Investment has nothing to do with credit score...it won't help him there. He just needs to pledge FD for a credit card and it'll improve his credit score as long as he keeps the utilization low. Even if he doesn't use it at all, just having a credit card active will boost his credit score up to a certain tier as long as he doesn't close it. A higher limit means he can roll the balance every month and pay it off at the last second to improve cashflow. This won't work as well if he has a higher usage which is over 33% of his credit limit since it'll drop his credit score even if he pays it off in full every due date.

Somewhat on topic since it relates to an issue I've had recently. I'm not sure when the CCRIS history updates every month so maybe someone with more experience can chip in there since I've noticed that paying off 2 weeks early didn't do squat since Experian combined both months' balances into one for this month and dropped my credit score even though the actual utilization is way below 33% on my Visa because I paid it off early. According to the website the CCRIS should update on the 15th. I paid the previous statement outstanding on the 3rd and yet somehow on 19th (when Experian updated my report) it still combined my previous statement balance (fully paid 2 weeks prior) with the outstanding. I don't understand where the issue is

Of course. You don't need income if you pledge FD. Just make sure you don't get an idiot handling your application. Sure kena reject one if they apply through income instead of FD... Otherwise 100% confirm lulus.

It's a credit card. It's not even remotely close to being a debit card. This is called secured credit. The bank is extending a line of credit to you because you have an asset backing that credit. The FD is basically not even in the equation unless you fail to make multiple payments in which case the bank will liquidate your FD to pay off your outstanding balance. In a way it's the safest way to leverage debt since both parties basically have no risk. It's the same story with certain business loans for SMEs. Some companies won't normally qualify for certain loans which is why they pledge FD in order to get credit from banks.

No. Those are just normal FDs. FDs need to be pledged in order to qualify for a credit card or a loan. That means you can't uplift it online and you need to go to a branch to cancel the CC and free up your FD again. Otherwise anyone with FD would qualify for a credit card regardless of their income. Malaysia isn't like the US where anyone with a pulse can get a credit card. BNM is pretty strict with the requirements, i.e - 2k minimum income for the shittiest cards like Aeon and the credit limit being 2x your monthly income if you make below a certain level.

Yeah you should keep it under 33%. Going over it will drop your credit score significantly even if you pay it off in full. I emailed Experian about my recent issue and they said it's Maybank's side which is baffling since it means they never bothered to update the proper outstanding to CCRIS. I wouldn't really recommend Maybank unless you want the cashback since it has higher SST due to the 2 cards they give you but iirc you can also apply for the other cards (like the Ikhwan for petrol/groceries cashback) with a lower than 5k FD. It's just the M2Gold cards that need 5k minimum. You can find more information on their threads. Most if not all the other banks also offer CCs for pledged FDs so you're not limited to Maybank at all. The ones that have active promos for this that I know of are Affin and Hong Leong. The Affin Duo is pretty good as well since you can get cashback for topping up ewallets.

This post has been edited by red streak: Mar 24 2021, 12:20 AM