BSN vs Maybank Car Loan 2026: Which Is Actually Cheaper?

RM 1.69 a month. That is how much less BSN's new-looking 4.11% quote costs than the 2.20% flat rate it replaced, on a RM 50,000 car loan over 5 years. Stretch the same loan to 9 years and the two land within a ringgit of each other over the whole term. The number went up. The price did not.

Short answer: start with BSN, because it is the only one of these two banks that publishes a car-loan rate: from 4.11% a year, fixed, on a reducing balance, for both MyAuto (conventional) and MyAuto-i (Islamic). Maybank publishes no hire purchase rate. Take BSN's number to Maybank and ask for a written EIR (effective interest rate, the true annual cost) on the same tenure.

Is your car too old for hire purchase? BSN only finances used cars up to 9 years from the year of manufacture. Past that, a personal loan is the usual fallback, and it normally costs more. RinggitPlus lists personal loans from several banks on one page, and checking there is free.

What each bank actually publishes

Source: BSN MyAuto, MyAuto-i and MyAuto (UsedCar) product pages; Maybank Hire Purchase/-i page. All read 12 September 2026. "From" rates are floors: BSN says individual rates vary by vehicle segment and its own credit evaluation.

The table has an empty half, on purpose. Comparison sites do print Maybank car-loan rates, but those are third-party figures. We treat them as leads, not sources. The Maybank column is filled only with what Maybank itself says.

Weighing hire purchase against other ways to pay? Our hire purchase comparison covers the rest of the market. If your case is one of the few where a personal loan makes more sense, RinggitPlus is where to compare those rates side by side.

Turning 4.11% back into the flat rate you remember

Most people still think in flat rates. A flat rate charges interest on the original loan for the whole tenure. A reducing-balance rate charges interest only on what you still owe, so each month's interest shrinks. Since the Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Act 2026, banks quote the second kind, and the number looks roughly twice as big.

So what is 4.11% in the old language? We solved for the flat rate that produces exactly the same instalment:

Read the last cell against BSN's own Interest Rates page, which still lists MyAuto at "Flat: As low as 2.20%". At 9 years the two quotes are the same price. At any shorter tenure, 4.11% reducing balance is slightly cheaper than 2.20% flat. The loan amount does not change these equivalents; only the rate and the number of months do.

Other lenders may still quote flat rates until 31 March 2027. Bank Negara's consumer guide says the Act took effect on 1 June 2026 and gives hire-purchase providers until 31 March 2027 to switch systems. If a dealer hands you a flat quote, use this decoder before comparing it with BSN's 4.11%:

SmarterPik calculation, 12 September 2026, two independent methods (annuity formula and a month-by-month simulation). As a check, the same method reproduces Bank Negara's own example: RM 100,000 over 9 years at 3% flat gives RM 1,175.93 a month, an EIR of 5.5%.

RM 50,000 over 5 years or 9: the real trade-off

A common question from first-time buyers: the rate looks low, so why not stretch the loan to the full 9 years? Here is the answer in ringgit, at BSN's 4.11% floor:

Nine years frees up RM 368.67 a month and costs RM 4,502.31 more in interest. That extra interest is 83% more than the 5-year total, for the same car.

The case for the longer tenure is your debt service ratio (DSR), not the rate. Banks cap how much of your income can go to debt repayments, and BSN's salary-deduction route caps total deductions at 60% of monthly salary, including the new instalment. At 4.11%, every RM 10,000 borrowed costs RM 184.66 a month over 5 years, RM 137.19 over 7 years, and RM 110.93 over 9 years. If 5 years pushes you over the line, 7 is a reasonable middle.

Take the longer tenure and still pay it down faster? Under the reducing-balance method that works in your favour, because settling early means paying off the principal you still owe (see the settlement section below). For a full market view beyond these two banks, our best car loan guide compares the other lenders.

Fixed or floating: they start at the same number

BSN's floating rate is SBR + 1.36%. SBR (Standardised Base Rate) is the reference rate banks tie to the Overnight Policy Rate. BSN's Interest Rates page lists its SBR at 2.75%, effective 17 July 2025, and Bank Negara kept the OPR at 2.75% at its 3 September 2026 decision. So 2.75% + 1.36% = 4.11%, the same as the fixed floor.

The difference shows up later. A fixed rate keeps the instalment where it is. A floating rate moves with the SBR. On RM 50,000 over 5 years, a rate 0.25 percentage points higher from day one adds RM 5.66 a month, and 0.50 points adds RM 11.34. Over 9 years the same moves add RM 5.91 and RM 11.86.

Our view: when both start at 4.11%, fixed is the better default for most household budgets. Floating only earns its place if a rise of RM 10 to RM 20 a month would not bother you. Maybank's page describes the same two options, "Fixed Rate Financing" with a fixed monthly instalment and "Variable Rate Financing" adjusted in line with a reference rate such as the SBR, but gives no number for either.

Islamic or conventional at BSN: no price gap

Many buyers assume Islamic financing costs more, and others have read that BSN's is cheaper. On 12 September 2026 neither is true: MyAuto and MyAuto-i quote the same 4.11% fixed and SBR + 1.36% floating floors, word for word.

It has not always been that way. An archived copy of the MyAuto-i page from 11 March 2026 read "Flat: As low as 2.35%" and "SBR + 1.59%", while BSN's Interest Rates page still shows conventional MyAuto at 2.20% flat. On the older record, the Islamic product was the more expensive one.

What still separates them:

• Contract. MyAuto-i uses Al-Ijarah Thumma Al-Bai' (AITAB): you lease the car first, then buy it under a separate sale contract at the end. MyAuto is a conventional hire purchase loan.
• Early settlement. MyAuto-i refunds the term charges for the remaining tenure as an Ibra' rebate.
• EV and hybrid. The MyAuto-i page lists EV/HEV among accepted vehicles; the conventional page does not mention them, so ask BSN first if you are buying electric on MyAuto.
• MyAuto-i MPO. A Murabahah variant for fresh graduates and newly employed government staff, SKAP and BPA salary-deduction employees, and selected organisations. It needs 6 months of work experience and can finance up to 100% of the purchase price plus HPRTT, if eligible, from the same 4.11%.

If you are unsure which contract suits you, our Bahasa Malaysia BSN vs Maybank comparison works a different example (RM 70,000 over 7 and 9 years), in case you want to share it with family.

What Maybank does publish

Maybank's hire purchase page states that from 1 August 2026, Maybank Hire Purchase Loan/Financing uses the Reducing Balance Method in line with the Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Act 2026. It lists up to 90% of the seller's invoice and up to 108 months for new cars, secondhand cars (margin subject to the car's age) and unregistered reconditioned imports.

Its early-settlement terms are clear: no penalty on either fixed or variable financing. You pay the outstanding balance, any accrued interest or profit, and applicable fees. Existing customers still on the Rule of 78 who settle early may get a Goodwill Discount, subject to Maybank's terms.

Where Maybank wins is convenience. You can apply through the dealer, a Maybank2u enquiry form, a Maybank Auto Finance Centre or branch, or the MAE app. For a fuller look at the product, read our Maybank car loan review.

Who BSN will actually lend to

BSN MyAuto has two routes. With salary deduction (Federal Government staff via SKAP, or organisations with BPA), you must be at least 18 (with a guarantor), finish the loan by 60, have 3 months of employment, and keep total deductions within 60% of salary. Without salary deduction, the age limit rises to 65 at the end of the loan, but your employer must be on BSN's list.

That list covers multinational and locally incorporated companies, selected public listed companies, GLCs and GLAs, statutory bodies, the PETRONAS group, telcos, licensed financial institutions, and selected private hospitals and universities. Certified professionals such as doctors, architects, lawyers and accountants also qualify. Freelancers outside those groups are not mentioned, so Maybank may be the more realistic route for them.

Used cars are stricter. BSN MyAuto (UsedCar) quotes from 5.61% fixed or SBR + 2.61% floating. The car can be at most 9 years old from its year of manufacture and no older than 15 years when the loan ends. Private-sector applicants need an employer operating for over 3 years and a fixed income of at least RM 3,000 a month, and sole proprietors and partnerships are not eligible. On RM 50,000 over 5 years, 5.61% works out to RM 957.60 a month.

Settling early: what the new method is worth

Take the RM 50,000, 9-year loan at 4.11% and clear it after 5 years. Your outstanding balance at month 60 is RM 24,510.81. The 48 instalments you skip total RM 26,622.63, so you avoid about RM 2,111.83 of interest.

Under the old flat method, the same loan at 2.20% flat settled after 60 months with the Rule of 78 formula would cost RM 24,644.24 before any goodwill discount. That is RM 133.43 more than the reducing-balance payoff. The new method is fairer, but on this loan the gap is in the hundreds, not the thousands that are often claimed.

Verdict: BSN sets the price, Maybank has to beat it in writing

Our Pick: BSN MyAuto-i, for most new-car buyers whose employer is on BSN's list. It publishes its price (from 4.11% fixed), charges no premium for being Islamic, rebates unearned profit if you settle early, and names EV/HEV as eligible. Prefer a conventional contract? MyAuto carries the same floor.

Choose Maybank if your employer is not on BSN's list, you are self-employed outside BSN's professional groups, or you already bank with Maybank and can get a written EIR below 4.11% for the same tenure and rate type. Without that written quote, "Maybank is cheaper" is a guess.

New government employees: look at MyAuto-i MPO first for its up-to-100% financing. Buying a car older than 9 years? Neither BSN product will take it, and you will be looking at a personal loan instead. Compare several before accepting the first offer; RinggitPlus shows offers from multiple banks side by side, and checking is free.

Sources we read

• BSN product pages: MyAuto, MyAuto-i, MyAuto-i MPO, MyAuto (UsedCar) and MyAuto-i (UsedCar), read 12 September 2026.
• BSN Interest Rates page (SBR 2.75%, MyAuto flat rates), read 12 September 2026.
• web.archive.org copy of the BSN MyAuto-i page, captured 11 March 2026.
• Maybank Hire Purchase/-i page, read 12 September 2026.
• Bank Negara Malaysia, "Five Key Highlights of the Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Act 2026"; OPR from the BNM API (3 September 2026 decision).

Last updated: September 2026. Rates verified from BSN's and Maybank's official pages on 12 September 2026. Confirm your personal rate with the bank before you sign.