Credit card misuse rare—report

Press, 7 August 1985, Page 9

Credit card misuse rare —report

Although credit cards are relatively new in New Zealand, mismanagement or misuse of them is rare because the average New Zealander is honest and trustworthy, says Visa New Zealand in a review of credit card use. However, it says that although credit cards have been in New Zealand for up to six years, there is still widespread misunderstanding, and at times confusion, over their role in the financial system.

The Albert Edward oak (above), planted in Fitzgerald Avenue in 1863, will be removed to make way for roadworks. The oak tree, planted as part of a civic celebration in honour of the marriage of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, is decaying. “It is a wonder it has survived at all with the fumes and traffic,” said a Christchurch City councillor at a parks and recreation committee meeting yesterday which decided to remove the oak. The tree, which was given major surgery eight years ago to arrest its deterioration and was heavily topped more recently, will live on.

It says credit cards such as Visa and Bankcard are frequently confused with charge cards and with travel and entertainment cards such as Diners Club and American Express, which do not have a credit facility and have to be cleared monthly. They are seen unfairly as encouraging New Zealanders into debt by allowing credit too easily or as inciting irresponsibility and they are seen incorrectly as having created a big fraud

however. Seedlings grown from acorns dropped by the tree will be planted in its place. The council’s deputy general manager (works), Mr Harold Surtees, reported yesterday that the old oak’s main limbs were still affected by dead and decaying tissue and it was now most unattractive. It would never develop an attractive form again, he said. The tree, at the intersection of Fitzgerald Avenue and Ferry Road, would be replaced by its seedlings in the new landscaping intended at the corner. Cr Mollie Clark asked for a suitable plaque detailing the new seedlings’ link with the historic oak.

problem. Some people are confused over the role credit cards will play in the future and how they will fit in with new developments such as electronic funds transfer point of sale (EFTPOS) systems and dial terminals. Discussing credit management, the review says some people picture credit card organisations as being too willing to allow credit and so permitting people who cannot really afford credit to get into financial trouble. The public seem to think that many card-holders get out of control, breaking credit limits and defaulting on payments. In reality, credit card holders in New Zealand have a good track record in credit management, one which is much better than most other countries. Credit card organisations estimate that only 1 per cent of card-holders are in any significant trouble at one time with their accounts, and actual losses are minimal. The card organisations are conservative and most of their senior staff come from conservative banking backgrounds. They provide education kits and they attach a lot of importance to anti-fraud work, The incidence of fraud using cards is very low, and is falling, the review says. Discussing the future, it says debit cards such as Autobank, Cashflow, Cashpoint, and Anytime serve to help rather than conflict with the trading of credit card accounts, and the same will be the case with electronic funds transfers, such as EFTPOS. This is because the automatic machines developed for such debit cards can be used to withdraw money from a credit account, and the machines can be used to transfer funds into the credit account.