Cashback Promotion

Background

Mr Ling (not his real name) holds a Gold Master Credit Card by Bank A.  He received a short message service (SMS) from the bank stating that he was entitled for a 15% cashback on spending made abroad. Relying on the SMS message, Mr Ling then utilised his credit card abroad between 10/11/2018 and 23/11/2018. Unfortunately, he did not receive any cashback for the purchases made as promoted. He submitted a claim for the cashback of RM150.

Bank A averred that Mr Ling was not entitled to the cashback as the allocation for cashback pool/pay out that was capped at RM 25,000.00 per month had been fully utilised by 11/11/2018. Further, Bank A contended that under the Terms and Conditions of the campaign, the cash back was awarded on first come first serve basis.

Mr Ling was dissatisfied with Bank A’s decision and filed a complaint at OFS alleging that the cashback campaign promoted by Bank A was misleading.

 

Investigation and Findings

The Case Manager investigated the claim and noted that the cashback campaign organized by Bank A commenced on 1 November 2018 and continued until 31 December 2018. Under this campaign, the bank’s New Gold Cardholders are required to spend a minimum of RM800 per month to qualify for the maximum cash back award of RM150.

The Case Manager further noted that Mr Ling had received the following SMS from Bank A in respect of the said campaign on 6/11/2018, 12/11/2018 and 26/11/2018:

“RM0.00 FSP: Going for overseas trip? Get 15% cashback when u spend min RM800.00 on Overseas tranx with yr FSP’s Card from 1-30/11/2018. T&C apply”

The Case Manager opined that the SMS from Bank A did not indicate the salient term that the cash back award was on first come first serve basis.

 

Recommendation

 The Case Manager issued a Recommendation in favour of Mr Ling. Bank A accepted the Recommendation and honoured payment of RM150 to Mr Ling.