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Banks and government institutions
Tuesday, 10 March 2020 18:43Just some mini/side ramblings about banks and government institutions I encountered the past few days.
Credit Cards - American Express
Paypal doesn't accept Macau banks, I think due to one incident of a fraud thing in a bank called Delta Asia some... 20 years ago? Anyway, so I was never able to actually get stuff easily from eBay or more recently Etsy or some other private sellers.
Then some I guess 5 years ago I found out that the Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong based airlines) was doing an American Express credit card thing and they accepted Macau clients. Okaaaayyyy... so I applied (darn the yearly fee is expensive) but it was my workaround to use Paypal, so I kept it for all this while. That and whenever I go on holiday I get free access to the lounges.
However, paying the credit card bill for this HK AE card is a pain. Since it's a HK based card, I can't pay it in the local Jetco system. I had to always go to my bank in Macau, issue a cheque (or cashier order, can't tell the difference), then send the cheque off to Hong Kong.
Because of the Coronavirus scare in January and February, I had a late payment. Because my cheque wasn't sent. The Post Office was down, both in Macau and Hong Kong. I called AE to let them know, super nice staff and good service (so I'm further appeased about the yearly fee). What's more, they even believed me when I said I had already issued and sent the cheque.
Anyway, once all public services resumed and the Post Offices were working, the cheque did get sent and AE actually called me back to say, they have received the cheque. And in the next statement, I'll see a late fee charge, but they will reverse it because of the special situation.
After much sniffing around, I also found out that if I open a bank account in one particular bank, the ATM card they provide has a function that uses a Hong Kong payment gateway thing, and then I can pay my HK AE card bills from this gateway and not need to issue cheques and rely on the Post Office.
Bank 1
This bank is hilarious. So, because of the Coronavirus, they can only allow limited number of people inside the bank, so we had to queue outside. Once I got inside, I got a ticket for teller services (opening bank account is teller service.... IN ALL OTHER BANKS IN MACAU!) I go to the teller, she says no, I have to go Customer services. Okay.
Get another ticket for Customer Services. My turn, tell the lady I want to open a new account. Oh! I need to make an appointment to open a bank account. The F? OK I make the appointment, and say will come again with the required paperwork (basically address proof and ID copy). She finds out I already have the information on hand, so asks me for them. I say but my appointment to open the account is for another day? She says it's OK, she'll put the information together first. Riiiiight...... anyway, my appointment is Friday (I'm off!), since my Boss is finally arriving back to town today, and I foresee I'll be busy the next few days.
Bank 2
Then, it was at my own bank. I was on my mobile phone banking app and noticed I suddenly have a Hong Kong dollar account. I asked why, they said "because you opened an account!" But noooo, I didn't. Would that be because I deposit a Hong Kong dollar cheque but I said I wanted to put the cash in my MOP account, so they had to set up an intermediary HKD account? "Well no, you need to sign the paperwork!" Well, my dear teller. If I had opened a bank account at the teller and signed the paperwork, you surely would have required me to deposit at least $100 in the account? The account balance is 0 with no transaction history.
She was stunned and couldn't give me an answer. I tried to ask more about it, apparently it's a trading account. No bankbook, it's a statement account. So I will receive bank statements. I'd much rather it be a booklet account then they won't waste paper. Maybe I should ask them if they have e-statements.
Well, if it's a trading account, then it could be that I inadvertedly clicked on something on the mobile app and opened an account then. I remember mucking around on the app the other day. That would explain why I managed to open a new account without having to deposit any money in it. And anyway, having an extra HKD account isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Government Institutions
My previous boss (the one that just up and left on my birthday) was an Expat, but because of his managerial position and salary, he was eligible to apply for Macau residency. A shame really, he was already a good 4 or 5 years in, if he stayed another 2 years he could have gotten a permanent resident status (7 years), but he left. Since he left suddenly, and anyway, without his signature, I can't do anything about him anyway, so I never followed up his case (besides, it's his residency status, if he left the company and has no admin, then he should handle it himself).
This residency thing goes through a particular government department. So since his departure, I've received sporadic calls from this department (since my number is one of the contact numbers for him). I say he has left, and then they'll have to contact him directly, they say OK. This year January, I received another call from them. They said they couldn't reach ex-boss. OK, I tried, can't reach him, so I sent him an email. He replied OK thanks.
Today, I received their call again. Again they want to reach him. I told them to just contact him directly and they should probably repudiate my contact number since I don't work for him anymore. They say they've tried all contact methods and can't reach him, except for my number.
So I asked them "What about last month on 22-January, did he call you back?" They said yes, he did. And I asked them "So you didn't think to ask him for an updated contact method?" They couldn't answer me and just erm and um and ahm. So I told them to get a pen and a piece of paper, as I'm going to give them his email address, and they can contact him directly. They claim they don't contact people by email. I said "that's not my problem."
That feels so... freeing to say that. A bit rude, maybe, but hey, I'm not working for the guy anymore, everytime they want to contact him they call me, then I email him to tell him to call them back, then what? They don't ask him for an update contact? Not my problem! He officially left 2 years ago, with 6 months of playing hookey (yes, I spent 6 months working in an office where he never showed up, and then he just said he's not coming back anymore on my birthday. When I told him a couple days before that it's my birthday and i'm taking the day off). Then 2 months passed and I got transferred to this current boss. So, I don't need to handle anything from the ex-boss anymore, thankyouverymuch.
Credit Cards - American Express
Paypal doesn't accept Macau banks, I think due to one incident of a fraud thing in a bank called Delta Asia some... 20 years ago? Anyway, so I was never able to actually get stuff easily from eBay or more recently Etsy or some other private sellers.
Then some I guess 5 years ago I found out that the Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong based airlines) was doing an American Express credit card thing and they accepted Macau clients. Okaaaayyyy... so I applied (darn the yearly fee is expensive) but it was my workaround to use Paypal, so I kept it for all this while. That and whenever I go on holiday I get free access to the lounges.
However, paying the credit card bill for this HK AE card is a pain. Since it's a HK based card, I can't pay it in the local Jetco system. I had to always go to my bank in Macau, issue a cheque (or cashier order, can't tell the difference), then send the cheque off to Hong Kong.
Because of the Coronavirus scare in January and February, I had a late payment. Because my cheque wasn't sent. The Post Office was down, both in Macau and Hong Kong. I called AE to let them know, super nice staff and good service (so I'm further appeased about the yearly fee). What's more, they even believed me when I said I had already issued and sent the cheque.
Anyway, once all public services resumed and the Post Offices were working, the cheque did get sent and AE actually called me back to say, they have received the cheque. And in the next statement, I'll see a late fee charge, but they will reverse it because of the special situation.
After much sniffing around, I also found out that if I open a bank account in one particular bank, the ATM card they provide has a function that uses a Hong Kong payment gateway thing, and then I can pay my HK AE card bills from this gateway and not need to issue cheques and rely on the Post Office.
Bank 1
This bank is hilarious. So, because of the Coronavirus, they can only allow limited number of people inside the bank, so we had to queue outside. Once I got inside, I got a ticket for teller services (opening bank account is teller service.... IN ALL OTHER BANKS IN MACAU!) I go to the teller, she says no, I have to go Customer services. Okay.
Get another ticket for Customer Services. My turn, tell the lady I want to open a new account. Oh! I need to make an appointment to open a bank account. The F? OK I make the appointment, and say will come again with the required paperwork (basically address proof and ID copy). She finds out I already have the information on hand, so asks me for them. I say but my appointment to open the account is for another day? She says it's OK, she'll put the information together first. Riiiiight...... anyway, my appointment is Friday (I'm off!), since my Boss is finally arriving back to town today, and I foresee I'll be busy the next few days.
Bank 2
Then, it was at my own bank. I was on my mobile phone banking app and noticed I suddenly have a Hong Kong dollar account. I asked why, they said "because you opened an account!" But noooo, I didn't. Would that be because I deposit a Hong Kong dollar cheque but I said I wanted to put the cash in my MOP account, so they had to set up an intermediary HKD account? "Well no, you need to sign the paperwork!" Well, my dear teller. If I had opened a bank account at the teller and signed the paperwork, you surely would have required me to deposit at least $100 in the account? The account balance is 0 with no transaction history.
She was stunned and couldn't give me an answer. I tried to ask more about it, apparently it's a trading account. No bankbook, it's a statement account. So I will receive bank statements. I'd much rather it be a booklet account then they won't waste paper. Maybe I should ask them if they have e-statements.
Well, if it's a trading account, then it could be that I inadvertedly clicked on something on the mobile app and opened an account then. I remember mucking around on the app the other day. That would explain why I managed to open a new account without having to deposit any money in it. And anyway, having an extra HKD account isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Government Institutions
My previous boss (the one that just up and left on my birthday) was an Expat, but because of his managerial position and salary, he was eligible to apply for Macau residency. A shame really, he was already a good 4 or 5 years in, if he stayed another 2 years he could have gotten a permanent resident status (7 years), but he left. Since he left suddenly, and anyway, without his signature, I can't do anything about him anyway, so I never followed up his case (besides, it's his residency status, if he left the company and has no admin, then he should handle it himself).
This residency thing goes through a particular government department. So since his departure, I've received sporadic calls from this department (since my number is one of the contact numbers for him). I say he has left, and then they'll have to contact him directly, they say OK. This year January, I received another call from them. They said they couldn't reach ex-boss. OK, I tried, can't reach him, so I sent him an email. He replied OK thanks.
Today, I received their call again. Again they want to reach him. I told them to just contact him directly and they should probably repudiate my contact number since I don't work for him anymore. They say they've tried all contact methods and can't reach him, except for my number.
So I asked them "What about last month on 22-January, did he call you back?" They said yes, he did. And I asked them "So you didn't think to ask him for an updated contact method?" They couldn't answer me and just erm and um and ahm. So I told them to get a pen and a piece of paper, as I'm going to give them his email address, and they can contact him directly. They claim they don't contact people by email. I said "that's not my problem."
That feels so... freeing to say that. A bit rude, maybe, but hey, I'm not working for the guy anymore, everytime they want to contact him they call me, then I email him to tell him to call them back, then what? They don't ask him for an update contact? Not my problem! He officially left 2 years ago, with 6 months of playing hookey (yes, I spent 6 months working in an office where he never showed up, and then he just said he's not coming back anymore on my birthday. When I told him a couple days before that it's my birthday and i'm taking the day off). Then 2 months passed and I got transferred to this current boss. So, I don't need to handle anything from the ex-boss anymore, thankyouverymuch.
