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This post has been edited by winner: Oct 25 2009, 12:49 PM

What a big !!!!!


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Sunday October 25, 2009
PM: RM50 for credit card not a big deal[/B]

HUA HIN: Describing Budget 2010 as “painless”, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the people should not complain about the Government’s decision to impose a RM50 annual service tax on principal credit and charge cards.

Instead, the Prime Minister said they should look at the overall benefits offered by the Govern-ment in the Budget.

“They are getting the RM1,000 tax relief and those paying tax at 27% will now pay 26%.

“So, they get two (relief measures) and only have to pay RM50 (per credit card). Don’t tell me they cannot pay RM50?” he said after a meeting at the 15th Asean Summit here yesterday.

Najib, who arrived here on Friday after tabling the Budget in Parliament, had earlier asked the media on the reaction back home to his maiden Budget.

Well, I will keep all my cards till Dec 15, awaiting further announcement from banks. If there are no encouraging news from the banks, I will definitely cancel some cards.

1. ALLIANCE PLAT VISA - stay, due to good cash rebate rate
2. ALLIANCE YOUNIQUE MC - cancel, even though getting good cash rebate
3. SCB VI - cancel, due to whopping AF although benefits are great
4. SCB JUSTONE TITANIUM MC - stay, best ever rebate cc, simply irresistible!
5. AMEX GOLD CC - stay, due to current 15% rebate promotion, reversing my previous decision of terminating it!

By the way, I am now in Dubai but I am surprised to learn that some restaurants in the largest shopping mall in the world, The Dubai Mall, do not accept Amex.

Based on my experience, Citibank is super efficient. Citibank approved my cc application and sent me the cc in 3 days, as well as cancelled my cc IMMEDIATELY soon after I called the CS to terminate my cc.

On the contrary, HLB needed an official letter and spent 3 weeks to call me confirming the cc termination after I faxed the letter to them.

Even for reward points redemption, HLB also took about 3 weeks to process it.

HLB is conversely very efficient in giving PLs and other loan products. My impression on HLB has damaged as HLB nowadays keeps calling me and sending me pre-approved overdraft or PL cheque almost every month. The funny thing is that, some of the HLB staff who called me could barely speak English.


Yes, it's such a relief after cancelling the CCs that you don't need!

Since you guys talked about HLB, I would like to join the fray too.

My frustration with HLB has developed over years. I had a car loan and cc, and currently have a home loan with HLB. Their cash deposit terminals are the lousiest in Malaysia. Most of the terminals are dilapidated and thus unable to detect notes efficiently. Just imagine that each customer has to spend 10 minutes to keep trying to deposit cash. Moreover, the terminals are always out of service during early morning and night time as well as weekends.

Their cheque deposit machines are another nightmare to me. They are still using the old-fashioned envelope and bank-in slip, while other banks have been using self-service cheque deposit machines for ages. In addition, their envelopes and bank-in slips are persistently out of stock!

Furthermore, a lot of HLB branches, including some branches in KL Golden Triangle, have yet to be equipped with cash deposit terminals and cheque deposit machines!!

I do not mean to sabotage HLB, but all the above are based on my actual experience with them. If it is not because of the 5-year lock-in period of my HLB home loan, I should have already terminated all my accounts with them.

You may need to work for at least 6 months and apply for cc subsequently. Banks need to evaluate your income stability.

It could be due a few factors, such as your payment track record, credit exposure, incomplete of supporting documents for application, etc.

Since you have decided to keep Amex Gold cc and MBB Plat MC, I would suggest you to keep a VISA from another bank. Likewise, just keep the 2 cards and cancel the rest.

Are you sure? The RM50 service tax will be collected by the government and so far none of the banks has the authority to waive it. I guess you must have been confused with annual fee waiver or welcome gift in form of cash rebate offered by SCB.

SCB Business Visa Plat gives a fixed 0.5% rebate for all retail transactions excluding purchases made at petrol stations.


It depends on your credit exposure and income eligibility. It can reach as high as a few hundred grand.


Well, a lot of people find the temptation and freebies given are simply irresistible. Moreover, most of the CCs nowadays are given FOC. While some card fanatics keep CCs for collection purpose only, CCs can undoubtedly come in handy for a rainy day.

Newly approved SCB Plat cc and Gold cc customers will be given a welcome gift in form of cash rebate of RM100 and RM50 respectively. It only applicable to new SCB cc customers only.


It would be better to ask the CS of UOB for clarification. My monthly DiGi handphone bill is fully reimbursed by my company, so I am not concerned about rebate given to DiGi service.

If you pay your insurance, TNB, TM, Astro and internet bills using cc, it is not that difficult to reach RM100 per month.


You need to study thoroughly the stringent T&Cs and tiered rebate system.

I agree with you. SCB Justone cc will be the FIRST to be retained among all my CCs. Most of the retail transactions can be successfully done if we ask the cashier to select credit function early. In fact, I conducted about 25 transactions on this card and received the max rebate of RM600++ in 2 months. If we plan our purchase properly, we can fully utilise the benefit of this card.

For Shell, the card has to be swiped inside the cashier counter.

It could be because of co-branded MC vs normal MC.


You can keep the cc until expiry of the 1st year. A fresh RM600 rebate will be available then. While awating a fresh rebate limit for 2nd year, you can switch to other cash rebate CCs offering good rebate rates, such as Alliance Plat or Alliance Younique.


Why not? Just give Citibank CS a call. They are quite efficient in handling customers' request.


To be specific, it should be Alliance Younique MC or Alliance Plat MC/VISA.


It varies among people based on their needs. If you stay in Malaysia and do not travel abroad, RM10k is more than enough provided there is no emergency like hospitalisation. However, if you always travel to overseas, RM10 is peanut as the value of Malaysian Ringgit is simply too small compared to other currencies.


Alliance Premium Debit Card gives a flat rebate rate of 2%. While a fixed 1.5% rebate rate is given by Alliance Plat Debit Card.

However, I still prefer Credit Card over Debit Card.

You can view it at maybank2u. However, the MR points will be shown as Treats Points, even though they are MR points in reality.

A very important thing, you must meet the age requirement - 21 years and above. Or else, get a supplementary card or debit card.

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Added on November 8, 2009, 7:24 pmAmex, of course.

This post has been edited by winner: Nov 8 2009, 07:24 PM

Call the Amex CS and they will send the gift to you.

If you have M2U, Amex cc will automatically appear on your M2U online. To redeem your MR points, what you need to do is to give Amex CS a buzz and tell them the item you wish to redeem. That's easy.

Anyway, you may discuss anything pertaining Amex in "American Express Thread".

1. Bring less cash
2. 20-day interest free
3. Reward points
4. Cash rebate
5. Emergency use

I ensure I make payment in full before the payment due date.


Do make sure it is fully cancelled. Otherwise RM50 service tax will be charged on 1st January immediately.

This also applies to other banks. Do ensure you cancel the CCs 2-3 weeks early to avoid argument with banks later.