Credit Card Discussion: What Card U Have? Bad time to Apply?

[Ou812]

Hi All

Having 1 DBS Visa Card for last 5 years

Everyone I know have 3-5 Cards, Want to Apply for one or two more

Is timing Bad to apply? Are banks rejecting card apps due to economy?

What cards are the best now? Ones with Airline miles and no annual fee?

Any bro here work for banking industry can chime in

Pls Discuss:

 

[commoner]

aiya,,, what annual subscription?

even platinium cards also can waive annual fees,,,,

so see what fits you, flying, dining, traveling on MRT, mobile phone, shopping in NTUC, Tangs or Robinsons, golfing, drinking, so many types of cards, and actually there is no one size fits all,,,

but most of all, probably select banks you are comfy with,,,,, I always prefer HSBC or Citibank because they are generally more friendly and picks up the phone fast, important especially if you are calling from overseas,,,,

 

[SIFU]

what i have now : 1 posb n 1 dbs

what i had before : uob, citibank, amex, ocbc.

what i will never want to have again : citibank, amex.. both sucks big time

 

[kakowi]

Hi All

Having 1 DBS Visa Card for last 5 years

Everyone I know have 3-5 Cards, Want to Apply for one or two more

Is timing Bad to apply? Are banks rejecting card apps due to economy?

What cards are the best now? Ones with Airline miles and no annual fee?

Any bro here work for banking industry can chime in

Pls Discuss:

First, you need to understand why you need two or three cards. Once you can convince yourself that it is good for you and you will not overspend (believe me, your extra expenditure will be by about 20%), then you can consider the following:

(1) Cards for getting rebates - UOB One (annual fee waived for life provided you have 3 expenditures per month), Citibank Div, etc

(2) Cards for accumulating frequent flyer miles - Citibank Premier Miles; DBS Amex Altitude, UOB Signature

(3) Cards for brand loyalty - OCBC Robinsons; DBS Amex Takashimaya. The Citibank Tangs is not neccessary as Tangs give a store loyalty that offers 6% rebate and you can save on your credit record by getting a more relevant card. Each card issued to you increases your risk to the next bank.)

I believe Maybank give quite good deals although i have not explored them.

Like Sifu, I tend to avoid Citibank and Amex cards and have a preference for DBS and UOB. A card is just a card but collection policies and attitudes vary across banks. Singapore banks are generally kinder to you when you hit a rough patch. OCBC = Old CitiBankers Club.

Thus you need to consider cards in a holistic manner rather than the friendly smiles the sellers give to you. A successful salesman is also an efficient ah long.

My recommendation is to stick with one card: If your regular expenditures are definite each month and do not exceed $800 per month, then the UOB One: use the regular rebates to give yourself a free air-ticket each year, possibility to pay no annual fees on your main card and supplementary card holder for life. But the UOB customer service hotline for enquiries not related to stolen cards (all hotlines for stolen cards are fast) really sucks when you call them in the early hours of the morning; their atm cash deposit for card repayment is non-operational in the night. (OCBC, Standard Chartered, DBS and Citibank are quite efficient. OCBC and Standard Chartered are relatively more efficient than DBS and Citibank in terms of hotline answering to your queries - you can try it yourself if you find that comment amazing.) I do not try Amex as i do not believe in paying a bank to carry their card.

Of course, if you have $200,000 in the bank, your options are far wider and the banks kinder

Hope it helps.

 

[Leongsam]

Hi All

Having 1 DBS Visa Card for last 5 years

Everyone I know have 3-5 Cards, Want to Apply for one or two more

Typical sinkie herd mentality. Care to explain why you need to go the same way as "everyone you know"??

Are you not capable of independent thought?

Nobody needs more than one credit card.

 

[johnny333]

I believe Maybank give quite good deals although i have not explored them.

Maybank's loyalty reward points can be used in wide range of stores. Some cards limit the places where you can used the points. Never used my Citibank points because the stores they listed were yuppee type stores that didn't appeal to me. If you are interested in Maybank can visit them at:

www.maybank2u.con.sg

Another thing one should look is the time (in days) one is given to settle bills. I suspect DBS & other Spore banks don't give you much time. If you miss a payment cycle its going to cost you 20% so I think this is very imprtant for those who want to settle ALL their bills and avoid the 20+% interest rate charges.

 

[kakowi]

Thanks.

I believe it should be .com.sg although someone had indeed registered con.sg

The reported rate for late payments is 24% but the effective rate is higher than that - i am not certain but i think it is close to 30%

There are also late fees to be paid. And any other items will have the late interest applied to them. Loyalty points will be lost for that month. In addition a blemish on your credit report.

Although almost all the banks are willing to waive it if you are doing it for the first time, it is not a good idea to overspend until each month you are just paying off the interest. A number of people are caught in this situation and they cannot get out of it for years and years. Banks simply love them.

The 55 days billing cycle is a gimmick although it is an attractive one for the first round. Thereafter when you are hooked, you will find that each month carries new billing items and that 55 days simply means more bills not due. Once you are late, those undue bills are charged the late interest.

These are reasons why credit cards must be treated carefully.

 

[johnny333]

Thanks.

I believe it should be .com.sg although someone had indeed registered con.sg

Someone from PAP lah must have registered "con"

Although almost all the banks are willing to waive it if you are doing it for the first time, it is not a good idea to overspend until each month you are just paying off the interest. A number of people are caught in this situation and they cannot get out of it for years and years. Banks simply love them.

I find that Citibank is better at forgiving late payments. Such as if you are busy travelling & the bills show alot of foreign charges The girls/guys manning the telephone banking line have the discretion to forgive late payments.

If you have a savings account AND a Credit card with Citibank its very easy to pay your credit bills by phone. The only reason I prefer to use my May card is because of their loyalty program & I'm planning to get a new iPod

 

[kakowi]

Someone from PAP lah must have registered "con"

...

It is actually registered by 'zeifang.com' and it scans for all the .com.sg and duplicates the major ones with .con.sg to capture the typos and earn from the pay per clicks

Quite an interesting business model and very creative i must say

As a guess, it must have done the same for the other countries too

 

[kakowi]

...
I find that Citibank is better at forgiving late payments. Such as if you are busy travelling & the bills show alot of foreign charges The girls/guys manning the telephone banking line have the discretion to forgive late payments.

...

The exodus of citibankers out to local banks starting from the late 1990s had led to duplication of the service levels in local banks as well.

A number of banks had empowered their customer service officers to give a voice-friendly waiver of up to 2x per customer.

Unfortunately UOB still does not get it - they automated the process! and thus deprived themselves of an opportunity to gain mindshare in satisfied customers.

Even Maybank today is making an effort to be nice and friendly.

 

[jw5]

Hi All

Having 1 DBS Visa Card for last 5 years

Everyone I know have 3-5 Cards, Want to Apply for one or two more

Is timing Bad to apply? Are banks rejecting card apps due to economy?

What cards are the best now? Ones with Airline miles and no annual fee?

Any bro here work for banking industry can chime in

Pls Discuss:

Want to have so many cards for what?

 

[cowbellc]

Typical sinkie herd mentality. Care to explain why you need to go the same way as "everyone you know"??

Are you not capable of independent thought?

Nobody needs more than one credit card.

i got 2. juz in case

 

[ray_of_hope]

I have:

1) AMEX Kris Flyer for frequent flier mileage on SQ.
the miles add up quite fast.

2) UOB Visa Signature for cash rebates.

3) Citibank Visa Premiermiles, also for frequent flier miles,
but also acts as an ATM card to access their global ATM
network if I need cash when abroad (but never have needed
to use it that way).

I don't pay an annual fee for the UOB card being a priority
customer. As for the other 2 cards, every year they charge me
the annual fee and then they waive it when I call them up
to do so.

 

[johnny333]

Even Maybank today is making an effort to be nice and friendly.

Actually my 1st credit card was with Maybank, attracted by their 5 year service fee waived gold card. This was at a time when everyone charged for their cards. I had to pay fees for Amex & Citibank cards. Company paid for the Amex corporate card though

All my years with Maybank I always got a feeling that they were a people bank. Thinking of opening an account with them when I close my POSB account Though will keep my Citibanks account for foreign transactions.

Forgot I also have an OCBC & OUB card which I don't use. My Robinson card was converted to a OCBC credit card & my employer used OUB travel services so they issued credit cards to all corporate customers.

I limit my credit card to only 2 cards; Maybank & Citibank. Its a pain to track more than 2 cards

 

[kakowi]

Hi Johnny333,

hmmm...my earlier cards were with Amex as i was a pps member and their frequent flyer programme is very good

today i am a believer of UOB One (hence my constant harping on them to improve their service) for rebates on neccessary expenditure like singtel and Standard Chartered Manhattan (for bigger expenditures like holidays).

UOB One give rebates of up to 3% and Manhattan up to 5% which are unbeatable by any other cards.

thus based on my profile, two cards are ideal - one to take care of neccessary expenditures and the other for discretionary expenditure both of which give me the maximum rebates in the market today

I also have a third card - the ocbc robinsons as i am a m&s fan and my wife is a principles fan

But as a precaution, my expenditures are usually prepaid - meaning i pay my credit card before i spend on my credit

 

[pia]

Amex - for KF miles SQ
Titanium - for food deals & rewards
DBS Platinum - for petrol with SPC card
Citi Readycredit (not credit card tho) - for overseas ATMs. I deposit a sum monthly so it's like a debit card to me.

It's good to have Visa/Mastercard in addition to Amex/Diners becos the latter not always accepted everywhere.

And good to pay up full every month. The interest is horrendous.

And during this bad times, for goodness sake, don't ever let them know u're out of job, or got paycut. What they don't know won't hurt your credit limit

 

[kakowi]

...
And during this bad times, for goodness sake, don't ever let them know u're out of job, or got paycut. What they don't know won't hurt your credit limit

It is not just your credit limit that will be affected, especially if you are late in payments

 

[ashjaw]

Want to have so many cards for what?

aiyah, supp cards for mistress1, mistress2 etc... then daughters and sons everywhere

 

[tristesse]

I always say NO to POSB/DBS credit cards due to a particular bad encounter pertaining to fraudulent transactions charged to my card.

 

[AddinMedia]

Speaking about fraudulent transactions charged to card.

Is there such a debit/credit card that allows you to place a certain $ to it and prevent any transaction from going through if it exceeds? ( without penalty of course )

Would be nice to have this service for online subscriptions or purchases as it allows you to topup only when you are expecting a transaction to be deducted.