB is simply formalising what should have been communicated more clearly from the beginning.

Either way, the practical outcome is the same: customers now have less room to interpret the benefit generously.

To be fair, 8X shareable lounge access is still not bad in the Malaysian affluent card market. Supplementary lounge access across AUM-based credit cards remains relatively rare. In fact, the RHB Premier Visa Infinite is one of the few cards that comes to mind with a comparable supplementary lounge access proposition.

AmBank's stone-age lounge access policy

Meanwhile, cards such as the practically AmBank Signature Priority Banking Visa Infinite require supplementary cardholders to also maintain RM200,000 in AUM, on top of the principal cardholder’s AUM requirement. What a ridiculous policy.

How Does CIMB Compare to the Competition?

Interestingly, despite the latest changes, the CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite still remains one of the more well-rounded lounge access propositions in its segment.

Comparison of Lounge Access around RM200-RM350K AUM

The RHB Premier Visa Infinite edges out CIMB in terms of caps, particularly for cardholders who meet the relevant spending requirements. However, CIMB has a far broader and more premium lounge access footprint thanks to its Plaza Premium partnership.

More importantly, CIMB continues to offer access to selected Plaza Premium First locations, which is still a very strong benefit in Malaysia’s credit card landscape. Upon reviewing RHB Premier’s lounge access footprint, I also realised that Plaza Premium First access appears to have been removed entirely from its current lounge proposition. So there’s that.

Likewise, cards such as the AmBank Signature Priority Banking Visa Infinite, AFFIN Invikta Visa Infinite, and Hong Leong Bank Visa Infinite P pose almost zero real competition from a lounge access perspective, whether in terms of coverage, caps, or premium lounge quality.

To be fair, the Hong Leong Bank Visa Infinite P does come with Priority, which is decent for certain regions like the US and Europe. But Priority is a mixed bag globally, and in Asia Pacific, I would not rate it above Plaza Premium or DragonPass.

The Standard Chartered Beyond Visa Infinite comes relatively close with its 8X LoungeKey access, which also includes supplementary access. However, LoungeKey’s longtail lounge network is nothing particularly exciting, and the quality of eligible lounges varies massively.

In my view, the only real competition at the AUM-affluent level is the UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite at the RM500,000 AUM tier, with its 12X DragonPass worldwide lounge access.

UOB Malaysia's Lounge Access Proposition

Personally, I value DragonPass significantly more than Priority and LoungeKey because of its stronger Asia Pacific network and airport dining options. Airport dining is an underrated benefit, especially when compared to overcrowded contract lounges serving reheated food under dim lighting. But to each their own.

The point is this: even after the devaluation, CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite is not suddenly irrelevant. It is still competitive. It is just less attractive than it was before.

Final Thoughts

This is a rather disappointing move from CIMB.

To be clear, this is not a catastrophic devaluation. CIMB is not removing lounge access. The card still provides 8X shared access across a strong Plaza Premium network, including selected Plaza Premium First locations, and that remains a meaningful benefit in Malaysia’s affluent credit card market.

However, the problem is not only the number of visits. The problem is flexibility.

By splitting the quota into two half-yearly buckets, CIMB has turned what was previously a simple annual benefit into something customers now need to plan around. That may sound minor, but affluent customers do not want to micromanage lounge visits like a cashback campaign.

When you park RM250,000 in AUM with a bank, the expectation is not merely that benefits exist. The expectation is that benefits are seamless, predictable, and easy to use.

This revised structure moves in the opposite direction. The shared access clarification is also a double-edged sword. On one hand, it finally confirms what many of us already knew: Member Assignee lounge access is real. On the other hand, by formally making the access shared, CIMB has removed whatever upside customers may have previously enjoyed or expected.

Ultimately, this feels like a cost-containment move rather than a proposition enhancement. CIMB has been on a genuinely strong run lately. The bank has one of the best airline conversion partner ecosystems in Malaysia, strong merchant campaigns, meaningful travel benefits, and now a serious Private Wealth World Elite product that could shake up the affluent card market.

That is exactly why this change feels unnecessary.

When a bank is building momentum, the last thing it should do is introduce small but irritating restrictions that make customers question whether more devaluations are coming.

The CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite remains a good card. In fact, it is still one of the stronger AUM-linked credit cards in Malaysia when viewed holistically.

But it is worse than it was yesterday. And in the world of credit cards, that is ultimately what a devaluation is.