dump in first, then write a letter to re-appeal to them

Do any of you notice the AmIslamic Bank credit card promotion? Over RM1 mil in prizes to be won.
First time application get free Canon colour printer and RM50 if you spend RM1K within 2 months from the card approval date.
Free annual fees for life.

Admin and forex fee for Amex: 2.5%
TP earned equivalent: 2.5%
Weekend cashback: 5%
Net earned: 0% + 5%

Admin and forex fee for Visa/MC: 0.5% to 1%
TP earned equivalent: 0.5%
Weekend cashback: 0%
Net earned: -0.5% to 0%

I hope the above is illustrative enough as to why the MBB 2 Amex is actually not bad for overseas usage too.

You think it'll work? Really hope it works....how are the success rates for re-appeal for CC rejection thus far. Anyone knows of success stories?

Erh, not sure about your example but the 2.5% admin charge is on top of the forex rate whence compared to other card which effectively negates the 5x points, assumed to be equivalent to 2.5% rebate. Thus, after taking into consideration the higher forex itself, the effective rates would be more unfavourable. Further, this does not even take into account double conversion rate, if the foreign currency is not USD, plus how can we ensure we only spend on weekends? Oh, the RM50 per month cap means 5% cashback only good for upto RM1000 of spending

This post has been edited by tgeoklin: Mar 4 2011, 04:24 PM

hi guys, applied for Standard chartered platinum cards. they gimme 1 plat mastercard & 1 business visa plat.
called the ppl they said both cards are same. is it? thought only business visa got 0.5% cashback.
anyway thought of cancelling 1 card coz no point of using 2 also, need to pay rm 100 per tax then for 2.
if i cancel 1, do i still entitled for rm188 cashback?

tq guys!

wondering which other cc to apply...

Hi, may I know what is the email of their customer service?
Only can fax?

This post has been edited by den: Mar 4 2011, 04:13 PM

In the past posts, there has been success stories regarding OCBC. But generally banks don't entertain appeal letters. (And I used the word "generally")
OCBC smaller customer base could be a factor why they will entertain the appeal letters but generally don't bother about writing the letters coz the bank (especially those with large cc customer base) loses 1 customer through rejection but they are like 10 more in the waiting!

Personally ... I have done appeals with 0 success rate and I don't bother to do it anymore. Speaking from experience. If I don't qualify then so be it, I don't need to be so hard up for a particular card.

This post has been edited by hye: Mar 4 2011, 04:24 PM

As tgeoklin mentioned, the higher rate for overseas transaction negates the points.
But I am not going to say yes or no because ...

Yes ... if MBB2 Amex is the best card you owned.
No ... if you also own better alternatives (for example ... SCB VISA Infinite or MBB WMC which offers 5x points and uses better conversion rates than AMEX)

I read all posts here but most of the time your comments will really make me 'be ta han' so i mai just drop a note.. hahaha.. you enjoy posting also la..

Glad you are a big fan of me. Maybe you meet up with me someday.

apply for pbb master gold card for 3 weeks but still pending..zzz,need so long,lol.my scb platinum juz need 1 weeks

Well, I gotta agree with you on the being 'hard-up' part but then again if its going to benefit us then there's its surely worth a try. What amazed me was the fact that I got my application for the Maybank 2 cards approved whereas the application for the OCBC Ti MC got rejected. Couldn't understand why tho I was way overqualified in terms of their minimum requirements.

Why would Amex (not Maybank card) Forex rate be higher than our local banks? Can you enlighten me how Amex's conversion rate works? If not mistaken Amex got their own bank in US but not here.

From my tabulation in 2009, Amex does not necessary charged 2.5%. When I was in US in 2009 at Universal Studios where I used my Amex 3 times, and the rates varied between 1.57% to 2.53% Click below link to my blog to view the transactions.

Click here to see some overseas conversion rates in 2009 for Alliance, HSBC, MBB, AMex and UOB. To note Alliance no more competitive as now they do charge admin fee of 1%

In my opinion - If you are using any other Cards besides Maybank Visa/MasterCard, Maybankard 2 American Express may be even better than non MBB CC with the 5X TP. Once again see above table in the link.

What I want to see is someone posting their overseas transactions on the same day same time using both Maybankard 2 Amex and Maybankard 2 Visa, so that we can confirm once and for all which is better to use after considering the 5X and 1X TP.

Anyway, I just got my MBB statement, and the difference between MBB MasterCard vs Visa in SG was negligible unlike Alliance Visa vs Alliance MasterCard. Will post my transactions in SG with Alliance MC, DAWMC, MBB Visa and MBB MC in my blog once I incorporate it into my earlier post on Overseas Transactions in 2010. Click here to see conversion rate in SG in 2010 using MBB, Alliance, OCBC and CIMB.

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Mar 4 2011, 05:08 PM

wah!May I join??

Yeah ... I avoided saying no to the effort because at the end of the day it's an individual choice. Plus it's the consumer power that is involved here as well ... too much demand and bargaining power swings to the side of the bank. But don't rant when rejection happens coz that's normal for any cc holder .... just try again when the time is right. For example, one of the better cards which I hold now ... rejected me for 3 times and I waited for 3-4 years before they finally approved me.

OCBC is known to be strict in their risk management policies and that is well known. In fact when I submitted my application form for the TI MC, I specifically mentioned the CL I wanted ... which is very low as compared to the reference cc that I used. That helped in the approving decision I think ... do take note OCBC TI card will get nothing beyond RM1K/RM5K (depending on the rebate percentage since the cap is RM50) spending ... so why bother asking for high CL?

This post has been edited by hye: Mar 4 2011, 06:45 PM

Come on right in! Make sure you get siutimtim approval first or she'll be your fan too!

That was a bit misleading. One can also spend up to RM5,000 at places with only 1% rebate for OCBC TI.

This is a good question to ask. When people comment that Amex exchange rate is higher than Visa/MC, they usually don't remember that Amex does charge higher admin rate than Visa/MC.

Exchange rate is based on posting date and not transaction date, some forumers might have inadvertently posted comparisons which might not be valid as the posting date is usually not mentioned. CC also uses up to the second forex rates and not a reference daily rate (like banks and money changers uses). This explains why using the same card at the same shop with the same transaction and posting dates will usually result in different rates.

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Added on March 4, 2011, 5:26 pmI've commented above regarding forex rate. I don't yet have an MBB 2 card, but I believe 5% weekend rebate is based on transaction date, right? If so, just make sure your transaction is done on MY time weekends should be good enough.

This post has been edited by charymsylyn: Mar 4 2011, 05:26 PM

Maybe my statement is misleading. I am not talking about admin fee but on the forex rate itself i.e. Amex Forex Rate higher than MBB, SCB, HSBC, UOB, ABB, etc? Or these banks rate is based on Visa/MasterCard Forex Rate (where I suppose they would also charge an admin fee) and then the banks charge a 1% on top of the converted amount by Visa/MC. I really don't know how we are actually being charged when a Bank states that there is an Admin Fee of 1%

After reading above, I make myself confuse, hahaha

tgeoklin- mind to elaborate on how our transactions overseas are converted finally to RM.

I want to join too, can ar

This post has been edited by Gen-X: Mar 4 2011, 05:37 PM