You can often rent a car in Malaysia without a credit card, as long as the company accepts another way to take the deposit. Each company sets its own rules, and the deposit is where they differ: a credit card lets a company hold money without taking it, and debit cards, transfers and cash don't work quite the same way.
With Grandpride, booking online takes a RM 50 booking fee CHECK: which payment methods the online RM 50 booking fee accepts (credit card, debit card, FPX online banking, e-wallets), and it comes off your total. The rest you pay in store or in person when you collect the car or it's delivered. The payment methods accepted for the rental and the deposit are CHECK: which payment methods Grandpride accepts in store and on delivery (credit card, debit card, DuitNow or bank transfer, cash), and whether the deposit can be paid without a credit card.
How each payment method handles a deposit
| Credit card | Debit card | Bank transfer (DuitNow) | Cash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How the deposit is taken | Usually a hold on your credit limit | A hold or a charge against the money in your account | Paid across, refunded by transfer later | Handed over, handed back |
| Your own money tied up? | No, only credit limit | Yes, until released or refunded | Yes, until refunded | Yes, until refunded |
| What decides the refund time | Your bank and the company | Your bank and the company | The company | The company, at the counter |
| Paper trail | Card statement | Bank statement | Transfer receipt | Only the receipt you're given |
A pre-authorisation is a temporary hold on part of your card's available balance until the company settles the final bill. On a credit card that eats into your limit. On a debit card the held amount is real money in your account that you can't spend until the hold drops, and when it drops depends on your bank as much as on the rental company. If you're travelling on a debit card, ask the rental company how long its holds last and ask your bank how quickly it releases them.
Which to use, if you have a choice
Debit card
The closest thing to a credit card, and fine if the account has comfortable headroom above the deposit, because that money is out of reach for the length of the rental and possibly a few days after. Keep your bank's app handy so you can see the hold arrive and leave.
Bank transfer
DuitNow lets you transfer instantly to a mobile number, MyKad number or account number, so paying is quick. The refund comes back the same way, which means you're relying on the company to send it. Before you transfer, get the refund terms in writing on the rental agreement, and check the account name matches the company you're renting from.
Cash
Simple at a counter, awkward everywhere else. You need a proper receipt for the deposit, signed or stamped, and you should keep it until the money is back in your hand. Cash is also the hardest to dispute later, since there's no bank between you and the company.
Things to ask before you pick up
- Which payment methods are accepted for the rental, and which for the deposit? They aren't always the same.
- Is the deposit a hold or a charge?
- How long after the return is it released or refunded, and does that change with the payment method?
- What can be deducted from it, and how will deductions be shown to you?
Our guide to how car rental deposits work covers what can come off a deposit and how long refunds usually take. If a company says it needs no deposit at all, read what "no deposit" usually means before you assume you've found the easy option.
Visitors without a credit card
An overseas debit card behaves like a Malaysian one: the hold sits on money in your home account until it's released. Getting a refund back to an overseas account by transfer can be slow, so for a short trip a debit card with plenty of headroom is usually the least work. Ask your own bank before you fly how long it keeps merchant holds. Our guide to renting a car in Kuala Lumpur as a tourist covers licences and the rest of the visit.
If the deposit is the sticking point
If the deposit is the problem for one evening out or an airport run, a chauffeur works differently: it's booked by the hour or as a flat airport fare, with the same RM 50 booking fee online and the rest paid in store or in person, and you never hold the keys CHECK: is any deposit taken on chauffeur bookings. The full self-drive fleet is on the rental list if driving yourself still suits you better; the Mercedes-Benz CLA250 at RM 1,000 a day is one of the less expensive ways into the fleet.
