Credit Cards Easy-Payment Plan

Generally, a credit card’s easy payment plan enables the cardholder to spend first and pay in installments. Nowadays, credit cards offer easy-payment or flexi payment plans, charging interest rate that is lower than personal loans. The caveat is that you must settle the loan within the specified time period or end up paying a late-payment charge.

Tables below show a summary of selected banks for Easy-Payment Plans.

A gentle reminder, your ability to meet the monthly repayments is really important to prevent you incur a credit cards debt and it is good practice to pay off your debt as soon as possible.

BLR Malaysia Increased from 6.30% to 6.60% Effective From 11 May 2011

Base Lending Rates (BLR) in Malaysia increased 0.30% from 6.30% to 6.60%, effective from 11 May 2011.

• March 2010 = 5.55% to 5.8%
• May 2010 = 5.80% to 6.05%
• July 2010 = 6.05% to 6.30%
• May 2011 = 6.30% to 6.60%

NEW BANK BLR RATE

• Affin Bank = 6.60% (effective 12 May 2011)
• Alliance Bank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• AmBank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• Bangkok Bank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• Affin Bank = 6.60% (effective 12 May 2011)
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ = 6.25% (effective 11 May 2011)
• CIMB Bank = 6.60% (effective 11 May 2011)
• Citibank = 6.60% (effective 16 May 2011)
• Deutsche Bank = 6.50% (effective 13 May 2011)
• EON Bank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• Hong Leong Bank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• HSBC Bank = 6.60% (effective 12 May 2011)
• Maybank = 6.60% (effective 11 May 2011)
• OCBC Bank = 6.60% (effective 12 May 2011)
• Public Bank = 6.60% (effective 11 May 2011)
• RHB Bank = 6.60% (effective 11 May 2011)
• Standard Chartered Bank = 6.60% (effective 13 May 2011)
• The bank of Nova Scotia = 6.60% (effective 16 May 2011)
• United Overseas Bank = 6.60% (effective 12 May 2011)

For more comparison, visit Banking Info

Blue Chip Stocks in Malaysia

What are the blue chip stocks in Malaysia? You may refer to the 30 component stocks as listed in FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI. Here is the blue chip list:
1. AMMB (1015) – AMMB Holdings Berhad
2. AXIATA (6888) – Axiata Group Berhad (formerly known as TM International Berhad)
3. BAT (4162) – British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad
4. CIMB (1023) – CIMB Group Holdings Berhad
5. DIGI (6947) – DiGi.Com Berhad
6. GAMUDA (5398) – Gamuda Berhad
7. GENM (4715) – Genting Malaysia Berhad
8. GENTING (3182) – Genting Berhad
9. HLBANK (5819) – Hong Leong Bank Berhad
10. HLFG (1082) – Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad
11. IOICORP (1961) – IOI Corporation Berhad
12. KLK (2445) – Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad
13. MAS (3786) – Malaysian Airline System Berhad
14. MAXIS (6012) – Maxis Berhad
15. MAYBANK (1155) – Malayan Banking Berhad
16. MISC (3816) – MISC Berhad
17. MMCCORP (2194) – MMC Corporation Berhad
18. PBBANK (1295) – Public Bank Berhad
19. PCHEM (5183) – Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad
20. PETDAG (5681) – Petronas Dagangan Berhad
21. PETGAS (6033) – Petronas Gas Berhad
22. PLUS (5052) – PLUS Expressways Berhad
23. PPB (4065) – PPB Group Berhad
24. RHBCAP (1066) – RHB Capital Berhad
25. SIME (4197) – Sime Darby Berhad
26. TENAGA (5347) – Tenaga Nasional Berhad
27. TM (4863) – Telekom Malaysia Berhad
28. UMW (4588) – UMW Holdings Berhad
29. YTL (4677) – YTL Corporation Berhad
30. YTLPOWR (6742) – YTL Power International Berhad

Senior Savings Accounts

A savings account is one of the most basic banking products. For senior citizens who have to take on less risk with their funds, there are accounts that are specially targeted at preserving their nest egg.

Table shown below is a number of banks offer such accounts to those senior citizens.




The most higher interest rate offer is from Affin bank with starting rate of 2.8% per annum for minimum deposit of RM 5,000. The rate is almost like most banks' 12-month Fixed Deposit rates of 2.85%.

However, we all know the interest rates offer couldn't beat the market inflation!!  Inflation can REDUCE Purchasing Power with the advancing of time...So, it's better to have a better knowledge on financial planning at younger age to learn not just to know how to preserve your wealth but MAXIMIZE your wealth!

Remember! Small effort to put in if you are start at young age!

How Do You Trim Down Your Expenses ??

Few guidance that you can trim down your expenses:-
1) Go for cheaper alternatives. Anything from furnitures to food stuff to toiletries will have their upmarket brands with upmarket prices and the ordinary brands with more down-to-earth prices.

2) Watch out for the sale periods. As far as possible, hold your purchases of non-regular items like camera, golf equipment or electrical appliances until the sale comes. You will surprised at how much you can save. You can also get good bargains at numerous exhibitions fairs for computer, home decorations, tours and travel and so on.

3) Delay your purchases of your "want" items for as long as possible. You may realized that you no longer "want" it after a while. Or if you are fortunate, your close friend or relative may want to give it away and you would have gotten it free!

 

Financial Planning And You

A net cash flow situation is important because it helps you to build up assets that can be used for the future, for instance, at retirement. Financial planning is about meeting future goals and objectives either for children education planning, retirement planning, optimize your investment portfolio etc.. Such goals can only be met by net cash inflows that are accumulated year after year until it is needed.

Prudent cash flow management means to keep our expenses well below our income levels, and have some amount of savings set aside for the future. As a rule of thumb, you should always have  at least 3-6 months of your household expenses kept as emergency funds in your Savings Account or Fixed Deposit to meet unexpected events like a retrenchment, a sickness in the family, major car breakdown, house maintenance and so on.

Individual should attempt to do the following to increase his net cash inflow.

1. Set up a budget to keep expenses within limits. Track all expenses to ensure they do not exceed what has been allocated.
2. Look for ways to restructure your debts to reduce borrowing cost / monthly repayments.
3. Look for opportunities to reduce taxes.
4. See if the net cash inflow is sufficient to meet the future goals and objectives.
5. If it is insufficient, go back to your budget to see if there are areas where you can trim down your budget.
6. Repeat these steps until you are satisfied that you have channeled the maximum portion of your income into your future goals.

You should start immediately to create the Family Budget, as it is important part that you cannot miss.

  

New Rules & Requirements For Credit Card Application In Malaysia

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has set the new rules for credit card application. The credit card rules were tighten. Below are the major announcements:-

IMMEDIATE EFFECT NEW CREDIT CARD RULES TO BE IMPLEMENTED

Minimum Income Requirement
Previously: RM18,000 per annum
Currently: RM24,000 per annum

Maximum Credit Limit
Previously: Credit limit was set based on bank’s discretion, respectively.
Currently: For those who earn less than RM36,000 per year, credit limit shall be capped at two times their monthly income per issuer.

Maximum Credit Card Issuer
Previously: No restriction on holding credit cards from multiple credit card companies (issuers).
Currently: For those who earn less than RM36,000 per year, they shall be restricted to hold credit cards from not more than two issuers.

ADDITIONAL NEW CREDIT CARD RULES TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN FUTURE

Effective December 2011,
Cardholders’ annual statements issued by issuers shall include the details of time frame needed to fully pay off the outstanding balance and the total interest costs to be charged if only minimum repayment is made.

Effective 1 January 2012,
Issuers shall send a transaction alert via SMS for cardholder after each transaction is performed.

Effective 1 January 2015,
Personal Identification Number (PIN) verification shall be performed for all credit card transactions.

This is good for us and we should spend our money wisely and avoid becoming a credit card slave! Plan before spend and spend within our means.