Singapore-based Overseas-Chinese Banking
Corporation (OCBC) has launched an advertising campaign to increase
the number of its elderly credit card holders.
It is exploiting what it considers to be a gap
in the market after banks in Singapore came under public scrutiny
for allegedly discriminating credit card applications by senior
people because they had no fixed monthly income.
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The bank placed an advertisement in The Strait
Times with the slogan: “Finally, a bank that believes good credit
should grow with age. Not be stopped by it.”
The Monetary Authority of Singapore requires
that those aged 55 and over provide proof of a minimum annual
income of $15,000 to be eligible for a credit card.
But banks do not consider share dividends as
income, making it more difficult for seniors to prove their
financial competence.
Maybank Singapore offers customers a secured
credit card, demanding a fixed deposit of at least $10,000 from the
customer as a security for credit card repayment.
POSB offers an Active Card, available to those
aged over 45 year which comes with discounted health screening
packages
Last year, OCBC won a court trial for refusing
to open a joint account for a 94-year old millionaire and her
adopted daughter, arguing that the 94-year old did not remember
asking for a joint account. The court ruled in favour of the bank,
saying it protected the customers’ interest.
