Financial Talk

The high court rule that the  maximum to be charged on the credit card holder who has lost his credit card is RM200. In  early June, the lawyer told Malaysian Insider that Diana Chee Vun Hsia has reported the lost of the credit card a day after theft that has happened to her to the bank. Citibank informed her that RM1851 has been charged to the credit before the lost report, therefore she has to be responsible for the payment as she did not report the incident within an hour.

The high court ruled that according to Bank Negara guidelines, the maximum that credit card companies can charge a card holder is RM200, regardless of any company policy. Justice Datuk Mohamed Apandi Ali said the Bank Negara guidelines have the force of law.

Over spending ! Credit card debts ! Not enough for my car loan, my house loan, my insurance premium, my parents, my rental, utilities,……

For girls, we have to look good all the time. Make ups, designer handbags, facials, fragrance, heels, clothes, and accessories, these are life and death favorite a lady would truely understand.

For gentlemen, they have to look 101% good too. Manicure, pedicure, hair styling, and facials are not the ladies’ item now. They spend on cars, watches, body building, holidays, we call it lifetyle.

We all need to shop, it;s irresistible, it’s important, it’s genetic, and before we realise it, we are already broke. There are reason for all these, the culprit is the dopamine. A chemical from the brain that trigger plessure in us. We always claimed that spending make us feel happy, it’s no longer true. The fact is that the process of shopping itself that trigger the release of dopamine.

In this financial crisis, it is important not to shop with your heart. I personally feel that there are few incidents that will encourage us spending more. No harm spending more for the necessity, but what i’m emphasizing here is spending excessively on something which we don’t need at all.

** Try to plan before shopping especially in new places as it is always more thrilling exploring new places. That is why we tend to spend more in new outlets and while travelling.

** Believe it or not  ?   We will tend to spend more if we shop with a friend as peers can increase the urge to purchase. We are encourage to form better image with the presence of other people, thus, we are willing to pay more for the satisfaction.

** The longer i wonder in the mall, the more things we will end up buying. Sometimes, we buy something of no use at all just because it’s weird to go home empty handed.

** This sound ridiculous but it’s always true. The more we interact with the sales person, the higher chances that we will end up buying something.

** Once using it, we’ll be hooked. Research indicates that we are more likely to purchase that particular thing after trying it. That is why sampling is such a common practice.

Shopping is really exciting but paying the credit bills later can be devastating. Convince ourselves with rational reasons of buying and buy understanding how our brain works as well as how marketers make use of this little secret, can help us to avoid over spending.

Properties, stocks and etc becomes more affordable with the current economic outlookwhich is far from rosy. Worldwide interest rates have been cut, for instance Malaysia with the overnight policy rate revised with the reduction of 150 basis point in just four months. Most banks offer base lending rate (BLR) at 5.55% now. Thus, it’s a good time to refinance.

Check out for the offers from various banks focusing on the interest rates, packages available, terms and conditions involved, and hidden charges. Given that most banks offer the almost similar interest rates, look out for their services whether it is customer friendly, their internet banking facilties, and any other added value services.

Zero moving cost could make you saving upfront fees such as stamping, legal and valuation fees and instead using it for home furnishing. But a word of caution, always look out for long term interest savings as the bank tends to charge you higher interest when they offer zero moving cost loans.

A fixed rate home loan suits customers who are less tolerant to interest rate fluctuation. Basically, these people wanted a fixed amount for the whole tenure to help them to plan for their finances better. These loaners will not benefit from the dips in BLR. Most people now actually prefer floating rate as they predict further drop in OPR. Even if it goes up, it will not be a drastic increment too.

Thumbs up for the flexibility offered by flexi loan that allows you to offset the interest rate when you have additional funds on hand. You can prepay an amount you want and withdraw any amount you have preaid. A true full flexi loan features a current account and works like the overdraft. The withdrawals can be made via cheques. The interest rate charges will only be based on the net outstanding fund. Flexibility always comes with a price. Some banks may quote higher interest rates for flexi loans.

House owners may sometimes find searching for suitable loans in town too hectic and time consuming. You may also find it hard to allocate time surveying espcially during office hour. No more worries as we are here to provide you with free mortgage services as we deliver the best loans from any banks to your door steps. Free consultation on various products offered by different banks, with time saved, you make better comparison with the best decission. We prepare, propose, discuss, and compare with you. Feel free to call for mortgage consultation.

June  0125161563