Singapore Expats

Back in May after being in Singapore for 1 month on an EP I applied for a credit card through the bank my salary is paid into OCBC.

A couple of weeks later I received a letter advising the application had been declined.

I met the salary criteria easily and I have no bad credit history in the UK.

Has anyone got some experience in this area? Maybe I applied too early? Or did I miss some other trick?

Thank you

My experience was the opposite.

I ended up with 2 CCs by lunchtime on the day I applied, within the first week of arrival. When they phoned for collection I assumed they had made a mistake, but the cards were there. I was impressed.

I'm with Citi, you might like to try them.

Wow! Definitely a different experience.

I will give them a try although I may check my credit rating here first.

It has just come to mind that we actually moved here almost a month after taking the apartment rental and on arrival there was a bill from SP Services for the utilities plus half a dozen reminder letters chasing for the money. It was for 2.04 SGD usage plus a 200 SGD deposit.

I suppose they could have black marked me for not paying that bill on time although of course I wasn't actually in the country!

Steve1960 wrote:Wow! Definitely a different experience.

I will give them a try although I may check my credit rating here first.

It has just come to mind that we actually moved here almost a month after taking the apartment rental and on arrival there was a bill from SP Services for the utilities plus half a dozen reminder letters chasing for the money. It was for 2.04 SGD usage plus a 200 SGD deposit.

I suppose they could have black marked me for not paying that bill on time although of course I wasn't actually in the country!

Unlikely if not close to impossible. I would call OCBC and try to get why they rejected it. Sounds to me like a human error.

I called them as soon as I received the letter.

They steadfastly adhered to their policy of not supplying details for any declined application which to be fair they do state in the terms and conditions.

So I just made an on line application with Citi Bank. They want my last 12 months CPF contributions which of course I dont have because a) I have only been here 3 months and b) I am not a PR so do not qualify for CPF.

I can't imagine this application will go well. I did at least have a SingPass ID this time. I did not have the SingPass ID when I applied with OCBC, not sure if that makes any difference.

Anyway I will not bore you with this saga any longer. If I find out anything useful during my journey towards getting a credit card I will post it for the benefit of others.

x9200 wrote:Unlikely if not close to impossible. I would call OCBC and try to get why they rejected it. Sounds to me like a human error.

For years, I carried all cards except OCBC - as despite OCBC sales people repeatedly asking me to apply and me applying, they never approved, and no, they will never reveal the reasons. .

And .. for EP holders who have been here only for months, the reasons are not too hard to guess.

Steve1960 wrote:So I just made an on line application with Citi Bank. They want my last 12 months CPF contributions which of course I dont have because a) I have only been here 3 months and b) I am not a PR so do not qualify for CPF.

Try the debit card (like, for example, POSB Go). At least you can do the online transaction. But either way, I think it's safer to wait 3-6 months if you want to apply CC.

v4jr4 wrote:

Steve1960 wrote:So I just made an on line application with Citi Bank. They want my last 12 months CPF contributions which of course I dont have because a) I have only been here 3 months and b) I am not a PR so do not qualify for CPF.

Try the debit card (like, for example, POSB Go). At least you can do the online transaction. But either way, I think it's safer to wait 3-6 months if you want to apply CC.

Or put up a FD to get a CC !!! if the word CC is a must

Or so what HSBC guys constantly offer when the clients don't meet the approval criteria ..

Oh, try Diners too - they also go for lower credit limit

ecureilx, sorry, I massacred your original post by mistake (quote vs edit case) and can not recreate it at this moment - I guess I own you some carrot cakes

ecureilx wrote:

x9200 wrote:Unlikely if not close to impossible. I would call OCBC and try to get why they rejected it. Sounds to me like a human error.

For years, I carried all cards except OCBC - as despite OCBC sales people repeatedly asking me to apply and me applying, they never approved, and no, they will never reveal the reasons. .

And .. for EP holders who have been here only for months, the reasons are not too hard to guess.

I got my MC from ocbc within first month after my arrival (IIRC) so unless something changed in last 10y ... Got 2 ocbc cards right now and this is from my experience one of the most reliable and fuss free banks in SG so maybe they simply don't like you or something?

x9200 wrote:I got my MC from ocbc within first month after my arrival (IIRC) so unless something changed in last 10y ... Got 2 ocbc cards right now and this is from my experience one of the most reliable and fuss free banks in SG so maybe they simply don't like you or something?

well... while Citi got me my card in 1 hour, Stanchart and Diners did so in a week when I applied, and HSBC and DBS didn't bother much other than my CPF and Pay slip and approved so fast .. OCBC and Bank of China simply didn't approve even when I was accosted many times by the sale people and asked to re-apply .. never mind my days of accumulating cards are pretty much over .. now i stick to DBS Visa and that's it ..

the point is .. - if Bank A doesn't approve, go to Bank B !!!! No point trying to find out the reasons from them ..

ecureilx wrote:

x9200 wrote:I got my MC from ocbc within first month after my arrival (IIRC) so unless something changed in last 10y ... Got 2 ocbc cards right now and this is from my experience one of the most reliable and fuss free banks in SG so maybe they simply don't like you or something?

well... while Citi got me my card in 1 hour, Stanchart and Diners did so in a week when I applied, and HSBC and DBS didn't bother much other than my CPF and Pay slip and approved so fast .. OCBC and Bank of China simply didn't approve even when I was accosted many times by the sale people and asked to re-apply .. never mind my days of accumulating cards are pretty much over .. now i stick to DBS Visa and that's it ..

the point is .. - if Bank A doesn't approve, go to Bank B !!!! No point trying to find out the reasons from them ..

By golly! What's up with ridiculous number of credit cards?

the lynx wrote:By golly! What's up with ridiculous number of credit cards?

Well, the times were tough as well

I still couldn't beat my colleague who had, on top of the above, OCBC, Amex, UOB and Maybank .. all Platinum

I was still tempted with the dozens of Money line / Cash lines - though I resisted them

Try to walk near my office unmolested, HSBC is still tempting me with a 1000 $ spending money and Diners - with 750 $ spending Money, on top of Citi with some other promo .. and Stan Chart also adding some major offer ..

Thanks but that ride was over ..

PST: there is also ANZ and CIMB missed out ..

You may want to try UOB, it was the first card I got...after being on EP for two months only.

I have to laugh at people who collect CCs for bragging rights only. I guess I ought to feel bad as I've only got 4. 2 for Singers and 2 for the US. And the two from the US I've been carrying since 1979. One of my Singapore cards dates from 1983.