RHB has recently announced a significant overhaul of its loyalty program, a development I previously covered in my last article.
To recap briefly, RHB Rewards Points are now categorized into two distinct types: LoyaltyPlus Points and Loyalty Points.
This change means that your spending is segmented based on the merchant category. Specifically, expenditures on overseas purchases, hotels, and travel fall under LoyaltyPlus Points, while everyday spending—such as dining, groceries, online shopping, and other local purchases—earns you Loyalty Points.
The issue with this new structure is that these two types of points have different conversion rates when redeemed for airline miles.
For instance, earning 1,000 Enrich Miles now requires 8,000 LoyaltyPlus Points, but a staggering 15,000 Loyalty Points are needed for the same 1,000 Enrich Miles. Essentially, this represents a significant devaluation for local spending categories.
RHB Premier Visa Infinite: Significantly Devalued
When we take a closer look at the RHB Premier Visa Infinite, the impact of this devaluation becomes even more apparent. All local spending categories, particularly dining, have been devalued substantially.
For dining expenditures, you now earn just 1 Enrich Mile for every RM5 spent, which is one of the most unfavorable rates in the market. Similarly, online spending now yields 1 Enrich Mile for every RM5 spent, a dramatic reduction from the previous rate of 1 Enrich Mile for every RM2.67 spent on dining and online purchases.
The situation is hardly better for KrisFlyer conversions. Although RHB offers conversion to KrisFlyer, its rate has always been lackluster, and with the latest changes, it has deteriorated further. You now earn 0.13 MPR spent on both dining and online spending.
RHB has also introduced a tiered bonus structure similar to UOB's approach to dining expenditures and CIMB's tiered bonus structure.
If you spend at least RM10,000 in a single month, you can earn 10x LoyaltyPlus Points on overseas expenditures, translating to 1.25 Miles Per Ringgit (MPR) for Enrich Miles and 0.71 MPR for KrisFlyer Miles.
Given these changes, the RHB Premier Visa Infinite has become a much less attractive option. It’s important to remember that this is a Premier-level credit card, which requires maintaining a certain level of Assets Under Management (AUM) with the bank to qualify, similar to other cards like the CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite.
Despite these high entry requirements, the card offers a disappointingly low airline mile earning rate.
For Enrich Miles, you're far better off opting for the newly launched AmBank Enrich Visa Infinite, which offers 1 MPR on Enrich Miles for overseas spending and 0.5 MPR on local spending, with a minimum annual income requirement of just RM100,000.
For KrisFlyer Miles, the UOB Visa Infinite is a superior choice, offering 0.83 MPR for overseas spending and 0.41 MPR for dining—double the rate of the RHB Premier Visa Infinite.
The fundamental flaw in RHB's new structure is the separation of spending into two different buckets, which creates a significant bottleneck for those who primarily spend locally. For those who spend 90% of their time locally, accumulating enough Loyalty Points to justify holding this card becomes nearly impossible.
Final Thoughts
The recent changes to the RHB Premier Visa Infinite's rewards structure have made it difficult to recommend this card, especially for those who frequently spend locally. The devaluation of points, particularly in dining and online spending categories, coupled with the dual-bucket points system, significantly hampers the card's value proposition.
For high net worth individuals who qualify for Premier-level credit cards, there are far better options available in the market that offer more generous rewards for both Enrich and KrisFlyer Miles. RHB’s decision to segment rewards in this way ultimately diminishes the card’s competitiveness, making it less appealing for even the most loyal customers.
In today’s competitive landscape, where numerous credit cards offer compelling benefits, the RHB Premier Visa Infinite seems to have lost its edge. Unless RHB reconsiders and revises its loyalty program structure, this card is likely to fall out of favor with savvy consumers seeking the best value for their spending.
With that being said, I would highly recommend to ignore my previous review of the RHB Premier Visa Infinite until it has been updated.
