Hang Seng Bank

[bryant.english]

Just thought I'd share this with you all!

I have a savings account with Hang Seng Bank and a couple of weeks ago picked up my enJoy Platinum Visa card from them.

The enJoy card is not a credit card, it is a 'spending card'. For some reason they don't have 'Visa Debit' cards here so you have to go through this chew on of having two cards/accounts that are linked!

Anyway, apart from the functioality of Visa you also get the Hang Seng enJoy dollars with the Visa card so my plan is to do all my spending with this card right. Anyway, last week I transferred, from my savings to my visa, 1000HKD via the ATM and 2000HKD via the internet to see how it worked.

Online, I could see both amounts left my Savings at the same time but only the 1000 arrived on my Visa immediately. Anyway, I phoned Hang Seng on Thursday the 3rd to enquire to where my 2000HKD had 'gone'! They said it's 'in the system' but it takes 1 working day to transfer so I won't see it until today. It wasn't there today so I called again and they now say I won't see it until tomorrow!!!

My problem with this - no warning to how long the transfer will take on their website! (I'm glad I didn't transfer my whole salary!!) Also, why is it instantaneous from ATMs but not online? Why does it need to be a business day? One assumes no 'actual people' handle this transfer? Why can't they put a payment pending marker on the Visa card ledger? Really, since last Thursday I cannot 'see' the money, I can only see it leave my savings account, while I'm quietly confident it will appear in my Visa account tomorrow it really could be in a cash register in a bar in LKF for all I know. Even the staff at the Hang Seng call centre cannot 'see' it because it is 'in the system' being 'processed'!!

Rant over - have a wonderful day folks!

[BryanL]

I have a Hang Seng Enjoy Platinum Visa as well and it is a visa card. There is a minimum balance you must pay each month and the remaining will get carried over. How is this not a credit card?

[bdw]

I had this problem when I was buying my flat from a developer directly and I got myself into a lot of trouble. For the initial 5% deposit (around $320,000), they accepted payment by credit card. Can you imagine how many points this equates to!! So I was very happy about this payment method. But they needed the money immediately and tailed me around HK until I gave it to them. But after transferring such a huge amount from savings to CC, it dissapeared for a few days and the payment was rejected. I had no more money in HK as the rest was overseas and also needed a couple of days to arrive via TT.

I then had to get out my chequebook and write a cheque instead (knowing it would bounce because I just emptied the account and they wanted to cash it immediately). Long story short, the cheque bounced, I paid on CC a few days later, and got hundreds of thousands of points!!

[bryant.english]

I have a Hang Seng Enjoy Platinum Visa as well and it is a visa card. There is a minimum balance you must pay each month and the remaining will get carried over. How is this not a credit card?

That's because yours is a credit card and mine isn't. I have a credit limit of zero and must physically transfer funds into it. You have a credit limit of 'x' and must pay off some or all of that amount each month. Easy question to answer!!

[bookblogger]

For some reason they don't have 'Visa Debit' cards here

Yes they do. I have one from Fubon Bank.

[bryant.english]

Yes they do. I have one from Fubon Bank.

Yes, I think it's you who told me about them before, a couple of months back. Anyway, they've stopped issuing them again - I think it's called a Magic Money account or something. Annoying because it's still advertised on their website but when I called they say it's discontinued, s'why I went to Hang Seng.

[bookblogger]

Ah, sorry, I didn't know!