this zazaza2009 isn't smart in financial matters..

i wrote and explained to him regarding his card, which obviously wasn't exactly "free", as he knew almost next to nothing about terms and condition associated to that "free"

his reply was a total whack and thus make me realized that his excitement is simply "shallow" and lack of substance..

it's nice of you to brag about it here.. being smart with money doesn't equal to no money.. so pinhead, i can swipe 2,000 times/month or i can swipe 0/month.. now.. that's what free means, ok?

tinkerbel,

glad you remembered.. but it shouldn't be important, less it's hindering to your daily life.. besides, i think the wildcard here is probably bkt jelutong.. there's this thing about municipal councils.. mbsa has its way of running the place which may not be exactly compatible to everybody..

give you a call? well.. you want to talk for another 1.5hrs again ah?

tinkerbel,

wahh a piece of gadget can keep you deeply engrossed and occupied? that's wicked.. can be interesting to do some sort of an endurance test, see how long that gs last..

i guess, you and i.. we live on such different planes.. i would not considered those places that you would.. it's a different value that we've been brought up, i think..


all,

back to credit card.. patricktoh does have a point regarding the convergence of cards as a product.. if you look at it holistically, it's basically a number game, market share, etc.. cost-wise, the banks are covertly trying to reduce them and it's these cost that differentiate the different categories of cards..

but not all cards have equal numbers to a bank portfolio, and thus leveraging with a certain merchant, it's difficult(and perhaps, too costly) to sticking it to a sub-segment..

but something in me says that.. differentiation will always be there, in it's root, it's a marketing strategy.. (you can't "see" credit limits, you can't "see" benefits in its intangible forms.. so somehow it has to be manifested physically.)

unless, if customization of cards (with fees attached, of course) makes a successful stay here.. i quite doubt its effectiveness as matured markets like the united states, it didn't really become mainstream..

so, the cheapest and safest way is to retain the generic looking ones.. and perhaps get some dumdig"z" excited along the way. *lol*

This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 6 2009, 11:27 AM

i think it's easy to default towards the notion that "low income earners are not encouraged to carry credit cards"... saying so, does not allow us insight to the root cause(financial discipline) as opposed to merely brushing the symptoms(low income)..

having a low income doesn't automatically associate it to reckless spending impulses (on the contrary, i suspected that high income earner tends to display more frequent inability to control their spending)

a "purpose" is something good to start with.. what fylon stated is his purpose of having a credit card, which i think are both pragmatic and prudent..


here's a thought for all of you..

other commercial providers are keenly eying this electronic money.. credit card has its history in this area(electronic money, in the form of unsecured credit) in great precedence..

however, other modes of electronic money are not relenting.. providers such as octopus(hk), m-money, etc.. they're emerging towards the lower value, but potentially mass volume business.. when the ability to pay for any daily mundane stuff from parking, toll, transport rides, tickets, food, postage, utilities, etc... the utility-reach of such facility is tremendous.

will this be a potential threat to credit cards? (which may be rendered to some occasional high value purchase.. that remains "occasional"?). what do you guys think?

this is relevant as the credit card providers are doing something about it.. via near-contact payment system (e.g visa wave) but the setup can be costly to the merchant.. so you don't see them readily available everywhere yet.

This post has been edited by lwb: Jul 6 2009, 12:51 PM