One of the most glaring things out of Malaysia’s Budget 2010 was the RM50 charge on each credit card you hold which will be imposed by the Government in an attempt to police the citizen’s spendings habits and ensuring they do not hold more cards than you can afford.

Has it been a budget of goodies? Honestly, even if it was, none of the goodies will be remembered by the man on the street whose pocket is terribly hard hit by the charge imposed on credit card. In this day and age where the entire world is moving towards a cashless society and where Malaysians are feeling more unsafe everyday, the credit card has become a necessity rather than luxury.

So is it fair to impose charges on credit cards? Well, is it fair to impose charges on basic necessities such as food, water and security?

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. (source)

Our esteemed PM obviously has forgotten that majority of the rakyat will not fall within the tax bracket of 27% to enjoy the tax reduction of a grand 1%. It can be argued that most will enjoy the additional RM1,000 tax relief but does this justify a RM50 charge on our credit cards? Its like giving a baby candy only to take back part of it simply because the baby isn’t mature enough to eat the candy in small bites!

RM50 a year may not seem like a lot to some but it is to me and hence I’ll be cutting up most of my credit cards that have come with a “Free For Life” tagline. Perhaps our clever economic thinktanks might want to think of how this will impact the banking industry and flow of money when everyone starts cutting up their cards.

Its food for thought indeed. Will you be cutting yours? Or to quote an awfully terribly mangled advertisement on P1 Wimax: You Got Cut Or Not?!

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It’s hard to imagine a world without credit cards.

Credit cards have given us so much flexibility to shop, dine and travel without paying a single cent upfront. In today’s world where security is generally an issue, it provides a safe alternative to carrying around large amounts of cash to perform all your payments and transactions. Credit cards also provide lots of good benefits and discount offers which can sometimes come in very handy when planning a nice meal or a good holiday! Not to mention collecting points which you can use to redeem something nice, although it usually requires an absurdly high number of points!

As useful as the credit card is, it is important to remember that the credit card concept is essentially to encourage consumers to spend as much as they can. Discounts and packages are often carefully aimed and marketed to encourage customers to spend more to get additional discounts which is questionable whether it leads to real savings in the end. Hence, be careful not to fall into the credit card debt trap as many young people have. Here are some tips to avoid credit card debt.

Avoid Having Too Many Credit Cards

Credit card promoters are very aggressive these days and often offer all kinds of additional freebies when you sign up for a new credit card. As tempting as these might be, do try to avoid having too many credit cards as it is very easy to lose control with your spending when you know you have lots of credit to spare. Remember, any credit on your credit cards need to be paid off!

Balance Transfers

Some credit card companies offer free balance transfers from other credit cards. While this is not something to be encouraged, it is nevertheless a way you might want to use to stretch out your credit period a little to give a little more breathing space before you m ake your payment.

Pay Bills In Full

All credit card bills should be paid in full when they fall due. This helps avoid the hefty interest charges that comes with credit card unpaid balances which can be as high as 18% per annum, in addition to penalty charges which will be imposed. This interest very quickly adds up and can sometimes lead to shocking debt within a very short time!

Under the recently introduced tiered interest system, late payment of your credit card bills affects your credit standing with the credit card company. This means you will have to pay the maximum interest charges of 18% per annum on your unpaid balances instead of a reduced interest of 15%.

Ask For Reduced Fees

The credit card environment is a highly competitive one with many companies pushing “free” credit cards without any annual fees attached to it. If you have a credit card that still charges annual fees, push for reduced or waived annual fees to save an additional RM100 in fees. If your credit card company is unwilling to waive them, consider signing up with a company that will offer you a credit card with no annual fees.

Don’t Spend More Than You Can Afford

It is very tempting to whip out your credit card at every sale or to pay for that beautiful and expensive handbag or pair of shoes. Interest-free installments offered by some retailers on high cost items such as facial packages and household furnishings make it even more convenient to put everything on your card. However, never bite off more than you can chew. When purchasing something with your card, always ensure that you can first afford it with your cash savings to avoid going into serious debt.

The credit card can be both an asset or a liability, depending on how you view and use it. Use it wisely and it might help you manage your expenses and cashflow better. However, use it wrongly and you might find yourself fighting a ballooning debt as the interest on it compounds.

Hence, be a smart credit card user and do share more tips!

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Our world today is a world of plastic and the credit card has become incredibly convenient for all kinds of transactions. Unfortunately, many tend to run into credit card debt or huge credit card bills simply because they fail to manage their credit card interest payments. Well, read below for some tips on how to manage your credit card interest well and not to let it manage you!

Read The Fine Print

Credit card companies charge a hefty interest charge on unpaid balances which are much higher than any loan or overdraft interest rates. Most credit cards charge 15% to 18% per annum on unpaid balances depending on your credit worthiness with them under their tiered interest rate structure. Under this structure, credit holders with prompt payments in the last 12 months enjoy the lower 15% rate while holders with less than 9 prompt payments in the last 12 months will be subjected to 18%.

Never Overspend

A rule of thumb when using your credit card is to never overspend on your purchases. Always ensure you have enough cash to pay for your purchases before you commit to it. While this may seem to defeat the purpose of having a credit card, it will help you avoid rolling over your balances and incurring hefty interest charges when it falls due.

Take Advantage of Interest Free Periods

Most credit cards offer interest free installment payments if you purchase products from their approved vendors. This is a great way to afford things that may be out of your budget as you are usually allowed to split your payments into 9 to 12 month installments, interest free. It is a good tip for rolling your excess cash to take advantage of other investments

Cheaper Interest Rates

If you have run up a large debt on your credit card and are unable to pay off your credit balance, do consider looking for other banks which offer cheaper interest rates when you transfer your balance to them. Due to the great competition in the credit card market, banks are usually willing to work out lower interest on your transferred balances or installment payment schemes to help you manage your debt.

Manage your credit cards wisely and save hundreds or thousands on unnecessary credit card interest payments!

Enjoy movies at only RM6 and a popcorn combo for only RM2!

How?

By signing up with a Citibank Clear Card!

Buy 2 movie tickets for only RM6 and enjoy your movie with sweet RM2 popcorn combo deals at any Cathay Cineplex Cinema when you pay with your Citibank Clear Master or Visa credit card!

This promotion period runs from 22 August 2008 to 31 December 2009 so sign up and save on movie tickets! It provides great savings for movie dates as well!

Simply by signing up for the Air Asia-Citibank credit card!

I was really excited to read about this as any form of fuel rebates are really welcome after our recent fuel hike. The Air Asia credit card also gives lots of additional savings which is fantastic for travellers.

Despite being a budget airline, they have their own frequent flyer programme with this credit card where you can earn free flights with their evergreen points! The credit card entitles you to Air Asia’s special airfares and promotional offers one day before it goes public! This limited offer includes fee waivers of RM70 (silver card) and RM180 (gold card) for the first year.

The petrol rebate is the most attractive offer to me and I can’t wait to take advantage of it! Find out more at Citibank’s website.

Another credit card that offers cash rebates is the RHB Travel Money by RHB Bank. The benefit of the RHB Travel Money card over the Shell Citibank card is its greater flexibility by providing cash rebates for any petrol station you choose to fuel up at!

This means you have lots of choice, as a consumer, and can collect your rebates with ease without having to look for a specific petrol station. What sort of benefits does this card provide? Find out below.

Unlike the Shell Citibank credit card, the RHB Travel Money card is not solely geared towards fuel savings. This current promotion of up to 5% cash rebates for fuel is only applicable during their promotional period which lasts until 31 August 2008 only. I am not sure if they would extend it but I guess it will depend on the popularity of the promotion.

There is a bit of a catch when I read their terms and conditions further.

• For each transaction for payment of petrol at any petrol stations nationwide, Cardmembers will be entitled to:
  • Rebate of 5% from 10th June 2008 to 31st August 2008
  • Rebate of 2% from 29th May 2008 to 9th June 2008 and from 1st September 2008 to 31st December 2008
• The Rebate shall be subjected to a limit of RM60 per month for each Principal Card. Both Principal and Supplementary Cardmember’s rebate will be accumulated to a maximum limit of RM60 per Principal credit card account per month.

It appears that the rebates are capped to RM60 a month and after August, will decline to only 2%. While it doesn’t seem like much, RM60 worth of rebates in a month equals to at least RM1,200 worth of petrol pumped in the month at 5% cash rebates.

It is probably a good deal if you are an existing RHB Travel Money cardholder. However, if you aren’t, signups will cost you RM70 in annual fees for a principal card. Find out more at RHB Travel Money.

Citibank and Shell recently embarked on a partnership programme to help consumers cope with the rising fuel prices. They have launched a Shell Citibank Credit Card aimed at helping consumers save money!

The Shell Citibank Credit Card is available in Classic and Gold cards, depending on your income levels. It works like a normal credit card but this is even better as it comes jam-packed with goodies to help you cut your expensive petrol bills!

There are lots of additional benefits offered during their campaign period which runs from 31 May to 31 December 2008 which are listed after the jump:

• Free RM50 rebate on your Shell fuel purchases
• Up to 5% rebate on all Shell fuel purchases
• First year free waiver
• Up to 1.5% rebates on all other purchases

And if you are eligible for a Gold card, you will be entitled to free travel insurance of up to RM50,000 everytime you charge your ticket to your card and Gold On-Call Assistance which provides up to 50% discounts on worldwide shopping privileges.

This promotional period also entitles you to purchase a HP Compaq PC700 Notebook for only RM799 from its usual price of RM1,999 which equals to more great savings! Remember that your notebook purchase is also tax deductible every 3 years so you get double savings

Citibank also provided a nifty little calculator on their site which helps you calculate how much savings you can get in a year with this card. At an average of RM200 monthly spending on petrol, you stand to save RM60 a year with the Gold and RM36 a year with the Classic which works out to an average savings of RM3 to RM5 a month.

Enough for a snack or a meal :p

Some hidden fees are:

• Renewal fees for the cards are RM90 per annum for the Classic and RM195 for the Gold
• You have to pump a minimum of RM20 to be eligible for the promotion

Interested parties can check out their promotional details on the Citibank site.

A credit card can sometimes be a blessing or a curse, depending on your spending habits. It is very useful when you don’t have enough cash on you, which is often the case as most people tend to carry less cash now due to the high crime rate. The many interest free installment schemes the credit card companies offer is also useful in helping you afford something expensive through small monthly repayments.

However, many don’t really use it well and end up putting huge sums on their credit cards or maxing out their credit limit by unrestrained shopping. I was also surprised to know that many don’t even fully pay off their cards every month and just pay the minimum credit card balance without realising that the interest charges of 18% per annum on the unpaid balance is much higher than the bank interest rates!

Recently, the Government introduced a tiered interest system for credit card holders, effective 1 June 2008, in a move to encourage wiser credit card usage. A summary is provided below.

• 20-day Interest Free Period – This used to be automatically available for all. However, it is now only available to credit card users who pay in full before or on the payment due date.

Previously, a flat 18% interest rate p.a. applied to all credit card users for any unpaid balances. However, under the tiered interest rate system, under this new tiered system, credit card users who regularly prompt payments are rewarded with lower interest rates, depending on their credit history and rating.

• 15% interest per annum – Applicable for credit card users who made prompt payments for 12 consecutive months.
• 17% interest per annum – Applicable for card users who made 10 to 11 prompt payments in the past 12 months.
• 18% interest per annum – Applicable for card users who made less than 9 prompt payments in the last 12 months.

The best way to avoid these high interest payments are, of course, to pay off your credit card balance in full every month. Inculcating the habit of paying off your credit card balance in full will help you keep your shopping in check as you will be careful not to spend more than what you can afford to pay when the statement arrives. This will inevitably lead to more savings in the long run!

Recently, Citibank Malaysia launched a new credit card to help you save even more whenever you do your weekly marketing. It is a new Giant-Citibank credit card which helps you save through rebates whenever you shop at Giant which is really good if you regularly do your marketing at a Giant hypermarket.

The Giant-Citibank card offers the following advantages:

• 2% rebates on purchases made in Giant Malaysia
• Up to 1% rebate on purchases made outside Giant stores
• Purchase-with-purchase items
• Members-only priced items

During their promotional period, members stand to get 10% rebates if you apply before 15 July and swipe your Giant-Citibank card on your first purchase before 31 August! The rebates will be given in the form of RM5 vouchers which you can reuse easily at any Giant hypermarket. A table of the number of vouchers you stand to get has been provided below:

No.	Spending Amount (RM)	Number of Voucher in RM5 denomination each
1.	50 – 99	1.
2.	100 – 149	2.
3.	150 – 199	3.
4.	200 – 249	4.
5.	250 – 299	5.
6.	300 – 349	6.
7.	350 – 399	7.
8.	400 – 449	8.
9.	450 – 499	9.
10.	500 and above	10.

It appears that they are rounding it off to the lowest RM5 voucher so instead of getting RM9.90 for your shopping bill of RM99, you will have to contend with a RM5 voucher. If you are a user of the card, do plan your shopping so you can maximise the vouchers as much as possible!

During their promotional period, the annual fee of RM90 is waived for a year and you are entitled to purchase an Olympus camera a 60% discount (delivery fee of RM50 applies) which provides additional savings if you have been looking for a camera.

The Giant-Citibank credit card works well only if you are a regular shopper at Giant. However, if you don’t have a Giant near where you live or work, it wouldn’t make much sense with the current fuel prices to drive out of your way to utilize these rebates!