CIB Womens Credit Card

Met with some representatives of CIB (Bank) who were marketing their Women's Special Credit Card.

One meeting was enough to show me how far the Egyptian Credit Card market has to grow. Credit Card acceptance is quite low in Egypt. Other than the top hotels & restaurants, the hypermarkets and airlines, there are very few outlets that accept payment via credit cards.

This is not a big problem, given that these are the only places where you spend in large amounts and don't want to be carrying all that, in cash.

But today's encounter with the CIB reps took the cake. As an expat wife, I obviously don't have a job in Egypt (expat resident wife visas don't permit you to work - with or without pay)

So the bank reps kindly informed me that to get a credit card with a credit limit of 10,000LE, I would have to pay them a deposit of 11,000LE. That's right - a deposit of 1000LE more than the "credit"they were willing to extend me! And I would still have to pay the bills at the end of the billing cycle.

They did advertise some discounts and some special invitations they would send out to cardholders.

But why would I want to tie up 11,000LE for the length of our stay in Egypt for probably credit card purchases of about 2000LE per month at a max.

Sorry maam, but the offer is of no interest to me at all!