tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41413366170558599192024-02-20T19:07:06.891-08:00Credit Cards PhilippinesInformation, advice and news about credit cards in the Philippinesemtekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16759345600693839863noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141336617055859919.post-48922906802753958732008-12-27T00:09:00.000-08:002009-01-21T02:54:58.691-08:00The Best Credit Card?For my first post<span style="font-weight: bold;">,</span><span> I'd like to take a shot at answering a common question: which credit card is the best? [without saying "<span>it depends"]</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />The Overall Best</span></span><br />Overall, the best would be - you guessed it - <a href="http://www.citibank.com.ph/">Citibank</a>. Higher than usual credit limit, 0% installment options, fast and efficient customer service, online access to you credit card account, electronic statements (sent to your email as password-protected PDF files), convenient payment options, and accepted by merchants virtually everywhere. [You might also want to play the good samaritan and do your teeny-weeny share in helping Citigroup recover from their<br /><a href="http://www.citigroup.com/citi/press/">$18.72 billion loss in 2008</a>].<br /><br />So... are there any reasons why you <span style="font-style: italic;">shouldn't </span>choose Citibank? For one, you may have read or heard about <a href="http://failuretopaycreditcard.blogspot.com/2006/11/harassment-process-call.html">cases of harassment from Citibank collection officers</a> if you become remiss in paying your credit card bills. I can tell you that I've experienced harassment from them firsthand - and I wasn't even a Citibank cardholder at the time! (I just happened to answer the phone, and the Citibank collector was looking for my officemate.) If you are (or plan on being) a good cardholder (i.e. you always pay your bills in full), this shouldn't be a concern. To be fair, others have reported <a href="http://forum.gov.ph/thread.asp?rootID=34806&catID=23&page=9">cases of harassment from other credit card companies also</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Alternatives<br /></span>So what's a good alternative to Citibank? If you're looking for similar features as Citibank, then your next best bet would be <a href="http://www.hsbc.com.ph/">HSBC</a>. You get online access to your credit card account, electronic statements, 0% installments, wide acceptance, etc. The downside is that they're not quite as generous as Citibank in assigning credit limits - to illustrate, the credit limit of my HSBC card is only 38% of the credit limit of my Citibank card, even though I used the same proof-of-income documents when I applied. So if you plan on getting a credit card for use in an emergency (medical/hospital emergency, not shopping emergency! :) ), I wouldn't advise getting an HSBC credit card.<br /><br />Another good alternative is Standard Chartered. If you don't really need (or want) online access, e-Statements or a super-high credit limit (which some people may find problematic rather than beneficial), then I suggest you try Standard Chartered Bank. If your annual salary qualifies, they might send you a pre-approved Standard Chartered Gold VISA under their "Free Gold for Life" promo. Under that program, if you spend 90k a year on your card, your annual fee is waived - and you keep your points! (how cool is that?) Anyway even if you don't qualify for this promo and you only have a classic card, just call up their Customer Service and request them to have your annual fee waived. :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VISA or Mastercard?</span><br />Nowadays it doesn't really matter whether you get VISA or Mastercard, they're both accepted virtually everywhere. I just noticed that VISA has more ongoing marketing and promos, so using a VISA card might give you better chances of qualifying for promos. If you plan to acquire a credit card for emergency use in a particular hospital (i.e. where your family doctor/pediatrician/specialist works), you should check first which credit cards they accept. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />What about the rest?</span><br />Of course, aside from Citibank/HSBC/Standard Chartered, there are plenty of other credit cards out there. I can only recommend those which I personally own:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.eastwestbanker.com/info/ewcc.asp">EastWestBank</a> - Lowest finance charges: 2.25% for supermarket, drugstore and gasoline purchases and 2.75% for other purchases. Recent feature: you can now access your billing statement online.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.metrobankcard.com/">Metrobank</a> - Cash-2-Go facility (convert your available limit to cash). Only Metrobank offers this as a permanent service; other banks offer similar services but only on promo/limited offer basis.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dinersclub.com.ph/ent/">Diners Club</a> - as the world's first credit card, Diners is also internationally recognized (like Citibank/HSBC/Standard Chartered) but unfortunately it has lost its original prestige. Not a lot of establishments accept it too. I keep my Diners Club card because it's my first card, and their Customer Service said if I keep my card for 15 years [that's 2 years from now], my credit card annual fee is waived for life! [Wonderful! Looking forward to a totally annual-fee free card!] Being my first card, I have the highest credit limit on this card (useful in an emergency).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What I don't recommend</span><br />Personally, I don't apply for credit cards with monthly fees (ex. Banco de Oro Classic Mastercard, Citibank Clear Mastercard), because if you don't use your card for a month, you still have to make the effort to pay for your monthly fee [hassle!]. It's also easier to request a waiver of your fee if it's charged once annually. :) I also wouldn't recommend getting American Express or platinum credit cards because of the high annual fees, unless of course you can afford and plan to pay for them. :)<br /><br />[Whew! This is quite long for a first blog. I've got lots of other topics/stuff I want to share, but let me post this first. Watch out for future blogs. :) Would love to hear your comments, inputs, even violent reactions!]emtekihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16759345600693839863noreply@blogger.com2