Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd. has launched a credit card balance-transfer scheme that will enable its cardholders to clear the debt they have with other banks and service it with a lower interest rate, the Kuala Lumpur-based issuer announced Nov. 3
The program will enable the bank’s 200,000 credit cardholders to transfer balances from the cards they hold from other issuers to their Bank Rakyat credit card. When doing so, cardholders will pay an annual interest rate of 9% of the balance owned and will receive a cash rebate equal to 3% of the transferred amount, a spokesperson for the bank tells PaymentsSource.
“Currently, cardholders pay an annual interest rate of about 13%,” he says. “The minimum any cardholder can transfer is 1,000 ringgits (US$321 or 233 euros), up to a maximum of the credit limit available on the existing Bank Rekayat card.”
Cardholders pay no processing fees for the balance transfer. Under the Islamic takaful insurance concept, Bank Rakyat would cover the balance owed should the cardholder die or become disabled, according to the spokesperson.
Bank Rekayat is an Islamic bank that issues Shariah-compliant credit cards, so customers may not use their cards to pay for un-Islamic activities such as gambling or for such products as pork or pornographic material.
The transfer offer will end at the end of December, the spokesperson adds.
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