HKMA debuts Consumer Education Drama Series

To promote smart and responsible use of banking services, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has jointly produced a new TV drama series entitled “All about Banking” with the Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

Using a humorous approach, this eight-episode five-minute drama series rides on the story of a young restaurant owner and his lover to bring out the smart tips on using banking services, including:

• compare the overseas transaction charges of different credit cards before deciding on which card(s) to use when travelling abroad and understand the charges involved when considering whether to settle foreign currency transactions in Hong Kong Dollars (i.e. using the “Dynamic Currency Conversion” (DCC) arrangement);
• handle credit limit of credit cards prudently, understand the terms of personal loans and strive to keep a good credit record;
• bear in mind the security tips in using internet banking services via smartphones; and
• stay vigilant against suspicious phone calls purportedly from banks. 

The drama series will be broadcast on TVB Jade at 3:20 pm, ATV Home at 11:00 am, and RTHK TV 31 at 6:55 pm on eight consecutive Sundays starting from 20 December (this Sunday).   It can also be viewed in the “Archive” section of the RTHK website and the “RTHK Screen” smartphone application.  Different publicity will be rolled out to reinforce the education messages conveyed in the drama.

“All about Banking” is one of the key programmes in the latest phase of the HKMA’s consumer education initiatives.  Apart from a new round of radio broadcasting to disseminate timely reminders on using credit cards and ATM cards during the festive seasons, the HKMA also launched new TV and radio Announcements in the Public Interest (API) recently.  The APIs remind the public that as banks no longer accept intermediary referrals for personal loans or credit card applications, any calls that claim to be offering such referrals are potentially fraudulent.  The public is also reminded not to give their personal information easily before verifying the caller’s identity. 

Through a selfie short movie, Wing, the restaurant owner, apologized to his lover, Yin, for not checking the fees involved before deciding to pay their hotel bill in Hong Kong Dollars by credit card in an overseas trip.

Yin asked her friend, Lon, for help as she found a number of unauthorised transactions in her bank account after conducting a fund transfer through her “jail-broken” smartphone under a suspicious WI-FI network.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
19 December 2015