My love affair with credit cards
I applied for my 9th credit card today. You must think that I'm crazy; 9 credit cards?? Why so many, huh?? Aiya, it's my hobby. Why can't I have a hobby like this when others can collect stamps, coins, condoms and god knows what else. Moreover, application is free and most of the time, you'd get a free gift too. So there, why not.
I still remember how difficult it was to apply for a credit card bout 10 years ago. What with a meagre salary of Rm1500 working as a Customer Service Officer with a telecommunications company. You have to obtain a letter from the head office to verify your income. Hmm, you must be thinking; what's so difficult about getting a letter from the office, huh. Believe you me, it's no easy feat. You get bombarded with questions fit for Miss Universe contest. Anyway, logic coupled with a quickmind, I won the case. It pays to have a good track record with the company.
So, there I go, with my very first credit card from MBF Mastercard. The next thing to do is to find a place to swipe that card. And since petrol is claimable, so off to Shell. Living and working in Ipoh sure has it advantages. I go home for lunch most of the time. I wear a uniform to work, so, further savings from having to shop for work clothes. Hardly ever need to touch my paycheck. But heck, I bought lots of yarn with that card. Yarn was cheap then, with a 2.5 exchange rate. I buy bulk to save since I knit lightning fast.
I remembered the days when our Government implemented the RM50 levy/card during the crash of 97. My gawd, just imagine if u had 8 dual cards from 4 different banks then. On top of the annual fee, you have to pay an additional Rm400/annum. That's heavy man, considering the fact that many got burnt during the market crash. The banks soon saw many of the card members snipping and returning their cards. I still had my one and only Mbf card then. So, i only get charge Rm50 since my annual fee is waived.
Today, the credit card scenario has changed. You can see those bank kiosks everywhere in shopping complexes whoring for applicants. Application is easy too, copy of IC and a 1yr old existing credit card is all you need to get your second, third, fourth..... and they wont stop hounding you till you sign up for one. Ok, ok, another reason I have so many cards is that many of my friends work for these banks and they have to hit their quota. So, have a heart, go out there, sign up for a few and make some people happy for a change.
I still remember how difficult it was to apply for a credit card bout 10 years ago. What with a meagre salary of Rm1500 working as a Customer Service Officer with a telecommunications company. You have to obtain a letter from the head office to verify your income. Hmm, you must be thinking; what's so difficult about getting a letter from the office, huh. Believe you me, it's no easy feat. You get bombarded with questions fit for Miss Universe contest. Anyway, logic coupled with a quickmind, I won the case. It pays to have a good track record with the company.
So, there I go, with my very first credit card from MBF Mastercard. The next thing to do is to find a place to swipe that card. And since petrol is claimable, so off to Shell. Living and working in Ipoh sure has it advantages. I go home for lunch most of the time. I wear a uniform to work, so, further savings from having to shop for work clothes. Hardly ever need to touch my paycheck. But heck, I bought lots of yarn with that card. Yarn was cheap then, with a 2.5 exchange rate. I buy bulk to save since I knit lightning fast.
I remembered the days when our Government implemented the RM50 levy/card during the crash of 97. My gawd, just imagine if u had 8 dual cards from 4 different banks then. On top of the annual fee, you have to pay an additional Rm400/annum. That's heavy man, considering the fact that many got burnt during the market crash. The banks soon saw many of the card members snipping and returning their cards. I still had my one and only Mbf card then. So, i only get charge Rm50 since my annual fee is waived.
Today, the credit card scenario has changed. You can see those bank kiosks everywhere in shopping complexes whoring for applicants. Application is easy too, copy of IC and a 1yr old existing credit card is all you need to get your second, third, fourth..... and they wont stop hounding you till you sign up for one. Ok, ok, another reason I have so many cards is that many of my friends work for these banks and they have to hit their quota. So, have a heart, go out there, sign up for a few and make some people happy for a change.
No comments:
Post a Comment