Review | Alliance Bank Visa Platinum
The Alliance Bank Visa Platinum credit card is an excellent credit card for those looking to get started in the airline miles accrual game.
With substantial airline miles earning rate and the lowest possible annual income threshold required to obtain this credit card, you'll be disappointed if you did not sign up earlier.
For young executives, fresh graduates and others looking to ramp up their airline miles game, the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum is highly recommended, especially if you're earning around RM30,000-RM40,000 per annum, which I personally define as the "sweet spot" for utilizing this credit card to the best of its ability.
Card Design
The Alliance Bank Visa Platinum is as beautiful as it's older brother, the Alliance Bank Visa Infinite.
Alliance Bank's new design philosophy on it's credit cards is difficult to go unnoticed. Of course, with the credit card targeting young millennials and Gen Z fresh graduates, it's no wonder such emphasis is placed on the design aspects of the credit card.
Air Miles Conversion
Now, before you decide to jump the gun and rush into obtaining the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum, there are a few key things you should know. Given that this card is directed towards young consumers, if you're reading this review, you're probably still new to the credit card industry, and/or have a little confusion on all the terms attached.
With that being said, I'll try to convey my review and the key points of this credit card in the simplest way possible.
The first thing you should know is that each bank has it's own "points currency". The points system is simple. When you swipe your credit card, you earn credit card points. These points can be used to redeem airline miles, which allows you to fly for practically free of charge, and is basically the whole point of Refined Points.
In Alliance Bank, the "points currency" is denoted as "Timeless Bonus Points (TBP)". It's a fancy name, but in reality, if you strip off the glamour, it's simply a version of points that you earn when swiping your Alliance Bank Visa Platinum.
Now, the next important thing you should know is that what you spend on, or what you swipe on, dictates how many points you earn. For example, if you use your credit card to purchase something on Lazada, you earn 8X points for every RM spent. However, if you use your credit card to purchase a Grande Iced Americano at Starbucks, you essentially earn 1X points for every RM spent.
Based on this logic, isn't it smart to use the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum to purchase goods or services that only grant you 8X points? If you're thinking along the same path, then you're already one step ahead into the airline miles game!
Now, if you observe the image attached above, Alliance Bank grants you 8X TBP for online shopping transactions (i.e.: Lazada, Shopee, etc) and 8X TBP for eWallet top-ups. However if you look at the bottom of the infographic, contactless transactions only earn you 1X TBP!
This is the first loophole of the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum you must understand.
Let's say you wish to purchase a Grande Iced Americano at Starbucks which costs RM10.00. If you use your Alliance Bank Visa Platinum and perform a contactless transaction at the cashier, you only earn 10 TBP!!! That's because Alliance Bank only grants you 1X TBP for contactless transactions!
However, let's say you top-up your Touch N' Go E-Wallet with RM10.00, and use your E-Wallet to pay for your RM10 Grande Iced Americano, you practically earn 80 TBP!
Now, obviously this is a very simple example, but I'm trying to tell you that the most important aspect of utilizing the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum credit card is to only use it to top up your E-Wallets, and subsequently use your E-Wallet to make your daily transactions and NOT swipe your Alliance Bank Visa Platinum directly, because by doing so, you would only earn 1X TBP!
In fact, this is not a negative feature in any way, because many merchants such as small business owners do not even accept credit cards for payment, so you're better off using your E-Wallets to pay, and topping up your E-Wallets with your Alliance Bank Visa Platinum.
Now, the bad news is that Alliance Bank only offers conversion to Airasia points or Enrich Miles. Obviously, you should not even consider redeeming your Timeless Bonus Points for Airasia points, as this would simply be a waste of points. Hence, I am only focusing on the Enrich miles earning rate for the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum.
Now, I know some of you will eventually ask me if it's still worth to top up your E-Wallets given that some of them (like TNGD) have imposed credit card top-up fees. My response is still the same, and if you truly know how much airline miles are worth, that 1% top up fee is completely meaningless and you should simply absorb the cost.
With that being said, Alliance Bank imposes a RM3,000 capping on E-Wallet top-ups for each month, meaning you can only earn a maximum of 24,000 TBP each month via E-Wallet top-ups. This is not a bad thing whatsoever, but rather something that we can build around.
Hence, the strategy is simple. Each month, simply reload your E-Wallets with RM3,000 using your Alliance Bank Visa Platinum, and use that respective E-Wallet as your main payment driver for your everyday spend. Literally everywhere in Malaysia accepts E-Wallet payments, so this is definitely a pro, rather than a con!
Last but not least, if you are a frugal spender, and simply do not spend more than RM3,000 every month, then be smart and utilize an E-Wallet that has several benefits. For example, you can take advantage of the built-in Principal Investment Fund in the TnG E-Wallet app.
With that being said, if you strategically follow my guide and top up at least RM3,000 monthly into your E-Wallet, you're guaranteed 24,000 TBP each month. This translates to a total of 288,000 TBP each year, and remember, this is only for E-Wallet top ups. If you want to take it a step further, I encourage you to utilize the 8X TBP earning rate on Online Spend as well, which may very well earn you plenty of extra TBP each month.
Let's summarize and categorize the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum TBP earnings as follows:
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Local Earn Rate: 1 Enrich Mile = RM1.875 [Via E-Wallet]
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Local Dining Rate: 1 Enrich Mile = RM5.00
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Local Grocery Rate: 1 Enrich Mile = RM5.00
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Overseas Earn Rate: 1 Enrich Mile = RM5.00
Airport Lounge Access
The bad news is that the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum credit card does not grant you airport lounge access. Nevertheless, if you're a young traveller, or if you're travelling with your partner, this shouldn't matter much, since you can't bring in your girlfriend with one credit card anyways.
There are other credit cards that grant you airport lounge access, so it would be wise to grab some of them if airport lounges truly matter to you. I actually would recommend the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard which offers you 4X lounge access per year, with a minimum spend of RM3,000 for each access.
In fact, I'll be covering this in a separate article, but for young millennials looking to maximize their airline miles game, the best combination of credit cards to have is the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum and the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard credit card. While the Alliance Bank Visa Platinum credit card is great for local spend airline miles accrual, it's overseas spend airline miles accrual pales in comparison to the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard credit card.
A combination of both (which also have the same annual income requirement) will ensure you are at the top of your game for airline miles accumulation or Enrich Miles in this case. Likewise, you would also obtain lounge access by holding your CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard credit card.
Final Thoughts
The Alliance Bank Visa Platinum credit card is officially the best credit card in Malaysia to accumulate Enrich Miles for it's annual income category, but you must do so strategically.
It is without a doubt that this card is a must get if you are into Enrich Miles. With such a promising miles accrual rate, you should definitely use this card to reload your e-wallets and gain those points. Despite being limited to a maximum of RM3,000 monthly, it's definitely worth the gains. Ignore that RM120 annual fee, as it is waived with a minimum spend of 12 swipes yearly, and that's very easy to achieve as there is no minimum spend.
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