Ads Top

Credit card debt assistance in Singapore

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

I was talking to a friend last night who is going through a rough patch in her life. Fact is, I never knew things were this bad till we had our conversation. For the remainder of this post, she shall be addressed as Jane. It all started a few years ago when Jane got her first credit card. Like many people I know, they love credit cards because it's just so convenient. 

So from one credit card in 2005, she ended up with four by the end of 2011. It's not like she needed or wanted that many cards. According to her, the banks offered her the cards and one even sent a card out of the blue. She simply had to activate the card. Yup, that simple. 

Let's fast forward to 2012. Jane ended up using all the cards, had problems repaying and now owes S$90,000 to the banks. The sad fact is she isn't alone. There are many Singaporeans going through the same thing. Little do you know, it could be someone in your family. 

There's a charity organization in Singapore called 'Credit Counselling Singapore' (CCS). Jane went to them early this year and after this information talk which is compulsory, she attended a one-on-one counselling session. It was at this counselling session where possible options were explored. Once she qualified for the debt management programme, CCS spoke to the relevant banks and negotiated an installment plan.

I look at this as a win-win situation for both the banks and the debtor. Firstly the banks will get the money that is owed to them in due time. In Jane's case, she has to pay S$1500 per month. She wins as well for two reasons.

1) The banks are off her back! No more letters, visits by credit companies, etc...
2) Zero interest! All the banks agreed to not charge interest should she pay her installments on time. That's just awesome!

If you or someone you love needs assistance from CCS, here's the information you need.

Credit Counselling Singapore
CCS summary: They are supported by The Association of Banks in Singapore and the Subordinate Courts of Singapore is one of their sponsors.


Hotline: 1800 CALL CCS (1800 2255 227)
Website: http://www.ccs.org.sg/

image courtesy of www.mybudget360.com

1 comment:

  1. My relative chalked up about S$50000 of credit card debt, after the session with CCA, he ended up having to pay about 700 a month for 8 years, you are right, many locals are going through this, just that not everybody speaks up, some don't even know the existence of CCA, this relative of mine wouldn't have gone to CCA if I hadn't told him about it, he probably would have continued paying the minimum, building up a mountain of debt.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment but do note that comments are moderated on posts that are older than 7 days.

Powered by Blogger.