Living in Malaysia, I realized that there are many restrictions imposed on us. This is especially true when it involves the matters of online shopping, verifying Paypal account and etc. I’m a shopaholic, I admit that truthfully. I’ve heard of Paypal before. It is the main channel for payment when dealing with ebay.com. So, what I did next is signed up with Paypal. However, another issue came up. You can either verify your Paypal account by using a credit card or local bank account. Well, here’s the problem, I’m still a student and a credit card is out of reach. Local bank account, yes, I do have it but Malaysia’s is not listed there (this is as of early 2009, not sure how it is now). Sigh, am I helpless then?

Definitely not! There’s always a solution which just needed to be discovered in a matter of time. =) I asked the forumers at lowyat.net forum and they suggested that, maybe I can get myself a debit card. So, yeah, I’m going to share with you what is a debit card I already applied for. Mine is Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card. As long as you are at the age of 12 years old and above, you are eligible to apply for this card. There is no payment needed in order to get this card, however an annually card fee of RM24 will be imposed to you. However, if you manage to spend more than RM1200 with this card, the annual fee will be automatically waived.

How to apply? I went to a Public Bank nearest to my place and ask the bank officer for this card’s application. She gave me a form, fill it carefully especially your name and your mother’s maiden name (this is used to validate your Verifed by Visa application). Note these two somewhere for future reference. After that, I waited for exactly two weeks and the card is posted to my address as promised. I have to wait another week for the PIN and voila! You’re good to go for a shopping madness!!=)

With this card, I have successfully verified my Paypal. But after doing some research and asking a lot at my favorite forum (lowyat.net), I found that, Paypal is just an option. I can always shop by using my debit card wherever Visa is accepted. It will be treated just like any other credit card! The important thing to be remembered is that, you must keep RM25 inside your card at all times. This is a must. The best is, it works like a ‘top-up’ card. You just deposit the amount needed to be used (for me, this card is mainly for online transaction), and swipe it at petrol pumps, retail outlets, restaurants and online shopping. Let me tell you, with my shopping habits, the annual fee is already been waived in the second month of using the card!

I have paid for airline tickets online reservations and countless online transactions. This card is the best! With the newly policy rumored to be applied by early of next year, where credit card holders must pay RM50 for each credit cards owned, Debit Card will definitely gain huge demands. Another plus point to be viewed is that, this card is a card of its own. It is not linked to any of your bank account thus in cases of frauds, the loss is at minimum.

Rating: 10