My Credit Cards 2012 - Bye Bye Standard Chartered Bank Visa Infinite.

(Article by My Credit Cards: http://creditcardsmalaysia.blogspot.com/ )

Today I had to say goodbye to my StanChart Visa Infinite :( Before I go and blah blah blah about it, I will first start this article with my series on the War of Credit Cards.

Below is story telling on War of Credit Cards from my sick imagination, better to skip it (go straight below to My Credit Cards 2012) if you are not familiar with credit cards or you may end up confused or worst case sucked into my sick imagination world, hahaha

War of Credit Cards Saga

Epilogue - Battle of Cash Back Credit Cards - First Wave (Maybankard 2 Cards)

War of Credit Cards Part II - Hong Leong Fortune Visa Cash Back 

War of Credit Cards Part III - Revamped UOB One Card

War of Credit Cards Part IV -

Year 2011 has come to an end, but, there is still no clear winner in the war of credit cards. Maybank with its Maybankard 2 Cards is still winning most of the battles but did experience some lost ground whereas Citibank Cash Back Platinum had to watch from afar and could not even move when UOB upgraded its One Card, arming it with 5% cash back for petrol, credited monthly into the account. 

Maybank, having control most of the opened field with the Maybankard Dua wanted to penetrate into CIMB's territory of Premier cards on the higher grounds. And towards the end of 2011, Maybank launched a massive air strike by launching their Visa Infinite attached with the Priority Pass Membership card and loaded it with 5 free entries to airport lounges worldwide. The Maybank Visa Infinite having more rounds of free entries to airport lounges blasted away CIMB's Visa Signature which was only loaded with 2 times lounge access.  The Maybank Visa Infinite 5X Treats Points earned for overseas spending also made CIMB World MasterCard and Visa Infinite look obsolete since both these CIMB cards only earn the cardholder twice as much for overseas compared to local spending. However, since CIMB WMC and VI are FREE FOR LIFE, they do have many supporters and it may take some time before Maybank Visa Infinite can even convince these  cheapskate supporters to switch sides. As for the author of this sick imagination, he is not only a cheapskate, but a double or even triple agent, and will support all sides, as long as he gets some  minor benefit like annual fee being waived, hehe.

But the war is not over yet, like I mentioned earlier Part III, don't be surprised if CIMB decides to launch a massive offensive attack with a new weapon (product that offers 8% cash back for Petrol and Groceries everyday). And coupled with CIMB enlisting more pilots (by allowing their World MasterCard and Visa Infinite unlimited access to LCCT and KLIA Plaza Premium Lounge), CIMB would wipe out all the players and be victorious in the war of credit cards once and for all.

As for Hong Leong Bank, I have designed the Ultimate Weapon for HLB in my article titled My Credit Cards 100th Post - The Best Credit Cards of 2011.

Definition of Ultimate Credit Card - white HLB Ultimate 3 Dragons (3 in 1 credit card with AMEX, MasterCard and Visa combined into a single card) which will be ranked higher than Visa Infinite, World MasterCard and AMEX Centurion Black Card. The card is coloured in white which symbolizes "good" and "pure" and will eventually trump all the other black fake Premier Credit Cards wannabes.

But, you see, HLB is controlled by a china-pek and surrounded by his loyalist aka inner circle. In order for me to present my design to him, I have to first approach the assistants of the inner circle people and that itself is a major task (me being lazy). Anyway, I think the people in his inner circle will not give me any chance of getting any credit for the Ultimate Credit Card design; instead they have to come up with their own design based on their propriety research to save face and to justify their high income, hahaha.

So coming back to the War of Credit Cards, with Bank Negara rulings on credit cards, it will be harder to enlist new troops; as such, more banks will invest in upgrading their credit cards and or launch new credit cards with more meaningful benefits to bribe existing cardholders to switch sides. It is like playing one of my all time favorite computer games - Romance of The Three Kingdoms, hahaha. I am looking forward to more exciting battles in 2012 .

My Credit Cards 2012

Last year I applied for a few new credit cards and ended up with 7 new cards :) Click on the credit cards below to read more.

Maybankard 2 Cards - American Express and Visa Platinum
Citibank Platinum Visa
UOB Preferred Platinum Privilege Banking Visa and MasterCard 
Standard Chartered Bank Visa Infinite
Maybank Visa Infinite 


Here is a photo, which I have posted before, of My Credit Cards and debit cards in November 2010:

and here is another photo I have posted before, of My Credit Cards and debit cards collection in July 2011:

and here is My Credit Card and debit cards collection as of 1st January 2012:

It was only two months back that I posted my new StanChart Visa Infinite and said it was a cool card since it can change color depending on the angle you view it. Click here to read my short review of the SCB Visa Infinite.

Well, I did manage to use the Priority Pass Membership card issued with Standard Chartered Bank Visa Infinite to enter for FREE twice to Changi Airport Terminal 1 Skyview Lounge (click here to see some photos).

But today, I had to go surrender my wife's and my Standard Chartered Visa Infinite credit cards back  to the bank. So, before I surrender our SCB VIs to my Relationship Manager, I took a last photo of our Stanchart Visa Infinite (here is the same photo at the very top of this article). 

After I took the above photo and while editing it, I noticed that my SCB VI stated I have been a member since 2002! I did have a StandChart Platinum MasterCard long ago but cancelled it when they refused to waive my annual fee in full. Anyway, I must thank StanChart for having the 5% savings account promo and giving me the opportunity to feel and touch your Visa Infinite. Bye bye SCB Visa Infinite. 

Now that I no longer own the Ultimate Airport Lounge Credit Card, I have to rely on my HLB Visa Signature and MBB Visa Infinite, where combining them, I still get 8 FREE entries to airport lounges worldwide.

Click here to Ringgit Wise Fool to read more as to why I decided to terminate the StanChart Visa Infinite and me having unsecured credit facility over RM1,000,000 with my credit cards and what cards I will be terminating this year to save me at least RM200 in GST.


OTHER RELATED POSTS

Click here to read more about Malaysia Premier Credit Cards Visa Signature, Visa Infinite and World MasterCard Benefits.

Click here to read my article titles How I Benefited from My Macau Trip with My Credit Cards