Most of us have one, if not more, banking accounts out of necessity. The companies we worked for probably required us to open an account with Maybank. Our Mortgage account probably required us to have a current account with them the moment we start our monthly repayments. We probably even opened an account that is tied to our credit card so we can pay our monthly debts conveniently.

However, having so many bank accounts might not necessarily be a good thing, especially if you do not have any ‘substantial’ amount in these accounts. Most banks will charge you a maintenance fee if you do not meet their minimum deposit requirement. And if you accidentally issued a cheque without sufficient balance, you will be slapped with a penalty fee of around RM100 for the ‘bounce’ cheque. Also, if your account becomes dormant, you might even need to activate it with a fee. I still remember back when I was a kid, cheque books are free, but it’s now RM7.50 for 50 pieces of cheque, plus Courier Fees if you want it delivered. And let’s not forget, we are even required to pay a fee withdrawing our own money from the bank!

All these fees can really accumulate without you realizing it. In the US, banks are already making quite a hefty sum from these invisible fees.

Banks, of course, aren’t giving up those revenues without a fight. Instead, industry leaders like Bank of America Corp. (BAC – News), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC – News), HSBC Holdings PLC’s HSBC North America (HCS – News), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB – News) and others are experimenting with new ways to nick their customers, from imposing maintenance fees on checking accounts to rolling out new charges for services like fraud alerts, debit cards and credit reports.

Making matters trickier, while the banks must disclose the new fees fully, they likely will do so only in the ordinary-looking correspondence that most consumers toss in the trash without reading. The result: Many people will learn of the new charges only after opening their monthly statements.

Continue reading “The New Bank Fees: How to Fight Back” on Yahoo Finance…

When our relationships get too dependent and complacent with these banks, they can really start charging any fees they want. We might even get slapped with a fee for paying our bills online. Ouch!

However, as a banking consumer, we are not in an entirely helpless predicament. One of the most effective ways to get what you want is to ‘threaten’ these banks, not physically but using their existing communication channels. I usually get away without paying the annual fee for my credit cards by telling them I would like to cancel my card because of the annual fee. It worked 100% of the time :-D

In another case, with proper documentation of your banking documents, you can also save up on various fees. A few months back, I issued a cheque without sufficient balance, and I managed to get the Branch Manager to waive the RM100 penalty fee by providing all the transaction records and the proof that my account did not have the required balance simply because I wasn’t aware that the bank would deduct RM10.00 out of the account that month. Ever since then, I made sure that I don’t issue a cheque that leaves less than RM10.00 in the account.

Most Banks in Malaysia are still very approachable and friendly to their customers (unless you have a long overdue debt with them). You can still get a lot of flexibility by building a good credit record with your branch and it surely helps if you maintain a good relationship with the bank employees where you usually do most of your banking activities.

Vampires or not, as a consumer, we can always practice a little more due diligence when choosing a bank to work with. As long as there are choices around, we can always give our business to someone who will appreciate it.

On a lighter note, you can still get some Toy Story 3 merchandise when you open a junior account with CIMB (but don’t forget to read the fine prints!).

DISCLAIMER: CIMB did not pay me for this post. I just happen to dig all the animations produced by Pixar and I’ve never missed any one of it on the big screen.

Had a good laugh from this witty banner, along Jalan Bendahara, Melaka…

A Clearance Sales Banner along Jalan Bendahara, Melaka.

Translation: “Clearance Sales – Boss Not Around, Simply Sell; Market Not Good, Stocks to Clear.”

With RM3.0 billion allocated for investors nationwide, there’s still about RM600 million to go.

Read more about how the Sukuk 1Malaysia works on Bank Negara’s website.

Issuance of Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010

Ministry of Finance wishes to announce the issuance of Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010 on 21 June 2010. Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010 amounted to RM2.4 billion was allocated to 74,781 investors. Successful investors will be notified by their agent banks.

Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010 which is scripless and based on Shariah principles, is an additional investment instrument for Malaysian citizens who are 21 years and above. The sukuk, which has a 3-year tenure, offers a return of 5% per annum. Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010 has a resaleable feature which provides the flexibility for investors to sell and purchase the sukuk before the maturity date.

Beginning 22 June 2010, investors can sell and purchase the sukuk at agent banks. The purchase of sukuk is based on a first-come first-served basis, with no maximum limit, subject to the availability of the sukuk sold by existing sukukholders. The selling and buying prices are calculated based on principal at par plus accrued profit. Members of the public can obtain information on the availability of Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010 and the daily prices through the Bon Info Hub website by visiting www.bondinfo.bnm.gov.my or checking with their agent banks. For each investor, the minimum sale/purchase is RM100 and in multiples of RM100. An administrative cost of 0.1% of the nominal purchase value is payable to the agent banks.

For further information on Sukuk 1Malaysia 2010, please contact BNMTELELINK at 1-300-88-5465 or by visiting www.treasury.gov.my and www.bnm.gov.my/sukuk1Malaysia

Ministry of Finance, Malaysia
23 June 2010

Ever wondered how the curvy lines in currency notes are generated? It’s a form of engraving technique named after ‘Guillot’, a French engineer. The curves and lines are based on mathematical equations, and the ones used to prevent currency forgeries is called ‘hypotrochoid‘. Sounds more like a type of dinosaur to me.

And now, you can use this Guilloche Pattern Generator to come up with ‘fractalicious’ patterns for your own currency notes, courtesy of Subblue.com.

Increasing postage rates will only solve the problem temporarily, as with any problems that can be solved with money.

If you have been to any POS branches, you would have notice the things that can go wrong with a mail delivery company.

Stamp prices to increase from July

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) — The price of domestic postage stamps will be higher effective this July as part of Pos Malaysia Bhd’s strategy to improve its productivity and efficiency.

This will be the first time for Pos Malaysia to revise the price since its corporatisation in 1992, the company said in a statement here today.

Its Group managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar said the increase would provide additional funds for them to provide better quality of service at par with international best practices.

“Over the past 18 years, we have witnessed continuous decline in public mail volume and Pos Malaysia has taken various measures to contain costs whilst maintaining our productivity,” he said.

At the same time, this has affected the company’s ability to adjust the low salaries of its postmen and counter clerks which is 19 per cent lower than their government counterparts, he added.

“The restructuring of the salary for postmen and counter clerks will be done concurrently with the increase in the price for domestic postage stamps,” said Syed Faisal.

The restructuring of the salaries would be a positive morale boost for the operations staff in line with its move to improve their productivity and commitment towards providing better quality of service.

Upon implementation, the price for domestic postage stamps for standard mail weighing up to 20 grams will be revised from 30 sen to 60 sen and for up to 50 grams, it will be revised from 40 sen to 70 sen.

The increase in price would also involve standard mail below 50 grams, non-standard mail below 100 grams, periodicals, PosDokumen, registered mail and parcels below two kilogrammes.

However, the increase is not applicable for non-standard mail above 100 grams up to two kilogrammes, PO Box, locked bag and window delivery.

Currently, Pos Malaysia’s domestic postage stamp (30 sen for standard mail weighing up to 20 grams) is the second lowest in ASEAN after Thailand.

Comparatively, among ASEAN countries, the Philippines’ domestic postage stamp price (at the same weight step) is the highest at 66 sen, followed by Singapore (62 sen), Indonesia (54 sen) and Brunei (47 sen).

Meanwhile, in line with the Government’s 1Malaysia aspiration, Pos Malaysia will introduce Mel Rakyat in May to address the needs of the people who would still prefer to use postal service at a lower price.

Mel Rakyat, which is similar to Aerogramme in its form and function, will be also priced at a single rate of 30 sen for postage to anywhere within Malaysia.

With Mel Rakyat, the individual customers who make up nine per cent of Pos Malaysia’s total mail volume, can still have the option of enjoying a lower postage rate for their domestic mail needs.

As it is, POS is having a serious identity crisis. It’s trying to be everything to everyone. You can renew your road tax & insurance to subscribe to unit trust funds. Yes, it sure does generate extra revenue to the company, but definitely at the expense of their existing mailing service’s quality.

It can be misleading to compare our postage rates with other neighboring countries. POS probably justify this comparison because it’s easy to compare and benchmark quantitative factors, and easy to send their message across the average consumers.

This comparison is not only irrelevant, it also gives a very inaccurate depiction of the actual issue. Maybe a qualitative comparison, such as customer satisfaction and delivery accuracy rates would give a better idea how our national courier service fare. Almost every week I check my mailbox, there are bound to be ‘stray’ mails which was addressed to someone else. Also, the last time I sent a parcel to US, their ‘Track and Trace’ didn’t work.

And we haven’t even take into account issues such as cost of living, mailing volumes etc.

The very fact that private courier companies are flourishing and prospering is a good testament to POS’s ability to provide competent service to their consumers.

The next question is, why is improvements tied to increase in cost to the consumers? Have the management looked into how to reduce waste in their pipelines? Are the delivery routes planned as effectively as they could?

The almost-double increment in postage fees might even be disastrous for POS. With a higher postage rate, this will give opportunities to creative private courier companies to tap into a new market. I can imagine a scenario where 7-11s nationwide becomes collection centers. In order to reduce shipping charges, recipients can choose to retrieve their parcels at the nearest 7-11 outlet. 7-11 and courier companies each get a cut from the shipping charges, and customers (senders and recipients) win by getting their parcels at half the normal rate. And mailing volume increases as a side effect.

Businesses will be the first to switch when there’s a cheaper and better alternative. And more people will start sending their love and kisses the electronic way.

DOMESTIC POSTAGE TARIFF – Effective 1 July 2010

UPDATED: Been getting enquiries and hits looking for 2010 WorldCup Timetable for Malaysian time. Here’s the latest WorldCup 2010 Malaysian Schedule via Gvishnu.com.

World-Cup-2010-(Malaysia-Time)

I am not much of a football fan than I am an excel spreadsheet fan.

I got this spreadsheet from my mailbox and was pretty amazed by the neatness of the whole template. (If anyone knows of the author, please let me know so I can credit him/her)

I am sure it’s going to be a great tool for people who tracks the day-to-day score of all the matches. And of course, not forgeting the bookies who might benefit most from this!

Oh yeah, almost forgot, you can download it here.