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2015.09.10 | 富者愈富

[Volume 10 Issue 9, #2055]
The Rich Getting Richer
Credit Card Spend More To Win More Contests
我諗大家應該都知道國家經濟正衰退, 馬幣更係貶至十七年來嘅新低.. 原本已弱嘅購買能力變得更弱, 難怪連銀行都出盡法寶吸引客戶多多洗錢啦.. 我就時不時會收到銀行發嚟嘅呢種「多洗多贏」短訊, 可想而知佢哋係幾渴求信用卡申請同交易(話唔定係其中一個寵大收入).. 啲獎品的確係好吸引, 我好多時會心動而且都嘗試過幾次, 但係就從來都未有幸運之星卷顧眷顧過, 哈哈!! 查實有時都會質疑呢類競賽是否真實, 所說獎品是否真的會送出.. 就係「多洗多贏」嘅模式不嬲啲規則都好苛刻, 係有錢洗嘅人先有多啲機會贏獎啫, 意思即係搞到富者愈富囉.. 我呢種冇乜錢嘅人機會微乎其微, 不如疊埋心水精明消費, 無謂墮入洗錢嘅陷阱中喇.. :)
i guess we all know that the country's economy is clearly declining with ringgit at its 17-year lowest.. spending power is lower than the already low, till banks have to come out with various marketing effort to lure people to spend.. i got these "spend more to win" invitations from the banks very often, and i can sense how desperate they are for credit card applications and transactions (which likely is one of their major incomes).. looks so attractive with the prizes that i am often tempted and attempted a few times, but never have been lucky enough to be a winner, haha!! sometimes i wonder how genuine the contests are and whether the prizes are really given out.. and given these are "spend more to win" models with mean rules, then only people who have more money to spend can stand a higher chance to win, which means the rich gets richer!! poor guy like me would definitely not have any chance at all, so just spend wisely and not fall into traps.. :)

99 comments:

  1. Hah I ignore all these one. Mostly bluff one. I got many friends working in banks, so I know. Usually those gifts would go to the friends and families of related people.

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    1. WTF?! I get FC?? Sh*t lah today Thursday, no Toto to buy!

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    2. hah..hah...RG strike "lottery"!

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    3. Me too, I ignore those SMS alerts and delete them almost immediately. All tipu one, where got such lucky to get those expensive gifts? It never happened to me at all.

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    4. Congrats RG for being the FC.
      I am afraid that I need to remind bloggers again & again, in case all forgotten that this blog rules have a criteria that qualifies one for extra bonus being the FC. Old timers, old aunties and old cocks like Anay used to be excited over this FC status and got nothing cos we never read the rules & regulations powered by SK.

      We need to write a lengthy paragraph with relevant words to the topic of the post. Many of us use to wake up early to fight and say "Chop!" and disappear until night time. Yannie should remember those silly years! LOL

      Of course people age and change. SK Thambee also aged and stopped garlanding some comments and highlight with his personal "LIKE" trademark anymore. Thambee dei, wake up la! Yengga Poreng Ngeh???

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    5. I am not too sure whether all banks do that but my wife did win First Prize of Samsung S3 when it was newly launched. She complied with something and later the bank called to ask her a simple question about the colour of their logo. She was declared one of the 3 winners in Malaysia and wifey gave Anay the brand new phone. Muacks! That was years ago.

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    6. I don't know about other banks but for one foreign bank their credit card promotion is sure win punya. They say for xxx amount spent in a certain period you will get yyy cash back and then I swipe my credit card for all my relatives and they pay me in cash so my spending qualified me according to the requirements so I always get the cashback but now the sure win promotion from that bank is getting lesser. Maybe no money to give the sure win cash back already. It is true the rich is getting richer but I am not rich lah, I just swipe my card for all my relatives only.

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    7. Hah.. I never read those marking systems, so maybe I do not qualify as FC... Not that I fight for it also lah, I couldn't care less where my comment end up in. I just surprised to see my comment show up as first...

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    8. i won't totally ignore those SMS but will see what are sent.. for Cash Advance or convert CC balance into instalments sure delete right away, for contests i'll KIV and decide later..

      actually i'm not entirely luck-less, at least i have won a pair of tickets to a concert in Bukit Jalil once, yes just for ONCE in more than 10 years i'm using a credit card.. haha!!

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    9. So good for you SK, I also will keep those concert one, but usually those the concepts one, they sent to me always ere the one, I don't wish to watch, but those I wish to watch argh, they never send to me, guess they pick certain artists one, but not all of the artists!

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  2. I get this too every now and then. You are probably aware that there are many young people who are bankrupts in this country and some are due to credit card debts. I blame the banks for making it too easy qualify for a card. Then they encourage people to spend, spend, spend!

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    1. Those gifts that they promise, not easy to get. In fact I know of someone who works in the bank and she won 2 prizes. I mean how can lah! Those working in the bank and their family members should be disqualified.

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    2. Best to ignore that kind of promotions because in the end we are the losers. We clock up debts, some more never strike the prize/cashback and have to work harder to pay the bank. Unless of course if you are one of those millionaires who have unlimited spending, then can try your luck.

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    3. In the current economic scenario, this is the time to exercise prudence. Cash is king and conserve as much as possible because money is a scarce resource.

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    4. It is important for parents to instill some financial smarts into their kids. These days I see kids being so pampered that they can get whatever they want. They must learn the value of money and how to budget and spend within their means.

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    5. I also know of young adults, already working but still expect handouts from their parents. Their excuse is that they don't earn enough. When you investigate further, you find that they are living with their parents with free board and lodging. Daddy pays for their car instalment and even the petrol!

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    6. These pampered lot want a high flying lifestyle when they have yet to achieve the earning capacity to do so. So, they become parasites and expect their parents to fund their high life. I pity the parents. Already work so hard to put the children through university and these youngsters are still not financially independent after they start working.

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    7. Nowadays, every where also not "bersih". Those people work in the bank is the winner, this kind of thing also happened. Where got meaning to take part like that? I agree with you that those people working in the bank and the relatives should be disqualified.

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    8. The whole banking industry is like vampires lurking somewhere.
      They hire desperate people to harass the public to sign up the cards just to help fulfill their 6 cards quota monthly.
      After that they hire another set of goons to harass you to pay up your overdue payments.
      Finally they hired telecallers to offer you personal loans to pay off your card's debts.
      Phew!! The whole debt tree is madness for luring, tempting and killing you into your own grave pits.

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    9. yeah.. i think i am on good track when it comes to payment.. never late and i always pay off my bills on time.. they are not earning interests from me, so they probably lure me to spend more, hahaha!!

      well, though i would be attracted and tempted to attempt some times, i am still rational and can control myself from unnecessary spending.. afterall, one disappointment after another actually make us wiser to see more clearly what's actually in the marketing tricks of the business..

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  3. Lastime when I first downloaded Line chat apps, I was always tempted to type “line lah”, then we get something.. I remembered the first thing I got was this milk+coffee beverage, just flash it at any BHP petrol station, and you can get the drink for free.. Terus that evening, I went to BHP, and showed my hp to the attendant, he said “Oh, sorry, habis”.. Habis? WTH… In my heart I was thinking, sure you all sapu habis la.. Or keep for yourself la.. Sure you wont give out to customers la.. Next day, I went to the second BHP, also same thing, stock sudah habis/stock belum sampai.. WTH, stock belum sampai? Then why Line wanted to do that promotion if they haven’t distributed the drinks to petrol kiosk?

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    1. Next few days, there’s some promotion again.. You have to type “line lah” again.. This time, similar with yours, they say wah, got chance win Iphone la, Ipad la, what note la, this that, so I faster “line lah”, but everytime can’t get it one.. Aiya, where got “so big frog jump everywhere”.. I got fedup with Line coz I was constantly receiving so many notifications, all useless one, waste my time read and try.. So last last, I uninstalled Line liao..

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    2. I mostly ignore all these messages.. I’m sure everyone get it in their sms or apps.. Nowadays, I always receive property thingy in my apps.. Asking me to go view the show room la, launching la.. Of coz this is not a scam, but please la, you think this is buying clothes or fish meh, this is buying house wor.. You think so easy meh.. Also waste my time looking at the message.. Bluff one la.. Say things like, stand a chance to win xxx when you pay downpayment for this xxx condo blab la.. Chisin.. Buy fish from market meh?

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    3. Lastime when I was in college, still naïve ma, dunno abt all these tactics and advertising.. They sent sms telling you about those caller ringtones la, this that.. So you know la, that time “hing” those caller ringtones, wallpapers, so I tangan gatal, reply back lor.. True enuff, they send a cute wallpaper a few seconds later, charges apply.. But after that, every week, they automatically send wallpapers over leh.. That time dunno how to unsubscribe.. Sweat.. This kinda of thing, better ignore.. Once started, later keep sending automatically then die..

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    4. Me too, I join those Merdeka survey by Gaurdian in Line. I was the winner for week 2. Until now, I didn't get any email or gift. I just check the winner list then only found out I won. The prize is RM10 voucher la!

      Actually it is wasting our time to take part, it is very rare to be the winner.

      All these are marketing strategy to make us spend more.

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    5. yalor, very true lah.. those with winners one, the prize probably won't be ours.. those with freebies one, most of the time already "habis stock" when we go to redeem.. actually quite a nuisance i would say.. just some gimmicks to lure us to spend and to make publicity lah..

      and now when those shops mention, free xxx with purchase of xxx, i will go and ask if they still have the freebies in stock, if out of stock then i'll just walk away and not buy any.. i think it's best to actually pack the freebies together with the product lah, like that sure guarantee the consumers get them.. because sometimes the staff just keep the freebies for themselves..

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  4. I am confused now, whether we should spend more or we should spend less when our ringgit is weak now. Definitely, we should not spend in oversea. We can only spend locally. Some people, no point saving so much money in the bank now, because our currency is getting low. Meaning, we should spend more right? But, no good to spend more too, later we will be broke like our country. Hehehe!
    Anyway, I won't bother those SMS from banks. In fact I find those SMS very irritating. I also don't like to receive any phone call from bank regarding their promotion and credit card. I don't have trust in those offers at all.

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    1. We should not save money in ringgits now. Go open at Bank Of Junguo and save in RMB. The rise of the Phoenix will prevail again and lead the global $$. If not change into few foreign currencies and keep in the safe.

      I also got irritated by the bank's calls and sms. I have scolded many of them for calling me everyday. If they called to give me money, I would welcome their calls. Muahahaha

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    2. actually what Yannie said has got the point.. when the economy is declining we should actually spend more to revive the economy, and especially if things gets cheaper and we could earn some margin when the economy gets better..

      but for the problem with low exchange rate, susah lah, business sure make huge loss from the drop in currency and yet nothing has been done by jibbychicken at all, but still enjoys his life and use vulgar and insulting words in his bangsat speech to his ass-lickers..

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  5. Usually i won't bother about those SMS advertisement...

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    1. you are indifferent to many things except zumba and getai~~ hehe!! :p

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  6. Oh, I always receive these on and off.. but I never bother.. I know it is very very difficult to win one.. not mine to own.. not only that, received calls too asking want fast cash or not.. or personal cash or something, each time i receive, before they say more, I will tell them that I am not interested and put down the phone... I guess they have a job to do also but then better cut them short before they talk more.. don't have to waste each other time... :)

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    1. actually depends on what i receive lah, those cash advance or credit card balance transfer sure i will delete right away.. but for some interesting contests i actually KIV and decide later, haha~~

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  7. Yeah, receive all this messages from CC but never had any luck to win anything.

    Even those cashback if your transaction number ends with a certain number one... Huhuhu

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    1. oh, i actually earn some RM50 cashback from those approval number thingy.. but yet to reflect on my statement dei~~ haiz

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  8. But way back in 1997 (when there was an economic downturn also), that time I got luck a few times with my credit cards.

    Won a few thousand ringgit with Citibank, a holiday package and a shopping spree with UOB too.

    I wish I have the same luck now.

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    1. wah!!! few thousand ringgit and holiday package and shopping spree?? you are (or more likely, were) so lucky!!! i never have such luck at all..

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  9. But got la one time, out of the blue, receive RM100 from Maybank. Hahaha

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    1. i also got lah, for once and just that once many years ago, two tickets to a concert in Bukit Jalil.. that's it..

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  10. I guess banks are desperate to boost spending, right?

    A few weeks ago, a rep from a bank came to our office to offer credit cards to staff. Almost everyone signed up because of the goodies offered - umbrellas and power banks.

    We Malaysians like free gifts right? hihihi

    But the staff actually passed a cancellation form to us, should we want to cancel the card in 6-months time!

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    1. hahaha, that rep from the bank so smart huh?? passed everyone the cancellation form together, hehe, he/she sure knows everyone who signed up just want the freebies.. and after cancellation, he/she gets the same people to sign up again, so quota reached.. it's a good cycle dei..

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  11. I guess all these gimmicks are targeting at the lower and middle income group instead of the richer folks. Why is it so ?
    1. Upper income group can get what they want, be it an Ipad, Iphone6+S (newly launched), 70" Ultra HD LED TV and etc. Thus, why do they want to try so hard to spend the money for nothing in order to get these stuffs ? It's just like buying insurance. Richer people do not need a policy. When they have a need, like medical problems, they can easily pay it off. Insurance are only for the middle and lower income to cover them in case of a calamity.

    2. The middle and lower income group always yearn or tempted for stuffs like this cos it's free. All they need to do is to spend and they get it free. After all, they thought, they still needed to spend but this time round, they just spend it with their credit cards and etc.

    3. Some of these could be spams and upper income group just delete these messages without any thoughts. Middle income group may do so too but the lower income group, especially those who are well-informed, may fall to the spams and ended up even worse!

    4. Upper income group usually are good in financial planning and financial EQ, compared to the rest. Thus, they can control their cash outflow and spending while the others are always tempted to spend whenever they have extra cash, even for something they do not need. Thus, with these messages as temptations, they can be easily lure to spend.

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    1. yeah, definitely i am the low income that they target, because i get these SMS invitations very often!!! hmmm, so now i shall not be too happy with this huh?? that means i am orang miskin, booohoooo~~

      you have your point there but then that would not be good enough to generalise lah.. it actually drills down to individual behavior, and i am not quite convince with the income group.. some wealthy people can also be very auntie and kiasu leh, hahahaha!!

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  12. To me, these contests or promotions are too good to be true. Whenever I receive these messages on my phone, I will just delete it and don't bother about it. What happens if these are scams and you ended up losing more instead of getting what you want ? There's never a free meal, you have to earn it.

    Even if it's true, the financial institutions are not stupid. They have already calculated their profit and with the amount of money their clients spent, say on their credit cards, they already make some profit even they give away a gift. There was once I saw a legitimate promotion that if you sign up for an account with some X amount of money which locked for X number of months, they give you a branded watch. Well, I guess the interest they earn with the money you put in the institutions have already earned them more than enough to cover the cost of the free gift.

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    1. totally agree!! sure they have done lots of market research and brainstorm on every step they are going to take.. Bank will never make losing business right?? it's the most difficult thing that you would be able to earn 1 sen extra from the Banks, if they don't charge you money, then you should already be happy~~ :D

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  13. Sometimes it's rather tempting to try but money wise is not so encouraging. Better spend wisely than be trapped into spending endlessly.

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    1. yeah, we can attempt but then still have to be wise and not fall into the trap..

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  14. The rich will always get richer ...... but my point is not in contest like these. In fact, they won't give these contests a damn, though they haver more spending power and stand a higher chance to win the prize like what you have pointed out.

    My point is , with more cash, they can invest more in stocks especially during economic downturns where they can more stocks which are cheaper than their values. Once the market go up, they make a great profit and the cycle continues. Thus, they get richer while the poor gets poorer, cos they do not have that much cash to invest.

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    1. my topic here is rather specific and straight-forward lah.. consider the "Top Spender of the Month Gets an iPhone 6S" thing, so the richer people who spend more using their card sure have more chance, if compare to those who won't even be able to spend more than RM500..

      of course your macroscopic theory is always right and i agree with that..

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  15. I can see how desperate banks and financial institutions. If you go to some shopping malls, you can see some of them setup a small booth and started to get shoppers to sign up for their credit cards or cash loan promotions. The sales folks can be very persistent and keep following you for a short while before giving up. Can be scary too!!

    I also receive calls from financial institutions asking me to sign up for whatever promotions they have. I wonder why they have to resort to telemarketing as most of the time, they will be rejected but maybe , I guess the more leads they called, at least they will be a few will take up the offers.

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    1. agree with both hands and legs!! hahaha.. there are always credit card roadshow in almost every mall, and also almost all the major LRT stations.. whenever i see them, i will avoid by taking alternative routes or pass by quickly and pretending not to see or hear them, hahahaha!! and those marketing calls, worse still, i will do my best to end the call ASAP..

      i need NO MORE credit cards!!! i have enough..

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  16. To me, whether you are poor or rich , it's always good to spend wisely. However, that will required a lot of discipline!! It's especially so whenever you are stress - from work, relationship and etc. You will be tempted to eat expensive good, buy stuffs you do not need and etc, just to make yourself feels good. It's not easy to control spending unless you are very discipline.

    To me, I spent most of my free time on workouts when I am alone thus it takes away the need to visit the malls....muahahahaha... Anyway, having said all these, it's ok to pamper ourselves once in a while.

    It's ok to have a nice ramen or bento once in a blue moon .... muahahahaha...

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    1. I totally agree with you, Chris, when you spend most of your free time in the gym, you will forget about the mall. Same here, I seldom visit shopping malls ever since I hook on gym. Once in a while, I will take my daughters to the malls. That time, I was like small kids getting so excited in spending. Hehehehe! But, I have nothing to buy, I will avoid going to the mall. Otherwise, I will be tempted by those promotion, discounts, offers, free gifts, and sales. Aiyoyo! then I will buy things that I like and not things that I need. No good. We should spend wisely, like you say here.

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    2. yes.. everyone should spend wisely and not fall into traps.. our money do not come easy into our pocket and bank accounts, so they are precious.. unlike some who can have easy donations and 30 million of people working hard to support them, for sure they don't care and continue to buy private jets, diamond rings, luxury watches and expensive handbags - because they are not spending their own money but others..

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    3. SK, those diamond rings, luxury watches and expensive hand bags, RM1200 hair do every time were all because of her saving since she is still in her mother womb. She said she started saving since she was still an infant.

      Therefore, I should educate my girls to start saving like Mother Hippo. So that my girls can have diamond rings, expensive bags and luxury watches too. But then, I can let them save RM1 every day, she saved RM1K every day la!

      How to compete with her?

      Sigh! We cannot blame her, we must blame our parents for not letting us start our saving since young. Sikit sikit, lama lama jadi bukit, konon-nya.

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    4. Aiya... Even if I go to the malls and got nothing to buy, I will look very bo liao! That's probably a sign of aging! Hahaha..... And my wife keep complaining I'm a bored nowadays when shopping with her.
      If I got something to buy, I will know what I want and get it quick quick.

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  17. Banks or financial institutions used to charge annual fees for credit cards but not anymore unless you are holding some prestigious or atas cards...muahahahha... When my card is due for annual fee, the institution did bill me in their statement but all I need to do is to call them. And, I don't even need to speak to their operators.

    In the recorded message and response in the call, they ask me to press a certain number to waive annual fees, as simple as that. That shows how competitive they are!!

    And, when my credit card is nearing expiring dates, they will send me a new card months in advance !!

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    1. Oh that is so interesting. We don't have SingaKiasu robots to speak to us and press numbers to waive annual fees! Here they hire real alive humans to take our calls and hear all our Mother#@%*ker sarcasms before they had to agree to waive the annual fees.

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    2. yeah, nowadays no such thing as "annual fees" because if you still charge annual fees, you are actually making your customer leave you, hahaha!! and now who is more desperate for customers?? one bank does not appreciate you, we have many others to choose from..

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    3. Try calling dbs bank in Singapore, there's an option there to press a no. To waive the fees.

      Delete
  18. And, not forgetting they also getting more creative and aggressive in promoting their credit cards. Instead of using points to exchange for stuffs or vouchers which is the traditional way, nowadays they give you cashback based on the amount you spent. This way, the more you spent, the more cash back you will get back and reduce your spending.

    I guess the cash back method is not a bad idea if you like to spend on credits as you can reduce some of your spending. However, we also need to shop for the best cards which gives more cash back.

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    1. They have become so desperate until that they are always seeking ways to attract the loyalty of old and new customers with any magnetic gimmicks. Now they send me silly vouchers with passwords to get special 10% DISCOUNT when I shop online from ZEELORA using their CCards!! What is so great ahhh?? Then I suddenly received email from ZEELORA giving me 25% DISCOUNT for being a loyalty customer. I was dumbfounded for a minute.

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    2. ah, all those loyalty programme and vouchers and perks and what-nots.. many times i just find them so kiamsiap lah.. how many good stuffs can you redeem with your credit card points?? aiyoh, 1 points can't even get you to redeem half a piece of candy.. and those discounts, so many stringent T&C before you are entitled..

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    3. Once I thought I accumulated a lot of points for almost a year but all I can redeemed are pathetic $20 vouchers. :(

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  19. Besides getting you to spend more in order to win prizes, they also offer discounts if you use their credit cards to pay for your goods or dining at certain participating restaurants. The cashier will ask you if you have that so and so card in order to get a discount on the goods you bought or pay for your meals.

    In SG, at a certain cinema, I got a $1 discount on weekdays for the tickets. It's not a bad deal as I save some $$ on the movie but that shows how aggressive these institutions trying to promote their cards.

    Well, when you applied for a credit card or even some other special cards, they will give you a booklet on all the brands and shops that offer discount when you flash the card. And, you can always get yourself updated via their website...hahaha

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    1. I really loathed all those booklets for shoppers using their CCarrds! So expensive and never a good deal to shop to accumulate your debts with added interests thrown in. Those poor advertisers even had to pay hefty fees to tie up with the banks and many didn't get their returns at all.

      I hope that you guys would be smart shoppers to buy online or go directly to shops to see their discounts on the spot.

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    2. yeah, i guess they have to do that else without any perks, who wants to use your credit card?? the competition is stiff amongst the banks to attract people to use their credit cards.. and actually advertisers also are desperate for business, so they probably kena squeeze kao kao by the banks for the tie-up too.. remember, Banks will never do rugi business..

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    3. If you needed to buy or use the service then it's OK la, just like me saving a dollar for a movie. It's just spent wisely la...

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  20. On the other hand, I guess some of these offers may not be a bad thing as long as its easier to get that prize or discounts. It actually helps us to spend efficiently but we gotta shop for those that gives us good returns. Anyway, I don't quite believe in contests. I don't think it's easy to win it and I usually just remove the messages from my phone.

    Just spend wisely at the end of the day, do your monthly and yearly budget and invest the extra cash that you have on carefully selected stocks. Im still poor cos I haven't did all these yet ... hehehe

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    1. Honestly, I am lazy to enter contests but I had several good experiences winning fabulous lucky draws! I think I have won 3 Grand Prizes before but I could only remember the 2 prizes were an expensive RM4K Mont Blanc Pen and another was Nintendo Wii. I gave them away to my wife and brother instead.

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    2. it actually depends on how you view it.. for example, buy 2 and get 1 free.. so do you view it as saving 33% for each item or you view it as spending more just to get another one free?? :)

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    3. Again, if you need it then it's OK to save some money. I do get a certain items which always buy 2 and get the second one at a discount. I'm OK with it since I'm a long term consumer.

      It depends on your needs but I don't believe in contests. Too good to. Be true la and troublesome to fill up the forms. Hahaha... I remember shell always hand out forms to us whenever we fill petrol to win prices. It's like giving away your personal particulars to them.

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  21. Twilight Man11/9/15 2:43 PM
    Today I read this post again and it hit my head so hard that some Benks are copying SK's blog post to create excitement and loyalty except that they don't publish monthly charts but send you monthly scary bills instead. SK would let the drum rolls and announce the winners of the best spammers! We only spent our time here to shiok sendiri and pat each other's backs besides seeing who are still alive and kicking storms in blogs. In the financial world, if you spent the most cash, the bills will reach you and escalate your blood pressure instead.

    At the end of the year, they would harass you that you have so much overdue payments and we don't appreciate your late minimal payments blah blah blah. They would attach you hell charts on how much interests accumulated and would add on if one continues with such payment. What surprises me is that such attachments are included inside your bills even if it is zero outstanding. That is funny when I read the mailer always.

    I never received special rewards from anyone of them all these years for being crazy spenders. Not even a mention or pat or acknowledgement whatsoever! The given points collected are quite useless lah to redeem.

    Here our SK would pat your heads monthly if you spent just one minute leaving a comment here. If you worked harder, he would pat and hug you with his sweet karamel words each month with your photos flashing. At the end of the year, the Top 10 would get a personalized CD prize which would live in our hearts & ears for many more years. We might throw or give away other gifts but the recipients would never throw away SK's Cds. They would always continue to come here each day like a shrine and I have said this 1001 times.

    In reality, there is no free lunch in this world. A good lesson learnt.

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    1. yeah, and especially when dealing with Banks, we must know that they will never do business if they will not be earning money.. it's the utmost difficult thing to do to get an extra 1 sen from a bank, if they are not charging you then you should be happy already, hahaha~~ :D

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  22. Sigh.. Really speechless of what's going on now! Our Bolehland memang Boleh! All sorts of things can happen and look at our currency now! :'(
    I am really worried la! Dah lah all this while we just cukup makan only, and now, lagi teruk! Now some more got 2 kids need handle, all also about money. See lately I also decide to sell my bags to get some money, serious!

    These kinda sms-es, I also get everyday, indeed very annoying, I just delete only. I was thinking to myself, really that easy meh? And that lucky meh? People say give it a try and at least will have 1% chance of winning but I know all this while I also no luck one, so no need waste time and effort la! Plus, I am afraid of all those hidden charges and scams...

    Anyway, those banks memang very focus on credit card applications and transactions one. Can tell they are really desperate.

    So I agree with you, poor people will get poorer, and by looking at what happen now, soon, rich people will eventually become poor also liao, haha! But got 2 people in our country sure won't become poor one, you know who? The 鸡 and 河马, hahaha xD

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    1. Whoa!!! You sold your handbags to get some money?? Your branded bags must be really a good investment then. You might have to consider going out to work again when your kids get bigger or even help hubby in his business.

      The economy is sinking like a Titanic ship without stopping so far. I get worried each day too, thinking of the worst outcome that no one could think or imagine. Even if the gomen gets changed, the repair on the economy damage would take a long time to bring back the glory days. I learnt that the speed of damage is faster than the healing process as both would take different amount of time.

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    2. Well, my main purpose of selling my bags is not really to earn money la, but I realize I got too many bags which I seldom use now, keep til collect dust liao, hehe, and since all of them are in such good condition, why not I try sell them see got people wanna buy or not?
      Interested to buy for your wifey? Come I give you discount, LOL! xD

      It's true, me not really into politics or any country-related news but this currency thingy, really must pay attention lo! Cause it's related to everyone! Everyday also need spend money, especially for parents who have small kids like me, pampers, formula milk, education and bla bla bla! Haih, if keep sinking, really cannot imagine how lo! :(

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  23. We have this DNC (Do Not Call) system and regulation in SG which means you can choose to block this type of marketing calls and you won't receive those calls

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    1. Wow that's great! Need to pay?

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    2. I do have such a block-calls button in our smartphones but I didn;t know you call it DNC in your country. This is very useful and necessary to curb all the irritating telecallers and gambling mobsters.

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  24. I don't have credit card so that is not a problem for me

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    1. Seldom hear people don't have credit card these days.... But anyway it's not bad at all, at least you won't overspend, and surely won't have the issue of debts, hehe!

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    2. Now I am thinking so hard how my life could be without a CCard today. I think I would be restricted and worried most of the time when I leave the house or go overseas.
      The best handy errand the CCard could me was to pump petrol into my card when I often had less than RM50 in my pockets. They come really handy for emergency cases like hospital check ins too as these days they would not admit patients without the CCard guarantee and hefty deposits.

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    3. Many of us do rely so much on credit cards this day. No need to worry that we don't have enough cash in the wallet when going out.

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  25. But if I have a credit card, I don't think I will be lure to spend just to enter lucky draws and contests because I am a conservative spender and shopper

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    1. Good to hear that. I am just like an aunty who cannot leave home without my CCards! They became so handly and killer as well to my financial planning ever since I became an online shopper. Better stay away from CCards and pay everything with cash. Somehow I had no choice but to use CCards in overseas so that I do not have to change too much currency.

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  26. I had activated DNC using my mobile phone number so I won't receive such telemarketing calls

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    1. How to avoid them when the banks have my land line numbers for my home and banks! They are scary and crazy to try all kinds of desperate moves to speak to me of their unspeakable plans to drain my pockets!

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  27. I never get calls from banks. I guess it is because I dont have a credit card or any account with them and my savings account oso so ciput one, nobody wants to call or sms me for anything.

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    1. I really salute your freedom from these banking mobsters! I have banned all their phone lines in my mobile phone and yet they could call my office's land lines! I have no escape! Crazy peeps!

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  28. 一向對呢啲有獎競賽都提唔起興趣,多洗多贏簡直就喺搵笨。

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  29. I never really join such promos no matter how attractive the prizes are... I always felt that they are scams and I don't want to waste my money to it.. i'm not really lucky in terms of promos after all hehe

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  30. Yup, I received kind of like similar messages as well, but usually I won't bother, message is okay, I don't like those call you ask about loan, I don't believe that. Guess they came out with this idea is 看中人们的贪婪心,所谓贪字得个贫, so better to believe and I'm always believe there's no free lunch in the world!!

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  31. Good morning SK

    Sorry ah for missing nearly one month.The usual lame excuse la. Anay would say hypocrite. Can go Facebook but tarak come spamming here. Hahaha

    School holiday biasa la. Many would go shopping. Funny leh ....I noticed that each time i swipe my credit card during this school holiday i would received an sms from the said bank saying similar things as per your print screen above . Some thing like ask me to registered and now that i have certain points and i am eligible to win this and that. So far me no luck la...hahaha blame my self jugak la. never register so how to win leh? even i pray to God ask for win lottery God will also say i have to go out to buy baru He can help to win mah...betul tak?


    Any way, I do wonder how many will win leh.

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  32. Secondly, I find it funny is that the so and so sms from the credit card company will say spend a minimum of RM XXXX(thousand) a day a week or a month and stand a chance to win something like Ipad, table, TV and similar things.

    In my mind....usually those who swipe that mouch of money daily, weekly or monthly, must be quite well offleh. Like those who can swipe what ah..RM250thousand ah...must be as rich as 2.6Billion man leh. They where got hairan wanna get the so call iPad and phone leh. For them these things must be just cheepo thingy.Kacang putih kata kan.

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  33. It is kinda no logical la. Those with bigger spending power are encourage to spend more but how about those from the middle income . How to spend more. won't it be like an evil temptation pulak. Buy buy buy and end up mountains of debts? Hutang keliling pinggang?

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  34. I think it is true what you suspected. Maybe the credit cards companies are desperate for business and credit card interest income is one of their biggest income earner. Year end coming soon. The bonuses depending on meeting target. Actually those who are in redit card line are very stressed out punya. Target target target. Diedie must meet target or else...kantoi ...mati liao

    Maybe that is why I have been receiving a lot of sus sms from the credit card company leh

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  35. Oh ya...one more thingy about SMS from credit card company. Sometimes it is good also leh.

    There are a few times when I swipe the card of a certain credit card company, i would receive an immediate SMS from them saying that I can go an redeem certain freebies from certain shop where i swipe the card. For example the other time i was in Sunway pyramid and used my card for something. Immediately i receive an sms telling me that Shu emura(is that the correct spelling?) is giving free facial products for the said credit card customer. Please go and redeem. Nice also la. At least for auntie like me to have freebies

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