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Ongoing problems with plastic money aired by foundation

Consumers cited unauthorized use of credit cards as their number one problem with the plastic cash system, the Consumers' Foundation (消基會) revealed in a report yesterday.

The two-year study -- which outlined the top 10 credit card disputes -- was announced by the foundation's business committee.

The foundation based their findings on 296 credit card disputes reported to the foundation in written statements between June 1990 to June 2001.

Topping the list were 120 cases -- nearly 41 percent -- concerning unauthorized use, or unauthorized users tacking charges onto bills.

"The total number of cases would be three times higher if all phone reports are taken into account," said attorney Joann Su (蘇錦霞), a member of the foundation's business committee.

According to the report, other complaints included the use of counterfeit cards, falsified applications, unreasonable interest charges and delayed card issuance.

The foundation also said that credit card users should be cautious when accepting cash advances on their cards. Stolen credit cards are often used to run up big cash-advance bills from automatic teller machines. This can spell trouble for card holders who will likely be charged a 22.11 percent annual rate, said Lei Li-fen (雷立芬), chairwoman of the foundation's business committee.

Lei said if users don't need cash service, inform the credit-card companies by mail and this way, "even if someone gets your personal identification number, they still can't use it to withdraw cash at an ATM," Su said.

For those who plan to suspend the plastic cash habit altogether, cards should be disposed of properly by cutting them up and throwing away the pieces separately -- lest others reunite and reuse them, Lei said.

The foundation report said Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託銀行) was the top credit-card issuing bank with 2.98 million, followed by Fubon Commercial Bank (富邦銀行) with 1.08 million cards and E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行) with nearly 1 million cards.

According to the finance ministry, the number of credit cards issued in Taiwan will reach 20 million by the end of 2001. When divided by the current seven million credit card holders, that adds up to an average of three cards per person. Domestic credit-card spending has increased from NT$37.4 billion at the end of 1991 to NT$19.8 billion last year, the ministry said.
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