By Dennise Williams, Staff ReporterTHE Magna reward card, recently launched in Jamaica, has created some problems for consumers. Launched on October 22, 2003, by the Trinidad and Tobago firm Prism Services, the card rewards customers for shopping at designated retailers with cash back. Additionally, the Bank of Nova Scotia has co-branded with Magna to issue a Magna MasterCard credit card.
However, there are some issues that have caused consternation with members of the public that have embraced the Magna card.
HOW ARE POINTS CALCULATED?
The Magna advertising campaign states that $2 out of every $200 in spending is returned to them. However, at Prism, they have informed the Financial Gleaner that it is actually calculated at 1.5 per cent of purchases in Jamaican currency. So a purchase of $7,000.00 before GCT would earn 135 Magna points multiplied by $2.00 earning $270.00 cash back. For purchases by Jamaicans in Barbados, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago, in US currency, the cash back would be 0.5 per cent of the US dollars spent. At the October 21 launch of BNS's Magna MasterCard, Marie Powell, general manager of corporate affairs and marketing stated that, "If both cards are used simultaneously, then the customer's reward is doubled."
This, however, is not entirely the case. BNS Magna credit card users expecting double points would indeed come pretty close. The actual cash back from BNS would be one per cent of purchases plus the 1.5 per cent from use of the Magna card, giving a total of 2.5 per cent cash back on purchases.
JAMAICAN STORES
BILLING IN US CURRENCY
The BNS Magna card is presenting some amount of trouble for consumers because of its dual currency feature. Now, while that is a welcomed benefit when travelling abroad, complaints reaching the Financial Gleaner reveal that purchases such as perfume and deodorant in pharmacies and supermarkets and even purchases of eyeglasses are attracting US dollar charges.
According to Franklin Grey, "I purchased a gift basket of perfume at a pharmacy in Portmore two nights ago. The gift package was supposed to cost about J$2,200. When my Magna credit card ran through, it was billed at US$35.60. I don't understand why this happened."
The Financial Gleaner contacted Francine Duncan at Prism and was told, "We only run the Magna rewards aspect of the programme. The credit card is under the control of BNS, we have nothing to do with any mistakes that occur with the credit cards."
COMPLAINTS FLOWING IN
When the BNS credit card call centre was contacted, the Financial Gleaner was told that many complaints have come in and the problem has been identified as stemming from adjustments needed to be made to the point of sale machines used by some retailers.
We were also told that customers with this problem should call into the credit card centre and inform BNS of the problem. However, when the Financial Gleaner in the presence of Franklin Grey contacted the credit card centre at Scotiabank's head office, Dahlia Reid informed both of us that the problem was not with BNS. Said Reid, "The US dollar charge is the fault of the merchant. They are using the wrong machine. What I suggest is that you go back to the merchant and have them correct the problem."
One of Mr. Grey's concerns was if he would be billed on his monthly statement in US dollars. In answer to that, Reid stated, "if he doesn't get the merchant to make the change on his invoice, then yes, he will have to pay the equivalent of the US dollar charge in Jamaican dollars."
Another concern coming to the attention of the Financial Gleaner is the time between purchases and recording of Magna points. Specially, information came to the Financial Gleaner that a purchase made on October 25 at H&L True Value has not been recorded by Magna Rewards Customer Service centre (1-800-744-FREE) to date. However, True Value disputes that this is their fault. Said our contact at the management office at the Lane branch, "Every night we upload the information on the Magna machine. We send them the information electronically, we don't send a written statement. So probably the Magna people have not credited the account, because we are not at fault." The fault, it seems, lie with telecommunications.
Said a Magna customer service representative in Trinidad, "The telephone lines that would transmit the information from Jamaica to Trinidad are not working. However, the transactions are uploaded and recorded in our servers, so the information is not lost. We expect that the telephone situation to be corrected by the middle of November 2003. Until then, in light of this problem, we suggest that consumers keep their Magna purchase receipts just in case the points are not recorded. We will then honour the receipts."
Name changed by request.
