Shell-Citibank Cash Rebate Card - You Decide
The post on Shell-Citibank cash rebate card post generated a strong interest and lots of comments. If anything, this underscores how ‘desperate’ we are for the ‘free’ thing, regardless how genuine the offer was.
The blog, which I called it “smart consumer banking,’ does not means that the writer himself is really smart, but rather this blog is about stay vigilant on the finance/banking services or products offered by the various finance/banking companies. Be vigilant means read and understand all the terms and conditions, and dig deep into those fine prints. From the various comments received, I am glad to say we are getting ’smarter’ on buying/choosing a financial/banking products.
So let’s cut to the chase; No, you do not need to carry any outstanding balance to enjoy the “rebate”. This was clarify after I personally went to see the bank officer (instead of talking to poorly trained telemarketer). And yes, I can now ’see’ a lot of happy face.
There are, however some fine prints that need to be highlighted here:
- The maximum Shell petrol rebate is capped/limited at RM500 per year for the classic and RM1,000 for the goldcard. That means for the classic card holder, you would maxed out the shell petrol rebate with the total charge of RM10,000. Fo goldcard, RM13,333 (assume the lowest rebate rate here at 0.5% and o.75% respectively).
- The ‘rebate’ is only applicable for shell petrol and is based on ‘contra’ basic. For example, if you accumulated RM50 rebate, you can not withdraw that amount, nor use that amount to off-set charges/purchases made. Instead, you have to pump another round of Shell petrol, pay the bill and the bank will then deduct RM50 r form the shell petrol purchase. In another words, the ‘rebate’ is a Shell-only currency and can’t be used any where else. And to use that “shell currency,” you have to purchase another round of shell petrol.
- Annual fees at RM90 & RM195 for classic & goldcard
But if you were to compare Shell-Citi with UOB ONE Card which has a tie-up with BHP Petrol, Shell-CitiBank card does gives you a better bargain. Even thought the rebate is 2%, UOB ONE Card BHP Petrol rebate is applies for the first RM70 only in a single receipt up to a maximum of RM400 per month. Therefore the max rebate per year is 2% xRM400 x 12 months = RM96.00.
Conclusion
If RM500 - RM1,000 worth of petrol for a year is sufficient or not, you will be the best person to decide. Regardless, the Shell-Citibank rebate card does has a better benefits than other credit cards.
I would say thank you as I was just asking myself whether I should give this card a go as I recently got it mailed to me free of charge (no application necessary) and was wondering on the terms and conditions.
I went to citibank’s site to look for more details but they were all vague. (like they usually are embedded in some form of fine print, but the issue was that these are usually embedded so deep that one can’t ever find it anyhow right?)
And how right you are as to the sales personels, or even the customer service. Let’s be frank, how many of these sales personnel actually take pride in their job? (I for one don’t think I would, but that’s besides the point)
I would like to bring to your attention(if not already), regarding the false advertisement (as well as misleading comments by the sales personnels) of the newly introduced Jusco AEON Credit Card. I was approached because I made quite a sum of purchase using another “normal” card and was told of how beneficial this card would be to attain more Jusco Point.
So, when I got this card, I decided to use it as the main card and racked up a substantial purchase amount and when I got the bill, I was shocked. Shocked, not at my bill but at the number of reward points awarded.
As it turns out, the 50% more Jusco Points is True, in that , RM2 = 1 Jusco Point (as opposed to RM1=1 Jusco Point using the normal Jusco Card). I can live with that, what I was really frustrated with was the fact that they did not advertise the fact that purchases outside of Jusco, the points rewards would be RM10 = 1 Point!
This was a total rip-off as far as I’m concerned and I made a complaint to their customer service (and I presume that piece of paper will just land in the nearest trashbin)
I’m waiting for my payment to be cleared and then I’m cancelling the card.
These days, everyone is out to make money at the expense of others. Well, I say no more and what’s more, since they _want_ our money, let them work more at it and create price wars and what nots.
If it is too good to be true, most likely it isn’t. A red flag should be flagged if you see a word “UP TO xxx”. Secondly, Banks employ bus loads of MBAs, CPAs, PHDs - there is no reasons to think that you could ‘out smart’ them.
There’s another new credit card, call Petronas-Maybank Credit Card, they have the redemption for petrol savings. But I do not know how beneficial would it be compare to Shell-Citibank Credit Card.