Pakcik Kayo.....

Ado orang baei duit pree kek Pakcik. Tontulah Pakcik kayo.....

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I think the Bank must be desparate to make people spend more money and use their credit card. I came back from work last Monday and saw a cheque bearing my name from Maybank for a sum of RM2,000.00.

Interest free. Go on and use it - as if I could hear the cheque invitingly said to me.

Now wait. This could not be true. Where in the world could you find such a generous Bank willingly giving you money with no strings attached? I read the terms again.
It's so simple.
  • Just deposit the enclosed cheque into any of your banking accounts
  • Hassle free - no documents to fill in
  • No waiting for processing or approval.
So I read further down.

It's interest free for 6 months. And I would have to pay 6 equal monthly installments of RM333.33 per month. Mmmm....not bad, (RM333.33 x 6 = RM1,999.98) - still a good deal. Meaning, I could enjoy RM2,000 cash now and pay back later in six months time - even then, with 2 cents lesser.

So, where's the return for the Bank? I asked myself.

Further scrutiny of the terms, then I discovered that if I were to bank in the cheque, I would be charged with handling fees calculated at the rate of 3.88% of the amount of the cheque (RM2,000.00 x 3.88% - that's a cool RM77.60) will be billed to my credit card.

So it's not free afterall. Why in this instance the Bank is charging a handling fee when they usually do not charge handling fee if you were to bank in a cheque at their Bank. And to charge 3.88% is outrageous. Besides, since the cheque amount will be debited to the credit card account, there is possibility that you fail or forget or overlook to pay the installment amount but you just pay the minimum amount as may be required to be paid in your credit card statement. If that happens, then you will be hit with 18% credit card interest. Or if you pay your credit card bill after the 20-day interest free period, then you will get hit without realising it.

While the offer is enticing, I have to decline. Especially when I am trying hard to reduce my credit card outstanding balance.


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Anak2 ku,

What's the moral of the story, you may ask. Moral of the story is - nothing is free in this world.

Comments

shafarina said…
iyelah. Last time citibank bagi blank cheque. La ni bank lain bagi cek, dgn amount.

Kalau kita² ni retilah baca fine print tu, yg bebudak baru keje yang tak reti apa² tu camne ek?
KakNi said…
tempting?
sekarang ni macam trend lah pulak, saya dah 2-3 kali dapat cek macam tu tapi nasib baik credit balance tak cukup, itu salah satu syarat nya....
muahahahah
Wan - fuyooo, blank cheque somemore!
AHNI - tempting? memang tempting. Sabar je lah.
Ailin - yes, in Malaysia we even contradict ourselves. We ask people to be wise in their spending but we allow banks to do this kind of things; we ask people to save money but we have megasale every other week....and the list goes on.

Kerabat - truly nothing is free.
loppiess said…
ayahku,
terimakasih kerana cerita di atas.
Loppiess - hati2 lah. Hidup ini penu pancaroba
Maya said…
adoi!!..but better than ah long la kot.. for contingency plan..just in case.. :)
Kak Teh said…
here, we received all sorts of offers. And it can amount to millions. Yesterday I received a holiday for two, again with the promise, no strings attached,and there's no catch. I remember a friend who received a letter saying that he won a car. Keisan, pergi lah dia ke tempat yang ditetapkan, bawa passport driving license, in case kena drive kereta tu balik. Pi sana, ada beribu lagi yang dok tunggu and they all had to pay somethingfirst before gettingthe car! so much for all the promises.
AuntyN said…
Sapa lah yang murah hati sangat nak bagi free barang2 kat kita ni kan? Selalu jugak dapat call untuk "free" holidays tapi kena jadi member to some resort tu. Dah mangli dah kata org sini, dgn tawaran "free" yang tak percuma tu. So bila angkat fon dengar free holiday dah siap tanya how much do I have to pay even if the person on the other side keep on insisting it is free hehehe
UglyButAdorable said…
"present"

came accross your blog from sentral station so decided to drop by. very interesting, mesti dtg lagi..
NATO said…
i absolutely agree.. nothing in this world is given for free.. nor taken for free.. in short..there's always a price to it..
XCEPT for the air that we breathe in the open..that's GOD's gift!
In ur case..there's no harm in being thorough!

Moral of the story : when u deal with people..then there's always something else.. the "return-in-kind" BUT...if u want something for free..then ..u know who to turn to??!!!
Maya - mungkin lebih baik dari along, tapi kena pikir masak2 samada perlu atau tidak in the first place.

Kak Teh - Aduh kesiannya bab nak pergi ambik kereta tuh.

AuntyN - hahah ha. This morning over FlyFM, a listener related his experience of this type of scam thing. The called said he called the number given in his email after being informed that he had won a lottery originated from Thailand. The person answering the phone kept on repeating 'Sawaddee Kap' even though he sounded more like and African.

UBAdorable - salam and noted your kind presence. Do visit again.

Kakak Mc_Kay - memang, yang free tu lah selalu kita overlooked untuk bersyukur.
Anonymous said…
cakap pasal cek dari cc issuer ni, selalu sangat dapat kan. tapi what I did most of the time, nampak je cek tu just chuck it off kecuali kalau ada logo MNI la yang tu memang duit aku lah kan dividen issurance akak la pulak.

but talk about nothing is free in this world, masih ramai yang ingat senang nak buat duit dengan g beli batu azimat la, beli scratch and win la. sedangkan paper (termasuk paper akak) selalu tulis pasal tipu2 ni masih ada lagi yang tak serik2.

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