WUNRN
June
10, 2009
The
New Paper
Pay
$167 a Month for Credit Card Brides
by Crystal Chan
Want a Vietnamese bride? It will cost you
just $167 a month. And all you need is a Diners Club credit card.
If that sounds like a sales pitch, it is.
It is the latest marketing tactic by matchmaking agency Vietnam Brides
International.
The actual cost of $8,000 can be split up over four years, interest-free, for
those who pay with Diners.
Agency owner Mark Lin told The New Paper on Sunday that Diners Club approached
him in February, offering to install a credit card terminal for him without
charge.
And the scheme started the same month. He said: 'Since it's free, why not?'
Mr Bernard Tay, assistant general manager (sales and marketing) for Diners Club
(Singapore), said: 'So long as the cardholders have a valid credit limit, they
qualify for the repayment scheme.'
He was quick to differentiate between an instalment plan and a hire purchase
agreement.
He said: 'We won't take back the bride if the customer defaults on payments.
It's not like hire purchase where we take back the product if the customer doesn't
pay up by the due date.'
Debt recovery
Under the instalment plan, Diners Club's monthly interest rate of 2 per cent of
the outstanding amount will kick in if the customer fails to pay by the due
date.
Click to see larger image
Mr Tay added: 'If the customers still don't repay, we'll have other ways to
recover the debt.'
No one has taken up this offer yet, but Mr Tay said: 'Matchmaking is considered
a niche service so demand is generally lower. It's not every day that people
need a foreign bride.'
Vietnam Brides International isn't the first to offer an instalment scheme for
brides.
In April 2007, matchmaking agency Mr Cupid raised eyebrows by offering China
brides for a downpayment of just $1.
The rest of the $6,000 bill was to be paid in monthly instalments over 10
months.
Mr Cupid has since closed its Singapore office as it is changing its business
strategy.
Ethical questions
But is it ethical for someone to pay for a bride in monthly instalments, just
like how people pay for electrical appliances and cars?
Mr Tay said: 'We don't make a moral judgement on the business set-up of our
merchant partners. For us, it's more important that the business is
legitimate.'
Mr Lin insists that he is not treating the women as commodities.
He said in Mandarin: 'It's just a service that I'm offering to customers. I've
got clients asking if they can pay with Visa or Mastercard so it shows there's
a demand for instalment payments.'
He denies using the instalment plan as a means to push his girls.
Mr Lin said: 'Times are bad and paying in instalments would mean not having to
burn a hole in one's pocket since there's no interest.
'Even if the customer defaults on payment, I'm not the one losing money.'
In credit card payments, the card issuer pays the merchant upfront. If the
customer defaults on repayment, the card issuer can take legal action to
recover the debt.
Last year, three of Mr Lin's customers backed out of marriages when they lost
money in the stock marketcrash.
They had each paid a deposit of $1,000 and told Mr Lin they would rather
forfeit it than spend more money to complete the transaction.
Mr Lin said that if his business was booming, he would not mind paying to
install Visa and Mastercard terminals.
It costs about $700 to install Visa and Mastercard terminals, with an annual
subscription fee of about $100, checks with local banks show.
In the current economic climate, Mr Lin is more cost-conscious, but does not
mind paying Diners Club its usual 3 per cent commission.
Other agencies specialising in foreign brides baulk at the idea.
Mr Janson Ong of Life Partner Matchmaker, which charges $10,000 for a bride,
said the large amount does not make credit card payments feasible.
He said: 'How many people have such high credit limits?'
And he's against instalments 'because we could be encouraging cash-strapped men
to marry'.
He said: 'If the groom can't afford the lump sum of $10,000, he's probably
financially unstable.
'It could mean problems for the bride in future. In such situations, I can't be
sure the man is able to care for her.'
Mr Francis Toh, who runs First Overseas International Matchmaker, said his
clients usually pay with cheques or cash.
He said: 'It's just not feasible to have credit card payments. Matchmaking
agencies are not supermarkets or restaurants where there are transactions every
day.
'Unless I have a high sales volume, I won't consider allowing credit card
payments because the installation and annual subscription fees don't justify
it.'
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