Hong Kong banks need to put the customer first, not profits

A long time ago, I was persuaded by a credit card company that somehow the colour of the plastic you carried in your wallet determined your status and so I applied for a “gold” card. As a reward, I was told to go to the newly opened Convention Centre in Wan Chai to pick up a free gift.

Crazy for credit cards: Hongkongers aged 18-35 spend over 46 per cent of monthly income on credit purchases

When I arrived, there was a long line of people that stretched onto the street. Smugly thinking that these plebeians could not hold the “exclusive” gold card, I marched up to the next floor, only to be told that the people in line were indeed “exclusive” gold card members. I did not bother to pick up the gift.

Worse was to come. A little research showed that there were more “gold” cards than “regular classic” cards, and so the gold cards weren’t exclusive at all.

I also found that your credit limit, which ultimately is what matters, has nothing to do with the colour of your card. For example, it is entirely possible for a classic card to have a higher spending limit than a gold card. So, in fact, gold card holders are paying higher fees not for better banking facilities, but for vanity. Since that day, I have held classic cards, which HSBC assures me are no longer being issued. One day, I hope to be the only one carrying such a card, which may then be elevated to a “Unesco Heritage Card” as well as being part of the “collective memory of Hong Kong”.

But the misrepresentation of credit cards does not stop there. Banks employ tactics that would attract the attention of the Consumer Council if they were used by a yoga or fitness studio. Gold cards are old hat now; the flavour of the month is platinum or even black cards (the latter must signify the sorrow resulting from buyer’s remorse). Ask about a platinum card and you will be told that there is no annual fee for the first two years. What happens after that? Apparently, the fee will then be HK$2,000 – but it will be waived if you call the bank and “request” it. By contrast, I pay HK$220 a year for my classic card. Why such a devious fee waiver plan? Are banks planning for an ageing population who forget to ring? If Hong Kong had a regulator that put the interests of the customer ahead of the industry’s, it would be the banks calling consumers to see whether they were willing to accept a fee for a card given “free” two years previously.

Hong Kong struggling to keep pace with regional peers in fintech

Hong Kong has good protection for electrical goods and gadgets via the Consumer Council, which tests them and names and shames unsafe brands. But the bank regulator, the Monetary Authority, seems to be a classic example of “regulatory” capture; it listens to the banks about what is “good” for the customer, not to the customers themselves.