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Attention: Maybank GIA-i has been REVISED

A revision on Maybank’s GIA-i will be done on 16 June 2017 and again on 1 August 2017. Read more about it hERE.

I am no longer recommending this as a place to park your excess cash anymore.

Maybank GIA-i

Many have been asking me about investing but today, I’d like to talk about where I park my cash reserves while I’m waiting. I’ve tried savings accounts, fixed deposits, and most cash management funds. Out of all of them, I’m currently really content with Maybank’s “General Investment Account-i”. Also known as Maybank GIA-i. It is a Shariah-compliant investment account based on the contract of Mudarabah (profit sharing).

A reader and member of Lowyat brought Maybank GIA-i to my attention back in 2016. I had been naively using Maybank’s M2U savers prior to this to park my excess cash reserves.

When it comes to investing, my cash reserves will need to be liquid and preferably provide me with good interest. A conventional fixed deposit (“FD”) will not do because the minimum term required is 1 month and if I uplift it within a month, I lose all my interest there. Hence, a savings account. Traditionally, savings accounts in Malaysia give you about 1-2% interests p.a. and 1-month FDs give about 2.8 – 3% p.a.

Guess what Maybank’s GIA-i’s interests are? They’re currently at 3.45% p.a. right now!

The Terms

So, what are the terms for placing your cash in Maybank GIA-i?

1. Malaysian;
2. Minimum investment of RM5,000 (1 month placement) and RM1,000 (2 months and above);
3. Available from 6am to 10pm every day; and
4. Upliftment cannot be done on the same day as placement. You’ll have to wait for ONE day. (thanks Alvin)

Tip: It doesn’t matter if you do not have RM5K available. Because even for the 2 month term, you can still uplift the next day and you’ll get your 3.45% p.a. So don’t sweat it!

Updates:

From Liew: If the Maybank GIA-i option does not appear in the dropdown list, it means you have to go to your Maybank branch and open a new Islamic Fixed Deposit account and make an over-the-counter placement for the 1st GIA deposit. After that, GIA should appear as an option when you make a new GIA placement through M2U.

More info here.

The Pros

1. Profit is calculated daily.
2. Flat and transparent rate on your balance.
3. Higher return compared to saving accounts and your conventional FDs
4. High liquidity. Even if you uplift it prematurely, you will be entitled to your returns based on the number of days you’ve placed your GIA-i. This is where the GIA-i beats FDs hands down for an investor like me. The higher interest helps as well.

The Risks

You’ve always heard the saying The higher the risk, the bigger the reward. The same applies here, with a higher return than your savings account and average FD, what are the risks you’re subjected to? The only risk you have to bear here is that Maybank GIA-i is not covered under PIDM.

It’s pretty simple and straight forward. Next, I’ll show you the steps on how to make your placement. All of it is done online so you’ll need to register for and log into your Maybank2u account.

Step 1

After logging in, click on Accounts & Banking. Thereafter, to the left of your screen, you’ll see Fixed Deposits & Mudarabah IA. Next, you click on “Make a placement.

Step 2

Next, you’ll see the page above. Select General Investment Account-i (GIA-i) from the drop down menu.

Step 3

You’ll then be brought to the next page. Read the fine print and fill up all the options. It’s pretty standard so don’t worry about it.

Step 4

Maybank will create a new account automatically for you. All you have to do next is Select term. Unless they have promotions or if you have less than RM5,000, the term doesn’t matter. You’ll be credited with the same amount of interest anyway so I always go for the shortest one.

Step 5

Finally, you select which account you want the cash to come from and then how much you want to put in.

The rest are pretty self-explanatory. If you’re in doubt, you can just follow what I’ve selected as per the picture above.

End.

I’ve tried my best to make this as simple as possible for everyone to understand. I’m vouching for Maybank GIA-i because I’m using it myself and it has proven really useful. Please consider this instead of the conventional FDs and don’t be too worried about the lack of protection by PIDM with this.

I know the Freedom Fund looks exciting with its big numbers and all, but the defense and backend side of investing is equally important as well. The higher interest Maybank GIA-i provides me for parking my cash reserves there helps to keep my returns up and provides me with the liquidity I require as well.

You’ll probably need to get a little legwork in and set up a system for yourself. Once that’s done, you can then focus on your portfolio.

I’m sure many of you are currently using Maybank GIA-i already. If you guys and girls have any other places to recommend we park our money, please leave a comment!