Dear Editor,
Re: Response to letter-to-editor on “Baffling credit card payment” published in The Star on 17 April 2014 published in The Star
Reference is made to the letter-to-editor titled “Baffling credit card payment” published in The Star on 17 April 2014. We would like to respond for and on behalf of our 13 Council banks*.
The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) would like to clarify that a pre-authorised amount is charged to the card holder when he fills up the petrol and makes payment using the credit card, charge card and debit card at the island pumps/ self service petrol pumps. The amount earmarked for such transactions is generally capped at RM200. However, this condition does not apply to petrol purchases made at the cashiers of the petrol stations using the point of sale terminals.
This, as will be appreciated, is a precautionary measure to protect the consumers – to prevent unauthorised transactions.
The pre-authorised amount would be released once the actual amount transacted at the island pumps/ self service petrol pumps is charged to the cardholder’s account upon the bank receiving the actual transaction amount from the acquirer (i.e. the bank that provides the payment facilities for that particular petrol station). The excess amount if any will be released after 3 working days. Going forward, the banks will be reviewing the holding period (such that the transactions will be settled at the point the transaction is completed) in conjunction with other initiatives being planned for cards business.
We would like to urge the writer, Denis Hayes, to contact ABM to provide us with further details of the bank in question should he require further clarification on the matter.
For further enquires, members of the public are welcomed to contact us at our ABMConnect hotline by dialing 1-300-88-9980, or emailing us at eABMConnect by logging on to our website,
www.abm.org.my.
Yours faithfully,
THE ASSOCIATION OF BANKS IN MALAYSIA
Chuah Mei Lin
Executive Director
*Our 13 Council Banks comprise Malayan Banking Berhad, Affin Bank Berhad, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, AmBank (M) Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, Citibank Berhad, Hong Leong Bank Berhad, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Public Bank Berhad, RHB Bank Berhad, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, and United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.