SLGO

Can’t agree more. The only complaint with the CX credit card is its partnership with AE. Very annoying that no all shops take AE. Wonder why CX stopped issuing with Citibank, or why didn’t they find another bank to issue a Visa or MC card.

lsquare

Unless my memory was off, I recalled seeing AMEX trying to sign people up at a MTR station a few years ago. Didn't seem very successful as I walked by. I think most people understand AMEX's limitation. I think AMEX needs to do a better job to get small businesses to accept them like in the US. Maybe lowering the fees or give them a financial incentive. Otherwise it'll be useless for the vast majority of HKers.

CX HK

With the explosion of high value Visa / MC cards, AMEX will really find it hard to continue to do well in this lucrative Hong Kong market.

lsquare

I'm not under the impression that they're doing well in HK given the poor acceptance rate.

sxc

Well there is the Asia Miles SCB Card which for all intents and purposes is basically the same from a points earning perspective.

tfung

Just a random thought... does anyone think that the new card might be a unionpay one? That would be a major coup for them... problem is even less merchants accept unionpay outside of Asia.... but their transaction fees are amongst the lowest in the world, and they have been offering a lot of good incentives for people to pay using them...

percysmith

Might be cause for embarrassment in HK because at present HK merchants incl CX and AM can’t take Unionpay over the phone just yet. So unless CX and AM sort their booking system to allow 100% online payments.

lsquare

What are the incentives that you're referring to?

I noticed UnionPay is getting popular in North American cities with large Chinese population.

CX HK

UnionPay is allegedly widely accepted in London but I've had so many issues with it I've given up.

Rain187

UnionPay indeed is not very popular in HK, Visa and Master are still the majority of HKers using.
If CX leave Amex, it will be better either Visa or Master as it is generally more accepted in HK, even better than Amex.

Nicc HK

American Banks/Companies only use American English no matter what country they are in without respect to local English. And the whole stupid MM/DD/YY is illogical, the only sensible format is YY/MM/DD. Here I am in a vast minority.

Also CCB (Asia) just happens to be a client of mine, and the variations of English they use, i.e. centre/center to name one example found in their official literature or their buildings, is usually down to where the individual who wrote it was educated. So if you go to the CCB Centre in Kowloon Bay, it is spelt exactly that way, but look on the American Google Maps and they spell it (incorrectly) 'center'

Just as an aside I had one client, a large US Stock Exchange insist I used American English in text because their staff could not understand real English. That was never going to happen.

I realise this has gone way off topic, but always an interesting debate.

Any news on cards as I will have to decide in the next 2 months what to do with my CX AMEX if there is going to be a change

lsquare

That's news to me. I don't think UnionPay is anywhere near Visa and Mastercard in terms of acceptance rate in London. You'll probably find major retailers or places where Chinese tourists typically go to as the most likely places that will accept UnionPay.

NetJets Germany

Nice attempt at an argument. Only it does not stand up to either common practice or scrutiny.

Successful businesses adapt to their target market and local conventions, not the other way around. I have yet to see Citibank use the MM/DD/YYYY format in China or Europe.

And I personally agree, although I am not from a country where it is customary to do so, that the date format YYYY/MM/DD logically makes the most sense.

Anyway, more pertinently your argument is dismantled by Citibank’s own spelling of “cheque” or “check” on the Citibank UK website. Feel free to take a look:

https://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/ec-deposits.do

lsquare

I get where you're coming from, but it's a waste of time even debating it. I just go with the norm wherever I go. I'm use to how things are done in the US. I got use to how things are done in the UK, and etc. Sometimes it just doesn't have to make sense.

percysmith

Varies by institution. BOA HK (now CCB Asia) called their current accounts checking accounts and mm/dd/yyyy their checks until ~2014.