BOC
Credit Card (International) Limited Card User Circular |
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1. |
To
safeguard the credit card/personal identification number (PIN): |
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i) |
The
Cardholder shall destroy the original printed copy of the PIN
immediately after memorising the PIN and shall keep it in secrecy.
Do not write down the PIN on the credit card or anything usually
kept with or near it. Do not write down or record the PIN without
disguising it. Do not change the PIN to an easily deducible 6-digit
number, like identity card number, telephone number and others. Do
not disclose the PIN to any person. |
ii) |
The credit
card and the PIN shall only and exclusively be used by the
Cardholder and are not transferable. Immediately upon receipt of a
new card, the Cardholder shall sign the card on the space provided
and if so required by the Company activate the card by acknowledging
receipt of it or by other means according to the instructions of the
Company. Do not scratch the card or place it anywhere near magnetic
field which may impair the effectiveness of the magnetic strip. |
iii) |
The
Cardholder shall use the credit card in accordance with the
procedures, instructions and/or security guidelines from time to
time issued by the Company. |
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2. |
The
Cardholder shall be entitled to request the Company not to issue a PIN. |
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3. |
The
Cardholder shall observe the credit limit of the credit facilities imposed
by the Company from time to time when using the credit card for payments
and cash advances. Cash advance effected by the Cardholder through an
automatic teller machine (ATM) is further subject to the daily limit
imposed by the Company. The daily limits for cash advance at an ATM are as
follows: |
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BOC Express Cash Card |
HK$10,000 |
VISA/MasterCard Gold card and Platinum Card |
HK$10,000 |
VISA/MasterCard Classic Card |
HK$5,000 |
VISA Business Card / MasterCard Corporate Card |
HK$10,000 |
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4. |
The
Cardholder shall be entitled to use the credit card for payments and to
gain access to ATM. Where the credit card is linked with the Cardholder's
personal bank account with any bank approved by the Company, it could be
used to withdraw cash from that bank account at ATM. Such use is however
subject to the terms and conditions governing the use of the ATM services
as stipulated by the relevant bank and the network services provider(s),
including JETCO, PLUS and/or CIRRUS. |
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5. |
In
the event of loss or theft of the credit card / PIN, the Cardholder shall
report such loss or theft to the Company immediately upon discovery of the
same through the 24-hour hotline number (852) 2544-2222 and to the police,
which report shall then be confirmed in writing within 24 hours or such
other period as the Company may prescribe from time to time, the receipt
thereof to be acknowledged by the Company, and/or to complete such other
procedures as may be prescribed by the Company from time to time. |
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6. |
The
Cardholder shall report to the Company any unauthorized and erroneous
transactions appearing on the Statement within 60 days from the date of
the Statement, failing which, the Company shall be entitled to treat the
transactions stated in the Statement as true and correct in all respects. |
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7. |
The
Company shall use reasonable endeavours, except in circumstances which are
beyond its control, to complete the investigation within 90 days upon
receipt of notice of an unauthorized transaction from the Cardholder. |
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8. |
Subject
to Clause 5 above and provided that the Cardholder has acted in good faith
and with due care (including without limitation taking the precautions
under Clause 1 and reporting loss, theft and/or unauthorized use of the
Card in accordance with Clause 5), the liability of the Cardholder for
loss, theft or unauthorized use of the Card shall not exceed the maximum
from time to time prescribed by the applicable law or regulatory
directive. |
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9. |
Where
Additional Card(s) is/are issued, a Main Cardholder shall (jointly and
severally with the Additional Cardholders) be liable to the Company for
any and all transactions effected and/or liabilities incurred by the
Additional Cardholders and/or through use of the Additional Cards whereas
an Additional Cardholder shall be liable only for the transactions
effected and/or the liabilities incurred by such Additional Cardholder
through the use of his/her Additional Card.
In the case of Corporate Card, the corporation shall (jointly and
severally with each Corporate Card Cardholder) be liable to the Company
for any and all transactions effected and/or liabilities incurred by that
Corporate Card Cardholder and/or through use of the Corporate Card whereas
a Corporate Card Cardholder shall be liable only for the transactions
effected and the liabilities incurred by such Corporate Card Cardholder
through the use of his/her Corporate Card. |
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10. |
The
Cardholder shall not be liable for any loss incurred: |
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i) |
in the event
of misuse when the credit card has not been received by the
Cardholder; |
ii) |
in respect
of transactions which do not involve fraud or gross negligence on
the part of the Cardholder and are made after the Cardholder has
reported to the Company immediately upon discovery of the loss or
theft of his/her credit card; |
iii) |
when
transactions are made through the use of a counterfeit credit card; |
iv) |
when faults
have occurred in the terminals, or other systems used, which cause
the Cardholder to suffer direct pecuniary loss unless the fault was
obvious or advised by a message or notice on display. |
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11. |
The
Cardholder shall be liable for all losses if he/she has acted fraudulently
or with gross negligence or fails to observe the provisions of paragraph 1
above or such other requirements as may be stipulated by the Company from
time to time in safeguarding the credit card and the PIN or if the
unauthorized use of the credit card involves the use of the his/her PIN
with or without his/her knowledge. The Cardholder shall also indemnify the
Company in full in respect of any expenses and losses suffered or incurred
by the Company in relation thereto. |
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12. |
Where
the Cardholder reports any unauthorized transactions to the Company before
the Due Date and duly completes the customers' complaints form, the
Cardholder shall be entitled to withhold payment of the disputed amount
during the investigation period. Should the investigation results show
that the report made by the Cardholder is unfounded or the Cardholder is
in breach of the terms and conditions of the user agreement governing the
use of the credit card, then the Cardholder shall be liable for the
amounts of the relevant transactions and all finance charges and the
relevant interest arising therefrom over the period commencing from the
date of transaction (including the investigation period). |
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13. |
The
basis for determining the interest, late charge, handling fee of cash
advance, cash before card and payment or fund transfer through ¡§JET
Payment¡¨ or ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨ of VISA credit card / MasterCard
credit card are as follows: |
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i) |
Interest:
No interest will be payable if the Outstanding Balance is paid in
full on or before the Due Date. If no payment or payment of less
than the Outstanding Balance is made on or before the Due Date,
interest will be charged on a daily basis at the then prevailing
interest rate (that is to say, an interest-free period of 26 days
from the date of the Statement will not be available). Interest will
be charged on (i) the unpaid balance from the date of the Statement
until payment is made in full thereof and (ii) the amount of each
new transaction (i.e. a transaction occurring at any time after the
last transaction as shown in the Statement, or at any time before
that last transaction which has not been debited to the
Cardholder¡¦s account and shown in the Statement) from the date of
that new transaction until payment is made in full thereof (a
minimum charge of HK$5 is imposed). Such charge will be recorded in
the next Statement.
If the Spending Tier Rate is applicable to your credit card account,
we will charge different interest rates on different ranges of such
portion of the outstanding balance in your credit card account which
is attributable to retail spending. However, if and for so long any
Overdue Interest Rate is charged, the then prevailing interest rate
instead of the Spending Tier Rate will apply. Information relating
to the interest rates applicable is contained in the "Leaflet
on Personalized Interest Rate Package" or our letter to you on
Personalized Interest Rate Package.
If you have not made any payment or you have made a payment of less
than the Minimum Payment on or before the relevant Due Date on two
or more occasions in respect of 6 consecutive Statements ("Triggering
Event"), we will charge Overdue Interest Rate at an
additional rate of 4% over the basic interest rate applicable to the
outstanding balance in your credit card account (bringing the APR to
a maximum of: 37.39% (for retail spending) and 38.71% (for cash
advance)). If a Triggering Event occurs, we will charge the Overdue
Interest Rate during the period from the day following the Statement
Date of the Statement first issued after the occurrence of the
Triggering Event until the Statement Date of the Statement first
issued after cessation of the Triggering Event. All preferential
interest rate applicable to your credit card account will be
suspended until such time as the Overdue Interest Rate ceases to
apply. |
ii) |
Late
Charge: If no payment or payment of less than the Minimum Payment is
made on or before the date of the Statement next following, a late
charge of 5% of the Minimum Payment will be payable in addition to
any interest payable under (i) above (the minimum charge is HK$50
and the maximum charge is HK$200).
In the case of Corporate Card and where Minimum Payment is not
specified by the Company, if no payment or payment of less than the
Outstanding Balance is made on or before the Due Date, no late
charge will be payable on top of the interest (if any) payable under
(i) above. |
iii) |
The
Method of Applying Exchange Rates to Transactions in Foreign
Currencies: All transactions effected in currencies other than Hong
Kong dollars shall be converted into Hong Kong dollars at a rate
determined by the Company on the date when the transactions are
processed before they are debited to the account of the Cardholder. |
iv) |
Handling
Fees for Cash Advance, Cash Before Card and payment or fund transfer
through ¡§JET Payment¡¨ or ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨(apart from
interest payable in accordance with (i) above): |
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a) |
Hong
Kong Dollar Card: |
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1) |
For each
cash advance or cash before card made in Hong Kong, a handling fee
at the rate of 3% of the related amount will be charged. For each
cash advance made outside Hong Kong, a handling fee at the rate of
4% of the advanced amount will be charged. |
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2) |
In addition
to the fees mentioned in (a)(1) above, an extra handling fee of
HK$20 (or HK$25 if the cash advance is made through PLUS/CIRRUS ATM
Network) will be charged on each cash advance or cash before card. |
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3) |
For each
gift cheque purchased through ATM, a handling fee at the rate of 3%
of the transaction amount plus HK$25 will be charged. |
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4) |
For
government fees payment, subscription of Initial Public Offering of
securities or credit card payment through ¡§JET Payment¡¨, a
handling fee per transaction at the rate of 3% of the transaction
amount plus HK$20 will be charged. |
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5) |
For donation
to the Community Chest of Hong Kong or payment for public utilities,
telecom payment, insurance or water bills through ¡§JET Payment¡¨,
a handling fee per transaction at the rate of 1% of the transaction
amount will be charged. |
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6) |
For payment
or fund transfer through ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨, a handling fee
per transaction will be charged at the rate of 3% of the transaction
amount plus HK$20 for payment to merchants within the ¡§Banking or
Credit Card Services¡¨ or ¡§Credit Services Category¡¨, and at
the rate of 1% of the transaction amount for payment to any other
merchants. |
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b) |
Hong
Kong Dollar Card/MOP Card (Issued by Macau nominated banks): |
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1) |
A handling
fee at the rate of 4.5% of the advanced amount will be charged. |
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2) |
In addition
to the fees mentioned in (b)(1) above, an extra handling fee of
HK$20/MOP20 (or HK$25/MOP25 if the cash advance is made through
PLUS/CIRRUS ATM Network) will be charged on each cash advance. |
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14. |
The
basis for determining the interest, late charge, handling fee of cash
advance, balance transfer, cash before card and payment or fund transfer
through ¡§JET Payment¡¨ or ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨ of BOC Express Cash
Card are as follows: |
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i) |
Interest:
Interest will be payable in the following manner: |
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a) |
The
Company will prescribe a privileged interest rate (Privileged Interest
Rate) for each Cardholder in respect of the BOC Express Cash Card issued
to him/her. |
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b) |
Interest
at the Privileged Interest Rate will be charged on the amount of purchase
of goods and/or services and/or cash advance and/or balance transfer
and/or cash before card and/or payment or fund transfer through ¡§JET
Payment¡¨ or ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨ effected by the use of the BOC
Express Cash Card from the transaction date up to the date of the
Statement next following (or up to the date of payment if payment in
respect of the transaction is made before a Statement is issued). All
interest charged shall be debited to the BOC Express Cash Card account and
accrued to the Outstanding Balance. Further interest will be charged at
the same rate on the Outstanding Balance or on the unpaid portion thereof
from the date of the Statement next following to the date of payment. |
ii) |
Late
Charge : If no payment or payment of less than the Minimum Payment is made
on or before the date of the Statement next following, a late charge of 5%
of the Minimum Payment will be payable in addition to any interest payable
under (i) above (subject to a minimum of HK$50 and a maximum of HK$200). |
iii) |
The
Method of Applying Exchange Rates to Transactions in Foreign Currencies:
All transactions effected in currencies other than Hong Kong dollars shall
be converted into Hong Kong dollars at a rate determined by the Company on
the date when the transactions are processed before they are debited to
the account of the Cardholder. |
iv) |
Handling
Fees for Cash Advance, Balance Transfer, Cash Before Card and payment or
fund transfer through ¡§JET Payment¡¨ or ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨(apart
from interest payable in accordance with (i) above): |
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a) |
For
each cash advance, balance transfer, cash before card or payment or fund
transfer through ¡§JET Payment¡¨ made in Hong Kong or each cash advance
made in mainland China or Macau, a handling fee at the rate of maximum 2%
of the related amount will be charged. |
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b) |
In
addition to the fees mentioned in (a) above, an extra handling fee of
HK$20 will be charged on each cash advance, balance transfer, cash before
card or payment or fund transfer through ¡§JET Payment¡¨. |
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c) |
For
each gift cheque purchased through ATM, a handling fee at the rate of 2%
of the transaction amount plus HK$25 will be charged. |
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d) |
For
payment or fund transfer through ¡§Online Bill Payment¡¨, a handling fee
per transaction at the rate of 2% of the transaction amount plus HK$20 is
payable. |
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15. |
Merchant
refund amount is not counted as a payment of the current statement
balance, the refunded amount shall be credited only to the outstanding
balance of the next statement. |
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16. |
Various
charges of the VISA credit card / MasterCard credit card / BOC Express
Cash Card issued by the Company:
Details of the applicable charges are listed on the BOC VISA / MasterCard
Credit Cards Fees Schedule and BOC Express Cash Card Fees Schedule. |
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17. |
Where
a Cardholder refuses to accept the amendments to the terms and conditions
stipulated by the Company and chooses to terminate the relevant card
service, the Company may (in its discretion) refund the paid annual fee on
a monthly pro-rata basis to the Cardholder if the fees can be separately
distinguished and the amount involved is not minimal. If transactions are
made in the month subsequent to the Company's receipt of the notice of
refusal to accept the relevant amendments from the Cardholder, then the
annual fee attributable to that month will not be refunded to the
Cardholder. |
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18. |
The
Company's right of set-off: |
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i) |
Where
the Cardholder maintains one or more accounts with any bank, the
Cardholder authorizes the Company at any time to instruct or request such
bank to deduct from the Cardholder's account(s) and repay the Company any
amount due from the Cardholder to the Company. |
ii) |
Where
Additional Card(s) is/are issued, the Company may: |
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a) |
use
any credit balance in any account of the Main Cardholder to repay any
amount due from any and all Additional Cardholders to the Company; |
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b) |
only
use any credit balance in any account of an Additional Cardholder to repay
any amount due from such Additional Cardholder to the Company (but not
those of the Main Cardholder or other Additional Cardholders). |
iii) |
An
Additional Cardholder may (at his/her option) settle the amounts due to
the Company from the Main Cardholder and/or other Additional Cardholders.
Any payment made by an Additional Cardholder in excess of the amounts due
from him/her to the Company shall be irrevocably deemed to be voluntary
payment to settle (in whole or in part) the amounts due from the Main
Cardholder and other Additional Cardholders. |
iv) |
Where
Corporate Card(s) is/are issued at the request of a corporation, |
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a) |
the
corporation authorizes the Company at any time to instruct or
request any bank with which the corporation may have an account to
deduct from the corporation's account and repay the Company any
amount due from the corporation to the Company; and |
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b) |
each
Corporate Card Cardholder authorizes the Company at any time to instruct
or request any bank with which that Corporate Card Cardholder may have an
account to deduct from that Corporate Card Cardholder's account and repay
the Company any amount due from that Corporate Card Cardholder to the
Company. |
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19. |
In
the event that the Company engages any debt collection agencies to collect
the entire or part of the amount due from the Cardholder, the Cardholder
shall be liable to pay all reasonable costs and expenses of the debt
collection agencies. In normal circumstances, the total collection costs
should not exceed 30% of the aggregate outstanding amount due to the
Company by the Cardholder. |
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20. |
In
the event that the Company appoints lawyers to collect the entire or part
of the amount due from the Cardholder, the Cardholder shall be liable for
all reasonable costs and expenses arising therefrom. |
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21. |
Complaint
procedures against merchants:
In the event that any Cardholder is being unfairly treated by the
merchants when using the credit card, such Cardholder should record the
details of the relevant merchant and the incident and inform the Company
by telephone or in writing. The Cardholder should provide the Company with
the credit card number and contact telephone number of such Cardholder to
enable the Company to maintain record contact the Cardholder and follow up
with respect to such complaints. |
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22. |
Complaint
procedures against the Company:
In the event that any Cardholder wishes to express any opinion on the
operating procedures or any staff of the Company, such Cardholder should
record the details of the relevant information and inform the Company by
telephone or in writing. The Cardholder should provide the Company with
the credit card number and contact telephone number of such Cardholder to
enable the Company to maintain record contact the Cardholder and follow up
with respect to such complaints. |
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23. |
The
terms and conditions governing the use of the credit card and the relevant
schedule of the charges payable in connection with the use of the credit
card and this Circular may be revised by the Company at any time and from
time to time. Copies of the current version of these documents are
available at the principal place of business of the Company or on the
Company's web site at www.boci.com.hk. |
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24. |
This
Circular is written in both English and Chinese. In case of conflict or
deviation in interpretation, the English version shall prevail. In the
event of any inconsistency between the terms and conditions stated herein
and the relevant credit card user agreement, that user agreement shall
prevail. |
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25. |
In this
Circular:
'Additional Card' means the credit card from time to time issued by the
Company to an Additional Cardholder nominated by the Main Cardholder and
at the joint requests of such Additional Cardholder and the Main
Cardholder;
'Additional Cardholder' means a person to whom and in whose name an
Additional Card is issued;
'Cardholder' means a person to whom and in whose name a BOC Express Cash
Card / VISA credit card / MasterCard credit card is issued by the Company
(including Corporate Card Cardholder, Main Cardholder and any Additional
Cardholders (if applicable));
'Company' means BOC Credit Card (International) Limited;
'Corporate Card' means a VISA Business Card/MasterCard Corporate Card
issued by the Company at the joint request of a corporation and the
Cardholder nominated by the corporation to such Cardholder.
'Corporate Card Cardholder' means a person to whom and in whose name a
VISA Business Card / MasterCard Corporate Card is issued by the Company at
the joint request of a corporation and such person.
'Due Date' means the date on which the Outstanding Balance is due and
payable by the Cardholder to the Company as specified in the Statement;
'Main Card' means a VISA credit card / MasterCard credit card issued by
the Company to a Main Cardholder to which one or more Additional Cards are
issued thereto;
'Main Cardholder' means any person to whom and in whose name a Main Card
is issued;
'Minimum Payment' means such minimum payment required to be made by the
Cardholder in respect of the Outstanding Balance on or before the Due
Date;
'Outstanding Balance' means the total amount of the outstanding balance
due from the Cardholder to the Company in respect of all the transactions
effected through the credit card account as at the last day of the
statement period specified in the Statement; and
'Statement' means a monthly or other periodic statement of account sent to
the Cardholder by the Company. |