Just lately I noticed there is 0% Interest with 3 installment payments with Atome and have started using it for several purchases. It's not only 0% interest that is the advantage but there is a further discount with RM15 voucher for first user, something like that, and collection of points with purchases made via Atome where the points can be used to further reduce the price of the item that is purchased later.

I wonder if this is the end of credit card era where banks charge interest with instalment plans? What is the catch with the 0% interest free plans offered by Atome which I may not be aware of? It may be limited to 3 payments for 3 months but still, it should be good enough for most people. There will be interest charged for longer instalments with Atome as interest will be charged for 6 payments.

The catch is extremely high interest if you miss payment

The payment won't be missed as it's auto-debit with the credit card. Perhaps I am still missing something?

The catch is you think you have more spending power and may tend to spend irresponsibly until you suddenly find yourself unable to pay the installments.

And unlike credit cards you don't "earn" the credit score no matter how good of a paymaster you are.

Also, you can catch banks offering 0% interest 3/6/12mth or even more on flexi payment, EPP, BT etc.

Tell me how is credit card era ending again?

Yes, that's a valid reason for the catch as some people may tend to spend more than what they are capable of spending.

With respect to banks offering 0% interest with flexi payments, not all merchants offer this option, and if certain options offer this 0% interest instalment, it may only be with selected banks and not all banks. I only have CIMB credit card and most merchants don't have this bank in their list for the 0% interest free instalment plan.

this is just another BNPL program like shopee/grab


i dont understand why u claim it's end of credit card era? in the end u still using credit card to "pay" what (just what u plan to do)

This post has been edited by fantasy1989: Oct 22 2025, 09:13 AM

What I meant was using Atome for the 0% interest free instalment payments as the option it's not available with certain merchants and banks. I have not used my credit card for 0% instalment free plans.

It can be addictive for some. Just set a limit for yourself.

Bank credit cards do have 3/6/12 mths interest free payment.

This is called blitzscaling. You offer services / goods at a loss or free to earn market share

Once you get market share, that's when you introduce your actual fees

Basic google ai search. Not going to check if it's not hallucinating

This post has been edited by Medufsaid: Oct 22 2025, 09:21 AM

Yes, I can surely understand. It's the same with SPayLater with Shopee. The buyer happily purchase items on Shopee with reduced monthly payments but when the bill suddenly comes for combined purchases, it may be too much for some as it's easy to just click, click, click on items to buy things.

I don't use SPayLater on Shopee anymore as it's troublesome, not so much I don't have enough cash to buy things. For the most recent purchase via Atome, I could actually pay in full amount but chose the 3 payment plan since it's a one-off purchase which is more than RM5k. There is basically no risk since the payment via Atome is auto-debit with credit card so there won't be any late charges.

Subscribe Atome later pay by cc...

Pay by cc...how cc era gonna end?

Selected banks with selected merchants. Some banks are not included with merchants which offer interest-free instalment plans.

same like harvey norman - 0% installment for xx months . it ties down to credit card , if you cant repay the full statement amount , then the interest start rolling .

It won't be the end of credit cards if you're using them to pay off the Atome payments..

they make money by catching u forgot to pay.
cuz unlike credit card, where u get a statement via email, or sms reminder, atome dont do that.
when shopee pay later just launched, i tried it out. to my surprise, it says due date on 1st Nov for example, & on 1st Nov, it already charge me RM10 late fee.
i was not satisfied & argued that 1st Nov due date means 1st is the last day to pay without penalty. that's how bank repayment works.

also, for just 3 months, they are not really losing much interest compared to the shops they attract to platform.
it also encourage people who cant afford the item to spend more.

TS sud realize banks and their CC are govern by banking laws which have at least have some protection for users.

as for BNPL, it is still the wild wild west.. i believe some kind of law of being drafted but currently it is still buyer's beware

CC death? why pay with your own money when u get a 30 day interest loan from the bank via CC?

Don't forget to pay the CC too. Those will attract lots of interests and late payment charges.

For the past ~25 years using credit card, there was only one (1) case where I had a late payment charge notified via the bank statement. I called the bank to have it waived as I told them of it's the only time where I forgot to pay as I was busy with work, and it was duly waived. Now I don't forget to pay the credit card bills as that's the only bill I have to pay, nothing else, and I only have one credit card.

With SPayLater via Shopee platform it's easy to forget to pay so I have stopped using although I tried it one or two times earlier when there was promotion by using that feature. Even though they give some discount vouchers with SPayLater on Shopee, I don't use it anymore.

With Atome, there won't be any late payment charge unless I forget to pay the credit card bill since it's tied with it via auto-debit.

Perhaps I've written wrongly. What I meant was choosing Atome or other platform to make 0% instalment payments when payment with credit card (certain banks) is not available or not offered by the merchant.