Save by using your credit card? Really?

Save by using your credit card? Really?

When you can only use a credit card to purchase savings bonds online, then you start to question the whole banking sector’s take on changing consumer spending habits.

December 18, 2011 5:36 by kippreport

There are a lot of advantages to purchasing a savings bonds, beyond that AED1 million that is dangled to bondholders every month, of course.

And so far National Bonds has been making a lot of headway in terms of being more accessible to individuals within the UAE and the GCC.

It has most recently, for example, opened the facility that allows GCC residents to purchase bonds online. But there’s one catch, they’ll have to use a credit card.

To be fair, this service has been in operation for UAE residents for some time now so this isn’t really news, merely an extension of a service.

But Kipp does wonder how about the disconnect between the idea behind a savings bond and the use of a credit card. So we took to National Bond’s Facebook page and asked them just that:

Isn’t buying bonds on credit sort of anti-saving? What if the person doesn’t have the means to pay for the credit card debt?

And about 10 minutes later, the social media team replied with this interesting response:

…it is an option for customers who want to buy online. Sadly, credit cards are the most popular means for ecommerce presently. But, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you do not accumulate the debt and pay your bills every month.

From the response, it looks like National Bonds didn’t have much choice in the matter. It was either alienate potential customers or include a service (credit card payment) that is borderline anti-saving.

This makes us think about the kind of structure that’s in place in the current banking system. Where the region is boasting of its advanced internet connections and its young, tech-savvy population, why is online purchase still mostly tied to credit card payments?

Oh and don’t forget that 1.833% extra charge for purchasing online, which we suspect trickled down from banking transaction fee. Gotta love banks, don’t you?

Here’s the actual conversation on Facebook: