BIBD Debit Card

Few days ago, I read in the Borneo Bulletin (for those who is outside of Brunei: Borneo Bulletin is an English medium newspaper published daily in Brunei) about the new debit card from Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD).

Unlike credit cards, spending using debit cards will not cause you to be burdened by interest rates which will result in accumulating debts if you can't settle the monthly credit repayment.


I find this debit card to be very attractive and convenient in its potential to be used for commercial transaction locally or internationally. BIBD is trying to introduce a new way of conducting business by using e-currency as another form of legal tender, meaning: we don't have to bring physical money in exchange of goods and services.

I'd apply for BIBD's debit card because it is directly connected to a BIBD bank account. For example, if I saved my money in BIBD, I can just use this debit card to pay for anything without going to the ATM to withdraw money.

Since, it bears the MasterCard logo, we can use it to for our online shopping spree or anywhere else that accepts MasterCard. If you're planning to buy something in Ebay or using Paypal as your payment processor, you have to verify the debit card with Paypal in order to remove the spending limit imposed by Paypal for unverified cards. Therefore, make sure to verify your card first to prevent an abrupt stop to your online shopping marathon!

Stolen this Mastercard logo from pycomall.com

For now, I'll just stick to Standard Chartered Bank's eCash card. The only thing that bugs me while using this cash card is the absence of a card statement. No way of checking it online or on paper. The only way of checking your card is by calling the Standard Chartered Bank's card centre. Yes, you can only hear your card statement and not see it. Why is that?! Is it troublesome to provide a card statement? I don't think so... They've done it for the credit cards, why not do the same for debit cards (SCB calls them "eCash"...)? Lots of questions gone unanswered.

Enough about that, I'll stop here. My fingers are getting tired from the typing!