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Date Posted: 22:20:53 08/10/09 Mon
Author: TKG1700
Subject: Got money then talk credit

Instalment plan to buy a human being is an 'outrage'

[Photo: Mark Lin, boss of Vietnam Brides International]

By Crystal Chan

GONE before it could even take off.


Credit card company Diners Club has ended its instalment plan with matchmaking agency Vietnam Brides International .

Diners Club's Singapore office had approached the agency, which introduces Vietnamese women to men, to offer an interest-free instalment plan for its cardholders.

The scrapping of the tie-up wasn't due to poor business, although no one had taken up the payment plan since it started in February.

Last Tuesday, Diners Club took back its credit card terminal from the matchmaking agency's office in Orchard Plaza.

The termination came after a protest from Change.org, a San Francisco-based non-profit group that promotes women's rights and aims to stop human trafficking.

Under the payment plan, Diners Club customers could take up to four years to pay for their Vietnamese brides through monthly instalments of $167.

Change.org swung into action after reading The New Paper's online report about the payment plan.

The four-year-old group submitted a petition with signatures from 800 people to Diners Club's parent company, Discover Financial Services, urging it to end its support for an industry which Change.org described as 'rampant with exploitation of women'.

It added that it was outraged at the payment plan which it described as dehumanising and reducing the women to mere commodities.

Website

Change.org wrote on its website: 'While creating a payment plan to purchase a human being is an ethical outrage, it also reduces the economic barrier to buying a bride.

'Removing that barrier allows men to acquire women using less capital than they needed before. It opens the door to even more men to buy and exploit these women.'

The group was also concerned about what could happen to the brides if their husbands defaulted on payment, especially when Diners Club Singapore's assistant general manager (marketing), Mr Bernard Tay, told The New Paper that the company would recover the debt in 'other ways'.

Urging netizens to join the online petition, Change.org wrote: 'Diners Club, human beings should not be bought or sold, and they certainly shouldn't be part of a payment plan, a 'blue light special', or a clearance sale.

'Women are not commodities for you to finance.'

The New Paper e-mailed Change.org's chief executive Mr Ben Rattray, to get his comments. But he did not reply by press time.

However, Discover Financial Services, headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinois in the US, confirmed it took action after receiving Change.org's petition.

In an e-mail reply to The New Paper, Discover's spokesman, Ms Mai Lee Ua, said the company felt that Diners Club's instalment plan for Vietnamese brides was unethical.

Ms Mai said: 'Diners Club licensees abide by an agreement which states that they may not engage in activity that poses an ethical or legal risk to the Diners Club brand.

'In this case, we reminded our Singapore licensee of this and it terminated the relationship with the merchant (Vietnam Brides International) at our request.

'It is the licensees' responsibility to ensure that any merchant with which they engage does not violate this agreement.'

Discover Financial Services is the third biggest credit card issuer in the US, after Mastercard and Visa.

Diners Club's decision has baffled Vietnam Brides International's boss, Mr Mark Lin.

He said: 'Mine is a legitimate business and if I have anything to hide, why would I set up shop in Orchard Road? I think Change.org reacted without understanding the nature of my business.

'I don't force the girls into marriage if they aren't interested in the men.

'I'm also disappointed that Diners Club's US office gave in to pressure from this so-called human rights group.

'Shouldn't Diners Club have looked into my business practices before making this decision?'

Legitimate

When The New Paper told Ms Mai that Vietnam Brides International is a legitimate business in Singapore, she declined to provide the details behind Discover Financial Services' decision.

She said: 'We just felt it (Vietnam Brides International) wasn't a fit for our brand.'

Our report on May 31 had quoted Mr Tay as saying that Diners Club's Singapore office does not make a moral judgement on its merchant partners.

He had said: 'For us, it's more important that the business is legitimate.'

Mr Tay declined to talk about the latest development when The New Paper called him. Instead, he requested that we e-mail him with our questions.

We did, but Mr Tay did not respond by press time.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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