Before you open new account for online banking Malaysia, you most likely have already created your own physical account for your own bank, which is needed anyway. With your debit card in hand, you can now use it as an alternative payment method, especially online, though it isn’t always an option on all platforms.
You might think that a debit card’s function may be similar to a credit card, but this is far from the realities of their differences.
Source of funds
When you use your debit card to pay for services and goods, you are using the money directly from your savings account. In other words, it is not much different from bank transfers.
In the case of a credit card, you are essentially in a short term loan as you are using the money provided by the card’s issuer. Since you are not using the funds that you have in your bank account, you can use this indefinitely. But there is a price.
Just because you can potentially dive into spending freely, it doesn’t mean that you are still free from the metaphorical hands of money. When you are practically borrowing money from your credit card issuer, the company pays the vendor that you bought your goods and services from.
In return, you will have to pay back with the transactions you have made for the month. They are detailed in your monthly credit card bills or statements.
What about fees, you might ask. For your debit card, annual fees and PIN regenerations fees may apply depending on the bank you registered with. Meanwhile, the fees charged in your credit card varies, including joining fees, late payment fees, annual fees and so on.
If you do not pay your credit card debt in time, interest will be charged on the outstanding amount, a good reason why you shouldn’t always use your credit card and if you do, keep the payment in mind.
Privileges
Debit cards grant a few privileges to start with. As an example, CIMB’s Debit Mastercard grants users the privilege to earn exclusive discounts, offers and promotions. It also grants one bonus point to users that spend more than RM4 with the card unless the transactions are spent on petrol or made purchases via the MyDebit network.
Meanwhile, depending on the type of credit card you have, you may earn numerous perks ranging from travel to dining privileges. CIMB’s Petronas Platinum Credit Card, for instance, grants users an automatic travel insurance coverage for up to RM1 million when the card is used to pay the full travel fare. The same insurance covers inconveniences such as lost baggages and delayed flights too.
But the primary draw of CIMB’s Petronas Platinum Credit Card is the 7% cash rebate at Petronas stations and 0.2% cash rebates on other retail shopping. The card is also beneficial if users are customers of CARS International, where the highest discount, 40% off, is applied to the services 3 STEPS procedure (Lacquer, Polish and Nano) at only RM250. RM418 is the normal price of the package.