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Old Aug 4, 2015, 5:26 pm
  #1  
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Credit cards with Cantonese customer service

My mom recently contacted Bank of America customer service to cancel her card, and we were both surprised that they had Cantonese-speaking agents (not translators, but agents that work for the bank). Which other banks offer customer service in Cantonese? I'm looking to get a long-term, no annual fee card for her, and the rewards are secondary to being able to call in her native language in case she has any problems with fraud or declined transactions.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 7:09 pm
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Does she live in an area with a large Cantonese speaking population? If so, banks and credit unions in that area likely have employees who speak Cantonese. I know that Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America actively look for bankers and tellers who speak languages commonly spoken in the local neighborhood and likely have phone agents who speak those languages as well. Also, credit cards marketed to Cantonese speaking people likely have Cantonese-speaking agents for all of their cards.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 7:15 pm
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HSBC Credit Card? I tried the number and it says for Cantonese press "4" (in Cantonese)
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 7:46 pm
  #4  
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There are Cantonese-speaking bank employees near where she lives. I know they can open or close the accounts for you, but I'm not sure whether they also handle fraud, declined transactions, card benefits, and chargebacks.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 8:40 pm
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Credit cards with Cantonese customer service

If anything, the local bank employees can translate for her. Many people go to the bank branch for questions about their credit cards and the branch employees can generally answer questions.

Fraud protection is often handled by a third party such Falcon Fraud Protection for Visa cards.

China Union Pay cards operate on the Discover network. One would guess they have Cantonese and Mandarin speaking agents. JCB might as well.
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Old Aug 4, 2015, 11:21 pm
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Originally Posted by B747SP
HSBC Credit Card? I tried the number and it says for Cantonese press "4" (in Cantonese)
Seriously? Four is not such a good number to assign to the Cantonese.
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 4:54 pm
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Originally Posted by gmangg
Seriously? Four is not such a good number to assign to the Cantonese.
Very funny!
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Old Aug 5, 2015, 6:04 pm
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Originally Posted by Tide_from_PAE
If anything, the local bank employees can translate for her. Many people go to the bank branch for questions about their credit cards and the branch employees can generally answer questions.
Of course, this only works when you're somewhere with a large community of speakers of that language. Some of my friends out in Montana have discovered that Citi, of all banks, doesn't have actual Chinese-speaking phone agents. This is a bit of a problem given that there are no Citi branches in the whole state.
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Old Aug 6, 2015, 6:56 am
  #9  
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I tend not to discuss anything with a Cantonese staff.

IME, they do all the things by the book. There is not much leeway going around.

Declaimer - I am a native in Cantonese.
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Old Aug 7, 2015, 1:12 pm
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Originally Posted by garykung
I tend not to discuss anything with a Cantonese staff.

IME, they do all the things by the book. There is not much leeway going around.

Declaimer - I am a native in Cantonese.
I was surprised to get the Cantonese when I tried to call United Air when in Beijing. But my experience was the same as you. The Cantonese staff was very much by the book compared to the English speaking agent when I HUCA the USA number...

I also agree that getting a Cantonese phone agent depends on where you are calling. Other than HSBC, I think it is hit and miss. SFO, Toronto, Vancouver, and NYC are probably places you can easily find Cantonese speaking agents at a local branch (in Chinatown for sure...)
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