A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it - Bob Hope
My FICO credit score ( I do learn something watching all those reruns of Oprah on Hallmark's Channel) is so up the ladder these days that a bank (shall not be mention since this post is not about to praise it) gave me a credit card for free without even applying. Yeah me!
Having a credit card handed out to you like it's candy on Halloween night means one thing and one thing only, that there are tricks under their sleeve, and 2 days after receiving the card, I had the chance to learnt the game.
Here is how this free credit card thing work. They pick out non problematic customers and hand them the card, a day afterwards a person will call you asking whether you've received the card. Thinking it is the bank, you said yes since, gave them all the details asked. Not suspecting a thing until the next offer come.
Can they send you another 'free' touch and go card? What can you say? OK sure why not. It's free!. Stop right there.
First of all listen to what he had to say, listen very carefully because if not, you are about to loose RM498 to a card that you don't even need or want for that matter.
This is how the free credit card work:
1. Bank give you credit card
2. Somebody will call you to verify the card and make another offer to send a 'free' touch and go discount in the universe card.
3. The moment you said yes, they will charge RM498 to your credit card
4. Suddenly you owe the bank money!
Clever isn't it? If you don't how how credit card work you will probably end up paying much more than RM498.
How to avoid this trap? Simple...by saying no, I don't want any card, cut me out of the list. It took me 10 minutes to convince the guy that I'm not interested in the offer after listening to him promote the card for almost 10 minutes before. I don't care if I can get discount to outer space, I just not paying you RM498 for something that I don't want.
They are so clever that the payment will only be mention at the last second, if you are not careful you might miss it all together thinking everything is free.
Being a skeptic my whole life, I'm not about to jump the ship. That and being a avid avoiders of untrustworthy discount card. When you can get the whole country to give you discount at 30% rate, there is something really wrong about the service.(the guy totally bonked it when he said that the card can give you 30% discount for pilgrimage...come on like Tabung Haji is going to give discount for the card holders, what makes them so special?).
Things to remember, there are one rule. The day when banks start giving things for free is the day hell freezes over. There are no such things as free card. The magic 'Touch and Go' card that can get you discounted rate at almost the whole store in Malaysia is not free at all.
This ultimate panacea of all discount card can be used till day you die, in fact it is so special it probably will outlast you and be use until the day your grandchildren die. Can you believe it?.
So, just be careful once you get all this special offers, listen carefully and ask all questions even when it sound stupid like ' How much do I need to pay for this 'free' card?'
Alleviating poverty would be the Bank's overarching objective. - Lewis Thompson Preston
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