If you’re looking for a credit card to unlock benefits and cash back as you spend, you might be considering the Standard Chartered Journey credit card1 (formerly known as Standard Chartered Worldmiles). But is it worth getting the SC Journey card for local and overseas spending? How quickly can you earn rewards, and what can you do with them once it’s time to redeem?
This guide has you covered with all you need to know about the Standard Chartered Journey credit card. We’ll also introduce an alternative you may want to compare - the Wise debit card, for overseas spending with no interest, no penalties and no restrictive eligibility requirements2.
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The Standard Chartered Journey credit card is available to Malaysian citizens and residents with a minimum income of at least 90,000 MYR annually. There’s an annual fee of 600 MYR, waived in the first year - which can also be waived in subsequent years if you use your card frequently enough.
The Standard Chartered Journey credit card offers ways to earn miles as rewards, which you can then trade for air miles from your favourite airline, gifts and cash back. There are also some extras available from Mastercard, like free nights in a hotel, free upgrades and breakfasts when you’re away. The Standard Chartered Journey credit card also has a few other great benefits which have been selected to suit international travellers, like airport lounge access when you travel, complimentary airport transfers and up to 100,000 USD in travel insurance, including Covid cover.
We’ll look more carefully at the Standard Chartered Journey credit card reward programme a little later - first let’s take a look at an overview of the key features and fees you’ll want to think about.
| Eligibility | Principal cardholder must be 21 to 65 year old and have a minimum income of at least 90,000 MYR annually |
| Annual fee | 600 MYR, waived in the first year |
| Interest rate | 15% - 18% depending on card usage and payment patterns |
| Foreign currency transaction fee | 1% fee added to the exchange rate set by Mastercard |
| ATM withdrawal fee (cash advance transaction) | 5% cash advance fee (minimum 25 MYR per transaction) + interest at 18% |
🌎 Enjoy low, transparent fees and free ATM withdrawals with the world's most international debit card
The Standard Chartered Journey credit card lets you earn rewards as you spend, which you can then redeem for other perks like cashback and hotel stays. We’ll look at the way you earn and redeem rewards with the Standard Chartered Journey card in detail in a moment - but first, a quick rundown of some of the other available benefits:
- Unlimited Standard Chartered Journey credit card lounge access when you travel
- Complimentary airport transfers
- Up to 100,000 USD in travel insurance, including Covid cover
- Ecommerce protection to 200 USD in value
- Selection of different ways to pay your bills
- Ways to have your annual fee waived if you use your card often
- Emergency card replacement at home and abroad
- Emergency cash if you need it
It’s worth noting that some of these benefits require you to transact with a certain frequency or spend a certain amount using your card over a given period. Other benefits are only available when you sign up for them specifically - they aren’t automatically offered when you get your card.
Read through the terms and conditions of the card carefully before you get started to make sure you don’t miss out on benefits which are important to you.
When you use the Standard Chartered Journey credit card, you’ll earn miles at a variable rate depending on the spend category. Dining, travel and foreign currency spending earns you 5x rewards, with 1x on all other eligible spending.
Here’s how it works3:
| Local Spend on dining | 1 MYR spent = 1 mile |
| Local Spend on travel (including airlines, hotels and online travel agencies) | 1 MYR spent = 1 mile |
| Local Spend on everything else | 5 MYR spent = 1 mile |
| Overseas Spend (Foreign currency) | 1 MYR spent = 1 mile |
It’s important to note that although you earn miles more quickly when you spend in foreign currencies, fees will apply as well. Whenever you spend overseas, your purchases will be converted back to MYR using the network rate, and including a 1% fee from Standard Chartered. This MYR total is added to your bill to pay at the end of the month.
It’s worth weighing up the benefit of earning miles more quickly when you use your card overseas against this extra cost. Consider comparing your credit card to a low cost debit card like the Wise card to see which works out best for you, based on the rewards and perks you’ll unlock, and the fees you pay. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate with no foreign transaction fee and low charges from 0.43% - this can work out cheaper in the end than paying using a credit card.
You can redeem your Standard Chartered Journey credit card miles on air miles, gifts or cashback.
If you choose to redeem your Standard Chartered Journey credit card miles for air miles from your preferred airline, you’ll be able to redeem your points at 2 SC Journey miles for 1 mile from your preferred airline.
You can redeem cashback and gifts according to the Standard Chartered Journey miles redemption guide, which you can see by logging into your SC account and navigating to the online miles redemption page4.
| 👀 Looking for a multi-currency card to spend abroad instead? See how Wise compares to MAE and BigPay |
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Credit cards can mean racking up extra fees, particularly when you’re spending in a foreign currency. You can avoid annual charges, interest, penalties and cash advance fees with an international debit card like the Wise card, which also offers currency conversion with the mid-market rate and low fees.
There are no minimum income requirements to order the Wise card, and there’s no ongoing or annual fee to worry about either. Use your Wise card to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, and spend in 150+ countries, with mid-market rate currency conversion and no foreign transaction fee. Plus, you can make 2 free withdrawals of up to 1000 MYR a month to make sure you have cash in your pocket when you need it.
The Wise card is a debit card, not a credit card. That means you have to add money in advance before you can start to spend. But once you’ve got a balance, you can use your card more or less globally, with low, transparent fees and no interest charges.
Sign up for your Wise card today 💳
A credit card can be an attractive way to earn rewards as you spend. But it can also be a pretty expensive option once you take into account all the likely costs.
Compare the Standard Chartered Journey credit card against alternative credit cards, or try a low cost debit card instead. The Wise card is a smart way to pay in 150+ countries, with the mid-market exchange rate and no foreign transaction fee - so your money could go further when you travel.
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*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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