Gov Lowers CreditCard Min Income To $20k

[johnny333]

yeah. that is true, credit card is good for porn on the internet, buying tickets and hotel booking. especially if it is above certain value, the credit card company will cover you , if the airline or hotel gone bust. if you pay by other means, you get nothing back. if you use credit card, the credit card company have to get the money themselves.

The bad outweight the good. i have credit card from the first year of work until today. so, i have experience with credit card, it is evil.

If you learn the proper way to use a credit card, credit cards are really a blessing. I've got a few cards & I always pay up before they can stick me with those ridiculous penalties. I even get those reward points which I can use to buy things.

Who is to blame if Singkies don't know how to use credit wisely?

Too many Singkies are immature. This is what happens when you have a sterile place with too many controls in place. Its worst when they so called gov't is trying to exploit the people

 

[johnny333]

The bad outweight the good. i have credit card from the first year of work until today. so, i have experience with credit card, it is evil.

Just thought of another reason for credit cards.

If ever you need hospitalisation, Mount Alvernia is offering a 4% discount if you use a DBS credit card

Hospital bills can be very substantial so 4% is a huge discount.

 

[jimmyfallon]

Can somebody pls post the article here. Cant log in.

 

[RK85]

And petrol companies offer additional 5% if u pay by CC.

After 1 yr of pumping petrol, 5% is a lot. Imagine if u pay cash every time u pump petrol.

Just thought of another reason for credit cards.

If ever you need hospitalisation, Mount Alvernia is offering a 4% discount if you use a DBS credit card

Hospital bills can be very substantial so 4% is a huge discount.

 

[johnny333]

And petrol companies offer additional 5% if u pay by CC.
.

I stopped driving a while back, too many charges$$$. Can join me in Spores World Class public transport

 

[pia]

To me, CC is a knife. Use it well, and you get the best cut sashimi. Use it badly, you get the worst cut finger (if not worse)

CC and credit lines helped me thru my lowest moments, financially, as least.

These days, they still have their purpose, in the form of discounts, redeemable points, special offers etc. Of course, don't rollover CC debts and request annual fees waivers.

And all will be fine.

 

[fischerman12]

Election is coming sooner than ever, why all those years they keep saying lowering the min sum will encourage debt but why now? simply most of the peoples that are earning 20k to 30k are the young adults those just came out to work and the govt know that this group are very anti the PAP so they are trying to please these young voters.

The PAP govt will not do anything that don't benefit them. They are buying thr votes from these youngsters.

Maybe Mar or Apr for GE2009

 

[Ramseth]

With a credit bureau in place, I think that the MAS should scrap regulatory income requirement for access to credit altogether. Let the lending bank assess the client based on the credit report and commercial judgment. It's kind of silly that someone earning $2,500 can get a $5,000 credit line, whereas another earning $2,400 can't get anything.

 

[Robert Half]

I pity many young Singaporean will be made bankrupt even before they earn their first bread.

It's true :p I know of one 27 yrs old guy earning $3K plus a month but he had a credit card debt of $6,000 & it is incurring monthly interest charges :(

 

[kakowi]

It was only a few days back that yahoo.com.sg has a news report that a number of credit card holders could not pay their minimum balances and have to rollover their debts

Lowering the min income will encourage spending by card holders, create more transactions in the economy and boost up GDP which they are responsible for.

It will also increase banks' revenue and help them to stay afloat especially if they had trusted Madoff.

But it is not good for the man in the street.

This is because easy credit will sooner or later, lead to debts. And then get suck into a life of paying off interest off credit cards.

If you really want credit cards, then consider what i do:

(1) have at most two cards - one visa and one mastercard. I bypass Amex. I also choose my banks carefully, avoiding fair-weather friends

(2) i ask for only one month of my salary as a credit limit

(3) if i want to spent $500 on credit cards this coming month, i will deposit $500 first into my credit card, then i spent it.
​

In this way, i avoided debt and yet have the convenience of credit cards.

Thus having only the good and avoiding the bad.

 

[kakowi]

It's true :p I know of one 27 yrs old guy earning $3K plus a month but he had a credit card debt of $6,000 & it is incurring monthly interest charges :(

I can second this.

It is a very common occurance.

 

[Ramseth]

If you really want credit cards, then consider what i do:

(1) have at most two cards - one visa and one mastercard. I bypass Amex. I also choose my banks carefully, avoiding fair-weather friends

(2) i ask for only one month of my salary as a credit limit

(3) if i want to spent $500 on credit cards this coming month, i will deposit $500 first into my credit card, then i spent it.
​

In this way, i avoided debt and yet have the convenience of credit cards.

Thus having only the good and avoiding the bad.

I think what you need is a debit card, not a credit card. :p

 

[kakowi]

I think what you need is a debit card, not a credit card. :p

You are right there. My credit card function as a debit card.

It is just that credit cards make travelling more convenient especially in hotel bills.

Credit is a good servant but i will never make it my master.

 

[Ramseth]

You are right there. My credit card function as a debit card.

It is just that credit cards make travelling more convenient especially in hotel bills.

Credit is a good servant but i will never make it my master.

How I got my first credit card? It was in US from Citibank many many years ago. I just ROD (now known as ORD) and of course hadn't qualify for a Singapore credit card (even though then only S$24,000 income requirement). Anyway I went to the US to work and was told by my boss to go get a credit card as-a-matter-of-factly for convenience.

Interestingly, the bank doesn't care much about my work or income. It screened my credit report and came out blank, cause I was new in the US and of cause, has no credit history or rating on my credit report.

It's okay though. The bank suggested I place a CD (certificate of deposit, known in Singapore as FD or fixed deposit) with them and they'll issue to me a credit card with a creditline equal to that amount. If there's no problem with my account payments for 12 months, I can withdraw my money as no collateral would be required after proving my creditworthiness. So I placed US$2,000 and got a credit card.

The next year, I went to withdraw my CD as the lien was lifted. Pleasantly surprising, the bank not only returned my money but also offered upgrading to a no-annual-fee gold card with US$5,000 limit without any question asked about any change in my financial situation.

Those who studied in the US would know, even students could get credit cards easily, with creditlines of US$500 to US$1,000.

Back in Singapore, it's different game. Show income tax return of above $30,000 first, then talk. In the US, no bank ask for your income tax return, it's considered something very personal that only your wife or FBI or CIA should be allowed to see. However, the credit bureau report can be very comprehensive and invasive. Even late payment for rent or phone bill is reflected there.

 

[pia]

Those who studied in the US would know, even students could get credit cards easily, with creditlines of US$500 to US$1,000.

Too-easy credit... the cause of their woes now

Looks like S'pore is playing catch-up.

 

[kakowi]

...Back in Singapore, it's different game. Show income tax return of above $30,000 first, then talk. In the US, no bank ask for your income tax return, ...

There are certain laws in the States which make it illegal to ask for your sex, age, race, religion and income...hence they rely on other factors to make their decisions

Good - there is less chance of discrimination

Bad - the sub-prime is a good example...the approval for housing does not require a proving of income

 

[kakowi]

One more point - it will be good for the Singapore Government to show consumers the number (absolute and percentage) of lawsuits initiated by Citibank, Amex, StanChart, HSBC, OCBC, UOB, DBS, POSB, Maybank, Bank of China and RBS against their credit card clients.

This should also be a sobering factor for potential credit card applicants to choose a good bank to open up a credit card relationship with.

 

[myfoot123]

Credit card is a double tax you paid to the govt. When you buy the goods, 7% go directly to IRAS, the remaining 93% goes to the company as sales that govt will tax. If you don't pay your credit card on time, the bank will charge 24%pa. Consumer of credit card became the loser of all these scam set up by govt.

 

[Ramseth]

One more point - it will be good for the Singapore Government to show consumers the number (absolute and percentage) of lawsuits initiated by Citibank, Amex, StanChart, HSBC, OCBC, UOB, DBS, POSB, Maybank, Bank of China and RBS against their credit card clients.

This should also be a sobering factor for potential credit card applicants to choose a good bank to open up a credit card relationship with.

If you hold a credit card, a bank that doesn't sue easily is a good bank. If you hold bank shares, a bank that doesn't sue easily is a bad bank. I don't think that there's such thing as a good bank or bad bank as they ply their trades and offer their services according to laws and regulations. There're only good or bad customers, those who repay what they borrow, and those who borrow more than they can repay.

 

[kakowi]

If you hold a credit card, a bank that doesn't sue easily is a good bank. If you hold bank shares, a bank that doesn't sue easily is a bad bank. I don't think that there's such thing as a good bank or bad bank as they ply their trades and offer their services according to laws and regulations. There're only good or bad customers, those who repay what they borrow, and those who borrow more than they can repay.

Share financing actually carries much less risk than credit card debts.

The reason why some banks sue easily is the right of recovery.

MAS laws are the same for all banks.

But different banks have different tolerance for bad debts.

So such statistics are useful as a proxy to the individual banks' practices.

Thus this is an important factor to consider, especially for the more prudent applicants.