Maybank2u.com now on your Mobile Phone!

From 19 January 2010, you can access Maybank2u.com on your mobile phone anytime, anywhere!

Our M2U screens have now been optimised to fit within the screen of your mobile phone. Just login to M2U from your mobile device using your existing M2U username and password, just like you would on your computer!
Steps to log on

1. Launch your Mobile Browser
2. Key in the URL - http://mobile.maybank2u.com.my
3. Click Login
4. Enter your existing Maybank2u.com Username and Password.
5. You are now logged in to perform your banking transactions!

Current services offered at Maybank2u.com on your Mobile

* Account Summary
o Balance Inquiry (Savings, Current, Credit/Debit Card)
o M2U History, Recent Transaction, Today's Transactions, Transaction History (Deposit, Credit/Debit Card)
* Funds Transfer
o To Own Accounts
o To Registered 3rd Party Accounts
o To Registered Interbank GIRO
* Payments
o Registered Bill Payment
o Card Payment (Own)
o Card Payment (Registered 3rd Party Accounts)
* View Rates
o View Forex & Deposit Rates

Maybank2u.com on your Mobile will be available for a period of 3 months. Try it now and tell us what you think! This will help us improve the service to better suit your needs in the future. Email us your feedback at mgcc@maybank.com.my
Important note

Please note that when you access Internet from your mobile, you will be charged data charges by your Telco. If you have not subscribed to a data plan, the charges can be expensive. We advise that you contact your Telco to subscribe to a data plan. There are many types of data plans offered by Telcos & the charges vary depending on the plan you choose. The charges will depend on the amount of data (bytes) requested and sent from and to your mobile phone. Please contact your Telco for further enquiries on data activation & the different types of data plans.

- MAYBANK

Pay And Be Rewarded With The New Hong Leong Debit Card

Hong Leong Bank (HLB) today launched the Hong Leong Debit Card, the new debit card in town that rewards customers when they use it instead of cash.

Speaking at the launch, Ms Yvonne Chia , the Group Managing Director of Hong Leong Bank said, "There are more than 24 million ATM cards in circulation in Malaysia , with most cards having the e-debit capability tied to MEPS. In the past 5 years, payments using debit card has grown by more than 80%, hence making it a popular payment choice among Malaysians. With this growing acceptance in Malaysia and globally, we believe there is vast potential to further increase the use of debit cards. HLB with its large active retail customer base aspires to be a formidable player in this debit card market."

"Consumers today are spending cautiously within their means. This consumer segment seeks an efficient payment option, more rewards and cashless convenience both locally and globally. The launch of the new Hong Leong Debit Card is timely and relevant in these uncertain and still challenging times, and is aimed to deliver far greater value than cash wherever it is used", added Chia.

The new Hong Leong Debit Card carries both the Visa and MEPS brands. It is an internationally accepted payment cum ATM card that is linked directly to the customer's Hong Leong Current or Savings Account. It may be used for retail purchases at over 29 million authorized Visa and MEPS merchants in Malaysia and around the globe, as well as for internet purchases.

The debit card retail purchase transaction may be operated with a PIN or signature – PIN based transaction is for MEPS e-debit purchases while signature based transaction is for Visa purchases. As the debit card is also an ATM card, it offers the convenience of cash withdrawal at over a million ATMs that display the PLUS and MEPS logos in Malaysia and worldwide.

The new Hong Leong Debit Card is the first debit card to feature over 100 daily essential items in its Redemption Programme and HLB has partnered with several Fortune 500 FMCG companies in the selection of these items. "Designed with our customer's interest in mind, we want to make it easy for our customers to earn reward points. They earn 1 Reward Point for every RM1 spend. With the accumulated points, they can redeem an assortment of daily essentials from shampoo to detergents to even beverages and food items. This is in line with HLB's vision to develop innovative products that reward and delight our customers to create long-term relationships," said Chia.

The other features of the new Hong Leong Debit Card are the limited loss liability of RM150 which helps to allay fears of using the debit card, and the provision of a monthly statement which itemizes the retail card spend thus allowing customers to track their expenses. Customers have a choice of hard copy or online statement. Online statements are available free of charge. Applying for the Hong Leong Debit Card is also easy and instant with no income requirement.

With the Chinese New Year celebration around the corner, Hong Leong Debit cardholders will enjoy exclusive offers such as free "yee sang" or cash vouchers when they dine at selected restaurants. As part of the launch campaign, HLB is also giving away free 42" Plasma TVs and Portable DVD Players with minimum retail spend via their Hong Leong Debit Card Swipe and Win Contest.

For customer's convenience, HLB will have extended weekday banking till 6:00 p.m. and is open on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at selected branches to ensure that customers get to collect "angpow" packets, exchange notes and apply for the new Hong Leong Debit Card at the same time.

For further information, visit any of HLB's branches nationwide, call 1-800-38-8888 during office hours or log on to www.hlb.com.my . Product terms and conditions apply.

Five Secrets Your Bank Doesn't Want You to Know

by Laura Rowley

Banks are squeezing customers with historically high fees and penalties, from overdraft charges to account service fees to new surcharges on foreign debit transactions.

But the pressures that have prompted the fee war with consumers started well before the financial meltdown, according to Jo Preuninger, a former management consultant who spent more than a decade in the consumer banking arena.

I asked Preuninger for a little history, as well as some of the tricks of the trade that banks would prefer to keep secret.

Secret #1: For many banks, the most profitable customers aren't the mass affluent -- they're "Joe Lunchbox."

In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed banks, insurers and securities firms to merge, breaking down barriers that had been in place since the 1930s. Following the new law, "if you took all the (deposit) checks written for $10,000 and above, most were written to institutions such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity or Merrill Lynch," says Preuninger. "They took the best customers. The banks were becoming more like Laundromats, where you put money in for a short period because you still needed to pay with a check or (get cash)."

At the same time, loans provided little profit as interest rates remained relatively low, prompting banks to seek consistent, non-interest income. "The focus was on how banks could not only identify fees they could charge, it was how to do a better job of collecting their fees," says Preuninger.

Middle-income customers presented the greatest potential to harvest fees. "There's certainly a customer segment that could be called 'Joe Lunchbox,' who expect to be nickeled and dimed," says Preuninger. "They are managing money from paycheck to paycheck. It's someone who would prefer to pay an overdraft fee to get their mortgage covered rather than get hit by a mortgage provider with a late fee and a ding on their credit score."

Last year, overdraft and insufficient-funds charges totaled nearly $35 billion and comprised about 90 percent of banks' consumer-fee income, according to a study by the consulting firm Bretton Woods Inc. Three-quarters of banks automatically enroll consumers in their "overdraft protection" programs without formal permission, and more than half of banks manipulate the order in which checks are cleared to trigger multiple overdraft fees, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation study.

"They are going to try to turn the best profit they can, which is why they post in the most attractive way they can while avoiding and minimizing legal exposure," says Preuninger.

Someone who overdraws a checking account a few times a year should choose a bank with a program that makes it easy (and free) to shift funds from savings to checking to protect against overdrafts.


Secret #2: Banks hope frequent overdraft customers don't understand the alternatives.

The banks deemed overdraft protection to be a customer service convenience that provides an alternative to payday lenders, says Preuninger. And yet some of those customers might almost fare better with loan sharks. The Bretton Woods study found 80 percent of overdraft fees are incurred by 20 million households, who paid an average of $1,374 in overdraft fees.

These customers should consider ditching traditional checking account in favor of a prepaid debit card, which typically cost $70 to $80 a year ($10 upfront with a $5 monthly fee). Users direct-deposit their paychecks onto the cards (the money is FDIC-insured) and can do point-of-sale transactions and pay bills online. There are no overdraft fees; the purchase is declined if the card is empty.

Secret #3: Those helpful new customer set-up kits, designed to make it easy to switch banks, also try to make the account "sticky."

"I did a lot of work in customer attraction and retention," says Preuninger. "The biggest barrier to new accounts was switching. There's a higher tolerance; a bank may have a lot of long-term customers -- that doesn't mean they love (the service)."

Most banks have a kit to assist customers in switching services. But do it yourself instead. Enter your regular bills in the bank's online billpay site, rather than signing up with each biller's website. If your new banking relationship goes sour, the account is more transportable. You won't have to log into a dozen different biller sites and change the account and routing numbers.

Secret #4: Long-term relationships matter.

"Know what you want in the way of a bank and stay as long as you can because tenure does matter," Preuninger says. "If you've been with a bank three to five years, they treat you differently than if you are there six months. If you direct-deposit your paycheck and have a (savings) relationship, they think of you differently than if you have free checking with $100 in it. Tenure and relationship does matter."

So if you incur the rare fee now and then, always call customer service and ask (politely) for it to be removed. Emphasize your long-term relationship with the bank and ask for a supervisor if the initial effort fails.

Most customers aren't profitable until they've been with a bank a few years because of the high cost of customer acquisition -- sales compensation to branch managers, IT infrastructure, documentation and account setup. "It's a long time before they break even, especially if they goose it with $100 to you to open the account," Preuninger says.

Secret #5: Banks want you to enjoy the "advantages" of paying with credit, debit, check and cash -- because it will make you more likely to lose track of your money.

"One of most dangerous things going on with consumers is they are not paying attention to the variety of ways they are paying. They are balancing money back and forth because it's too hard to account for," Preuninger says. "If you pay seven different ways, you've just added complexity to your life. Consumers shouldn't say to the bank ‘you're responsible to tell me what I'm doing with my money.'"

But more banks are moving in that direction. PNC Bank, for instance, launched an account called Virtual Wallet that presents account information in calendar form, focused between today and the account holder's next payday. A "danger day" appears on the calendar in red if the account is at risk of an overdraft. The user can either move bills later in the month, or shift money immediately from the savings portion of the account at no charge (the account does it automatically if the consumer doesn't). Statements are only available online and the bank charges 50 cents per check for writing more than three a month.

Best bet? Simplify. Get a free checking account with no fees and a low minimum balance requirement, pay major household bills online, and then stick to cash. You'll think twice about purchases, and avoid getting caught in the widening web of bank fees.