Photo courtesy of Hey Gem

You must have already heard about the RM50.00 service tax imposed on all credit cards (incuding supplementary cards at RM25 each). I certainly do not think that such a blanket policy is aimed at curbing over-spending. I am sure not every plastic users in Malaysia are behind on their payments. Such an act is only a sign that the government is running low on cash, and for all you know, they are going to charge a new road tax for every tyres you have in your car- which includes your spare tyres!

Here’s a nice article from Tony Pua on his thoughts about the new Plastic Policy by our beloved Government…

I MUST say that Budget 2010, announced by Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 23 Oct 2009, contained quite a few surprises for better or for worse. And my observation is from someone who has pored through the government’s budget over the past five years.

For one, I’ll have to start picking up the phone over the next few weeks to cancel my many credit cards. An unwelcome announcement was that beginning 1 Jan 2010, we will be taxed for every card we own, regardless of whether we are or aren’t in debt.

At RM50 per card, and RM25 per supplementary card, that’s probably enough to set me back at least RM700 per annum. Yes, I have indeed a whole string of credit cards, but thankfully without any debt attached to them.

Click here for full article…

Finally, the wait is over!

If you’ve been using PayPal to transact your businesses, you would be glad to know that PayPal has finally opened up to withdrawal direct to Malaysian banks. This means you no longer have to ‘hack‘ your way through using Visa Debit cards.

Here’s the list of all the banks that is now supporting withdrawal from PayPal.

And here is the list of MEPS codes:

Affin Bank Berhad = PHBMMYKL

Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad = MFBBMYKL

Ambank Berhad = ARBKMYKL

Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad = BIMBMYKL

Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Berhad = BKRMMYK1

Bank Muamalat Berhad = BMMBMYKL

Bank of America = BOFAMY2X

Bank Simpanan Nasional = BSNAMYKL

CIMB Bank Berhad = CIBBMYKL

Citibank Berhad Malaysia = CITIMYKL

Deustche Bank = DEUTMYKL

EON Bank Berhad = EOBBMYKL

HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad = HBMBMYKL

Hong Leong Bank Berhad = HLBBMYKL

Malayan Banking Berhad = MBBEMYKL

OCBC Bank Berhad = OCBCMYKL

Public Bank Berhad = PBBEMYKL

RHB Bank Berhad = RHBBMYKL

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad = SCBLMYKX

The Royal Bank of Scotland Berhad (RBS) = ABNAMYKL

United Overseas Bank Berhad = UOVBMYKL

Here are a few screenies that you’ll see when setting up your bank account within PayPal.

Before this, PayPal charges 5.00USD for every transactions. Now, there will be no processing fee as long as you withdraw more than RM400. This is definitely great news for Malaysian PayPal users!

Be extra careful with the information you type here. Erroneous banking information can be 'expensive' since any returned fund back to PayPal will incur a penalty!

I have yet to make any withdrawals yet, so I am not sure if there are any caps to the withdrawal allowed by PayPal.

Now, integrating your e-commerce site with PayPal would make more sense. Oops, not such a great news for local payment gateway providers…

19 licenses was revoked last April, 2009.

Bank Negara Malaysia has revoked the money-changing licences of the money-changers issued under the Money-Changing Act 1998, as follows:

1. Al Moulana Traders Sdn. Bhd.
2. M.M. J. Exchange Sdn. Bhd.
3. Salamath Ali Money Changer Sdn. Bhd.
4. BTC Enterprise Sdn. Bhd.
5. De Laville Sdn. Bhd.
6. Flexi One Sdn. Bhd.
7. Gemilang Iris Sdn. Bhd.
8. Hawaii Hotel Sdn. Bhd.
9. Ideal Stamina Sdn. Bhd.
10. Intra-Artni Sdn. Bhd.
11. Kawalan Vila Sdn. Bhd.
12. Panca Suci Sdn. Bhd.
13. Pengurup Wang Tiram Sdn. Bhd.
14. Pua Say BeeTrading Sdn. Bhd.
15. Sri Panju Sdn. Bhd.
16. SS International Capital Ventures (M) Sdn. Bhd.
17. Sunrise Aim Sdn. Bhd.
18. Tanjung Intelek Sdn. Bhd.
19. THR Hotel (Penang) Sdn. Bhd. [Formerly known as Pernas OUE (Penang) Sdn. Bhd.]
20. Towards Century Sdn. Bhd.

Members of the public are advised not to conduct money-changing transactions with these companies as they are no longer licensed to conduct such business in Malaysia.

The revocations should not unduly inconvenience members of the public as currently there are about 900 licensed money-changers in operation throughout the country and are adequate to serve the needs of tourists and travelers.

The list of licensed money-changers can be obtained from Bank Negara Malaysia’s website ( www.bnm.gov.my ).

Photo courtesy of Stripeyblue

Rule NUMBER ONE when it comes to protecting yourself when using internet banking services: Never log into your account via a third-party link. Repeat after me 3 times-

Once: Never log into my online banking account via a third party link!

Twice: Never log into my online banking account via a third party link!

Thrice: Never log into my online banking account via a third party link!

If you cannot adhere to this Number One rule, don’t use Internet Banking and stop reading this article.

Rule NUMBER TWO, don’t reveal your entire transaction details to anyone. Simple rule but apparently it’s not so easy to follow. Many scammers take advantage of your greed and make up stories of you winning a prize or qualifying you for a lucky draw. No, they don’t ask you for your ancestors’ names or your entire family tree history. They just need a few magic numbers from you and you instantly elevates your status to ‘God of Fortune‘.

After clicking on these bogus links, visitors are usually brought to a site that looks exactly like the bank's internet banking site, since the information are copy-pasted or linked directly from the actual sources.

Rule NUMBER THREE, don’t access your account from a public terminal (computer). Well, sometimes you really can’t help it, especially during an emergency, and the closest ‘ATM’ is the cybercafe down the road. There are many smart software such as key-logging software that runs on public computers which you might not be aware of. These key-logging software will then keep track of every single alphabets and numbers you have typed, and once you leave your seat, rest assure whatever secret love letters you’ve sent through the keyboard will be used against you!

Rule NUMBER FOUR, don’t save your passwords in the terminal. Never click on ‘Remember my password’, if there’s ever such a feature in your Internet Banking services provider. By the way, if there’s such a feature in your Internet Banking services provider, take out all your money right now and put it in a bank that doesn’t.

Photo courtesy of ul_Marga

If possible, only save your login details between your ears. It’s not as easy as it sounds. With so many accounts and profiles we have these days, it’s impossible to remember every passwords. My solution is that you use the same email for all your important accounts, and in the event you forgot the password, at the very least, you can still retrieve it from your email. Also, avoid storing banking information on your mobile phone or laptops, as it is very prone to theft and you wouldn’t want to know what these thieves do with your devices (remember Edison Chen?).

Rule NUMBER FIVE, change your passwords regularly. I don’t expect you to change your password with the same frequency you change your underwears, but try to do it at least once every quarter (3 months). It’s good for your brain cells.

Rule NUMBER SIX, use strong passwords. No, I don’t mean passwords like ‘muscular’, ‘powerful’, ‘terror’, ‘incredible’, ‘kuat-kuat’ or ‘tahan’. Strong passwords are combinations of lower caps, uppercaps, numbers and symbols. uK31L&@d%U^, now that’s a STRONG password!

Try not to generate password from a password generator for obvious reasons. Avoid using your personal numbers such as car number plates, birthdays, anniversary dates and the date you broke up with your girlfriend.

If you are using ABC123, God help you!

Rule NUMBER SEVEN, set a limit to your Internet Banking daily transaction. This can be easily done by going to the ATM or to any of the bank’s branches. A limit of RM1,000 should be sufficient for most personal internet banking activities. For bigger limit transactions, it’s worth taking a trip to the front counter.

Rule NUMBER EIGHT, log-in to your Internet Banking account at least once a week and keep track of every transactions made. You pay the price for your own complacency.

A timely move by the Central Bank to address the ever-rising enquiries from the public about financial services in Malaysia. I have been using the email address ‘bnmtelelink@bnm.gov.my’ to seek assistance for most of my enquiries and I must say that the average response time and quality has been excellent.

It can be quite an uphill task to spread awareness of such consumer-oriented services (if you know what I mean), let alone new initiatives that is aimed to provide more avenues to the public to voice their complaints and feedback.

Private banks in Malaysia should make it a point to highlight these consumer channels in their premises to ensure that these initiatives by the Central Bank will reach the people more effectively.

(via BNM.gov.my) Bank Negara Malaysia Opens Public Service Centres (BNMLINK) Nationwide

Bank Negara Malaysia is pleased to announce today the commencement of its walk-in public service centre (BNMLINK) in Kuala Terengganu on 19 October 2009 to provide financial advisory to the members of the public and businesses in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia . There are now a total of six BNMLINK centres nationwide. The first BNMLINK was established in Kuala Lumpur on 25 February 2005 followed by the opening of a series of public service centers in Pulau Pinang and Johor Bahru in 2008, and in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in 2009.

BNMLINK or Bank Negara Malaysia Laman Informasi Nasihat dan Khidmat assists the public and businesses on issues and complaints relating to financial products and services. This includes advisory to SMEs relating to access to financing, validation of credit status and reports (CCRIS), foreign exchange administration procedures, as well as enquiries on illegal financial schemes.

There has been a significant upward trend in the number of consumers seeking information and assistance from Bank Negara Malaysia . For the first nine months of 2009, Bank Negara Malaysia has assisted 168,149 individual and businesses, an increase of 66% as compared to 101,414 individual and businesses during the corresponding period in 2008. During the same period this year, 418 SMEs have received specific advisory services on access to financing from Bank Negara Malaysia . 90% of these cases were effectively resolved during the period.

To complement the existing public service channels, Bank Negara Malaysia is also announcing the introduction of the SMS service where members of the public can now contact BNM via SMS by sending SMS to 15888* in the following manner :

Services available	Delivery message
To submit enquiries or complaints to Bank Negara Malaysia	BNM TANYA [your enquiry/complaint]
To obtain mailing address and contact details of Bank Negara Malaysia	BNM ALAMAT
To get information on how to obtain a credit report information (CCRIS)	BNM CCRIS [e-mail address]
* Sender will be charged RM0.15 for sending a message and RM0.20 for receiving a message by the telecommunications service provider.

Click here for the full press statement.

If you’ve always been wondering what happened to all the money at the end of the month, you might want to check out this new e-book I’ve written on tracking your receipts.

That’s right, do not underestimate these small scraps of paper that you get each time you make your purchases. These receipts can reveal to you how you have been spending your money.

Enough said, here goes the eBook, just for Meshio.com readers!