More people using ‘plastic cash’ to keep debts in check

Monday January 26, 2009
More people using ‘plastic cash’ to keep debts in check
By YUEN MEIKENG


PETALING JAYA: Debit or credit, sir? This is an increasingly frequent question being asked at local sales counters these days.

With prudence being the order of the day, more Malaysians are turning to using “plastic cash” — or debit cards — to pay for their purchases.

Banks are reporting more applications for debit cards, which are slowly but surely gaining popularity compared to credit cards.

For the Chinese New Year, more shoppers are swiping debit cards to keep their expenditures — and debts — in check.

Compared to credit and charge cards where the cardholder has to pay interest for late payments to the financial institution concerned, purchases with the use of a debit card are deducted direct from the cardholder’s savings account.

Maybank consumer banking head and senior executive vice-president Lim Hong Tat said the number of its debit card users had been growing on an average of 13% every month.

The bank currently has more than seven million debit cardholders, he revealed. Affin Bank head of cards business Phoon Kok Kam said the bank’s debit card users shot up by 70% since May 2008.

“We see a growing trend among customers who are aware of the need to manage their spending,” he added.

RHB Bank consumer product management head Angela Tan said the

business jihad can win the war

2009/01/11

Only a 'business jihad can win the war'


JOHOR BARU: Rather than giving a knee-jerk reaction by boycotting American goods, Muslims will be in a better position to fight oppression by strengthening their economic position.

Johor Corporation Berhad (JCorp) chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim said this when asked about the drive to boycott American products in protest against Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians.

"The boycott will only hurt our own people as the businesses provide thousands of jobs here."

He was speaking at the Intelligent Chess Challenge 2008/2009 at Persada Johor Convention Centre here yesterday. He had earlier presented prizes to the winners of the challenge.

Ali said Arab countries were unable to fight Israel because of their economic dependence on the United States.

"If we go to war with Israel, we will be wiped out because of its superior technology and weaponry. We can only afford the same level of technology and weaponry if our economy is on par with it."

He said the business jihad advocated by JCorp could be the foundation to improve the economic position of Muslim countries although it might take a long time.

On the possibility of KFC Holdings (KFCH) Berhad being boycotted, Ali said the bulk of Malaysia's trade with the United States consisted of non-food products such as aircraft and computer software.

He said it was unlikely that Malaysia or other Muslim countries could do without these products.

"Are we going to drive Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia to the ground just because they use Boeing aircraft? Can we afford to dump our computers because they use Microsoft software?"

Ali said although the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise originated in the United States, the owners in Malaysia were locals.





He said there was no drop in KFCH sales following the call to boycott American brands.