International credit card roundup

Written by Geoff Williams
Posted On: December 2, 2011

What in the world is happening with credit cards?

With emphasis on "the world."

It's easy for Americans to think that we're the only ones swimming in debt, or raking in the rewards points, on credit cards. So for the fun of it, let's take a quick jaunt around the globe and see how residents of other countries are managing their plastic.

Turkey: No more cash advances from ATMs

Consumers in Turkey are currently dealing with the news that some credit card users won't be able to get a cash advance from an ATM. Specifically, if you have a Turkish credit card account and you haven't managed to pay off at least 50 percent of your balance during three of the last 12 months, your credit card issuer won't let you borrow cash from an ATM.

It's a move designed to keep Turks from getting too far extended on their credit. As BusinessWeek reports, Turkish credit card debt climbed 20 percent in 2011, and 23 percent in 2010. Given that credit cards are used for 30 percent of purchases in Turkey, maybe that's not surprising, but in any case, lest credit card debt keep climbing, the government--and I'll leave it to others to debate whether it's a good move or not--is trying to stop people from going too far into debt.

India: Banks entice customers with everyday perks

According to the online edition of the Financial Chronicle, banks are offering a lot of perks to credit card holders lately. ICICI Bank provides a free movie ticket with every movie ticket bought on the ICICI Bank Coral Credit Card, and Citibank is offering installment plans for consumers who buy Dell computers, Nokia mobile phones and various Sony products. They're also offering a 20 percent discount in 1,000 restaurants, presumably in India.

UAE: Tap-and-go payments

MasterCard will be launching a tap-and-go program this fall in the United Arab Emirates, NFCNews.com reports, in which consumers with Blackberry 9900 smartphones will be able to make purchases up to $50 with their phones at over 600 retail locations. They'll have to type a PIN number into a reader, but they won't actually have to swipe their card, or even have it with them.

Norway: Credit card ratings for Scandinavians

It doesn't matter what country you live in; nobody's born understanding how credit cards work. Kredittkort (http://kredittkortene.net/) is a new Norwegian website that, according to SBWire, intends to dispel confusion by "educating consumers about the current credit card market and offering unbiased, neutral reviews of banking companies offering credit to Norwegian consumers."

Sounds a little like an American credit card site we know.

Canada: Credit cards save a Welsh soldier's life

OK, this isn't exactly a financial story, but it's rather interesting nonetheless. The Caernarfon Denbigh Herald, a Welsh paper, reported that a Welsh soldier, Cai Thomas, was in Calgary, Alberta, when he witnessed a gang attack outside a bar.

Thomas and his fellow soldiers ran to a man who had been stabbed in the chest, arms and back, and were able to use a battlefield life-saving technique in which--and I have no idea how this is done--credit cards are used to seal up the wound. They patched his chest up, long enough for him to survive, at least until he made it to the hospital.