A new credit card caught my attention today.
It’s the limited edition UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card with Swarovski® Crystals. To a certain extent, this does bring the term ‘co-brand collaboration’ to another level in the world of credit cards. And a very eye-catching one.
This is how the card looks like.
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card with Swarovski® Crystals
This card is definitely targeted at those with high spending power ability, with the lure of exclusivity. To get an invitation to upgrade to this card, charge a minimum of S$10,000 to your UOB Lady’s Card or UOB’s Lady Platinum Card by 31 January 2015.
While this is an eye candy and an innovative way to promote a credit card, it also shows a worrying sign that in an attempt to capture the consumers’ market, the banks can do (almost) anything to capture our attention. Compared to the traditional ‘spend and redeem or get rebates’ promotion, this would be a ‘spend and upgrade your card’ promotion.
The onus is on us to decide which card will suit our lifestyle best.
At this point of time, I would like to remind my readers that we should not be distracted by the looks of the cards alone which could result in us deviating from the proper use of using a credit card and ended up not being able to optimise the cards’ benefits for ourselves if we chose a card that did not suit our needs.
The upgrade to UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card is for ladies with an annual income of more than S$120,000 and will also allow the holder to spend beyond her permanent credit limit to a level determined by the bank. This card in the hands of a person who is not disciplined with her spending can be a dangerous card to hold as the credit damage can potentially be higher than her peers.
But for those who are disciplined and have use for the beauty privileges such as spa, makeover and access to China Club, this card could be useful in avoiding the hassle of not having enough limit.
Perhaps in future, someone will come up with a credit card with a gold coin embedded. And that will be another story.
