That is why, cash back system of PBB or other banks can't beat Alliance and SCB, who generously give cash rebates to ALL kinds of retail transactions.

Another strong point is that, on top of the cash rebate, Alliance and SCB also give reward points!

MilesAndMore,

If I am not mistaken, a forummer also highlighted the same issue some few weeks ago. I suggest you to lodge a complaint to BNM. Otherwise, there will be more victims in this context.

You need to browse through this thread.
It was about AF being charged for an inactivated cc from HLB too.

Overseas transactions are given 3x choice points. And the free 5000 choice points for newly approved card is a different thing.

Anyway, the 5000 points and RM50 early bird rebate were shown in my 2nd month statement.

1) It looks like SCB is throwing $$$! Yesterday, an SCB cc agent in a shopping mall tried to persuade me applying for SCB cards. He said SCB will give RM50 or RM100 for every newly approved card.

2) Reward points from Alliance will also never expire.

3) CIMB will definitely charge courier fee for shipment of gift redemption. It will be charged prior to the statement date.

For me, I feel the best things about SCB VI are the wide travel insurance coverage and access to airport lounges worldwide. Other than these, it is just so so. Until now, my VI still remains 0 transaction, and I may consider cancelling it next year if SCB would charge me AF.

Alliance Plat is good - up to 1.375% cash rebate plus evergreen points (1x point in M'sia and 2x points in overseas) and lowest forex rate. However, the CS staff are not so well trained and sometimes they have no authority/knowlege to give impromptu response.

No such thing. As long as you are qualified and no bad record, I don't think Citi and HSBC will reject you.

When the bank is hungry for business, some get-tough policies can be lifted.

Anyway, I can see Eon has been continuosly doing rebranding and this is in fact a good start for them.

To have a good record, you must always pay in FULL so that the outstanding balance won't be snowballed.

1. Download the application form from internet, or call the bank to fax you the form
2. Send your application complete with necessary documents via fax, or call the bank to collect the documents from your office.

You don't even need to step out of your office.

Since I submitted my application more than 3 weeks ago, I have yet to receive ANY response from the laggard MBB. As mentioned before, my tolerance limit is 1 month.

I had used my SCB Just1 cc in S’pore, Indonesia and Middle East, and there wasn’t any problem at all. I didn’t even tell the cashiers to select CR.

Yes, 2x points for overseas transaction.

I just came back from S’pore and had used my Citi and Alliance in the same shopping mall. I will update you guys on the currency conversion rates when the transactions are updated on my e-banking.

I monitored closely my account so that I could enjoy the ultimate rebate benefit. My cumulative rebate reached RM600 after I had spent RM16k. At the same time, the minimum spending requirement for auto waiver of AF has also met.

Were you referring to cash withdrawal from ATM machine? I’ve never experienced any problem when withdrawing cash from my current acc via Just1 card at ATM.

An update on admin fee and foreign currency conversion, for transactions made in S'pore recently. I used my Alliance Plat Visa to pay hotel bill, and Citi Plat Visa for payment in a shopping mall. While my colleague used HLB Plat MC to settle hotel bill. All transactions were done within the same day. The results are as follows:

ALLIANCE VISA - SGD1 = RM2.4769
CITIBANK VISA - SGD1 = RM2.4887
HLB MC - SGD1 = RM2.4879

Using Alliance as a base, the above conversion rates for Citi and HLB represent a higher admin fee of around 0.44%-0.48%. It is not so bad as compared with SCB and HSBC for my previous analysis made 3-4 weeks ago.

1. The hotel bills were paid on the same day and same time. So there won't be difference in time.
2. Although you know the TT rate by BNM, it won't help. It's because banks WILL NOT reveal the details of conversion.
3. FYI, I wrote to SCB previously to inquire about the high conversion rate they charged as opposed to other banks. They replied without giving a proper answer and refused to show the breakdown of conversion rate, admin fee by SCB and charges by MC.

ALL the 3 transactions have the same transaction date (25/8/09) and posting date (27/8/09).

Besides that, I went to a money changer to change RM => SGD on 24/8/09. The rate was SGD1 = RM2.475.

SCB doesn't have a good rate, refering to one of my previous posts below. Alliance has been known giving the BEST rate for overseas transactions.
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1069190/+1680

I think it's because of wrong timing. Most of the people in KL may have been away for holiday, due to the long weekend and school holiday. Anyway, not much excitement offered by CIMB too.

Eh...just wanna clarify something. IWK deals with sewerage treatment, it has nothing to do with water supply. For water supply, the agencies here are SYABAS (KL, Putrajaya and Selangor), PBA (Penang), SAJ (Johor), etc.

Based on my experience, Citibank is the fastest and most efficient in processing cc application. I submitted my application through a branch and received the cc via Poslaju in just 3 days.

If you always ensure full settlement before payment due date, whatever interest rate to you is meaningless. Therefore, I also never bother the interest rate shown in my statement.

I requested SCB to block my Just1 cc for the next 9-10 months. I also did some auditing on the acc and discovered that SCB actually gave me more than the max RM600 rebate!

I hope the excess rebate won't be adjusted in my next month statement. Anyway, it's only a few bucks extra but it's better than none.

My this 2.5-month card has achieved the RM600 rebate limit and I stop using this card now. For security purpose, I asked the bank to block this card until further instruction by me. The card won't be misused and hijacked by other people during this suspension period.

What promotion is this? I just called SCB yesterday inquiring any other CCs apart from Just1 offering cash rebate. I was informed that besides Just1, SCB Business Plat also give cash back but the rebate rate is only 0.5%. I never heard of the 10% rebate promotion.

Could it be a welcome gift in form of rebate? As far as I know, SCB is throwing money to its new customers - RM100 for Plat cc and RM50 for Gold cc. It is generous compared to other banks.