The Marketing Ethics of Hang Seng Bank’s Credit Card Cash Rebate System

Basic Information

Hang Seng Bank is one of the commercial bank in Hong Kong established in 3rd March 1933; the business and services provided by Hang Seng Bank can be divided into two main categories; they are personal banking services, and business banking services. Credit Card issuing is one of the personal banking services that they provided. Yet the cash rebate system of credit cards (Cash dollars) is often being criticized as unethical in not clearly explain the terms of extra fees charged, and this marketing activity had stirred up a controversy in recent years.

This focus of this essay will be on analyzing the ethicality of the cash rebate system (Cash dollars), and recommendations for improving the cash rebate and promotion system will be discussed.

Meanings of marketing ethics

Before analyzing the case, ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions of an individual or a group of people. Based on the idea of ethics, according to the American Marketing Association (AMA) Codes of Ethics, marketers should embrace, communicate and practice the basic ethical values that will enhance consumers’ trust in integrity of the marketing system. To conclude, marketers have to aware about how they launch their marketing campaigns in order to prevent breaking of the law.

After defining the meaning of marketing ethics, the following analysis on the ethical issues involved in the case will be based on two basic ethical values; they are openness, and respect.

OPENNESS

First of all, Hang Seng Bank had been criticized as not transparent enough in the hidden terms stated in the cash rebate system which applicable in certain situation. Mr. Tsui, one of the credit card users of Hang Seng Bank, had bought a travel insurance via Hang Seng Bank Online System in Aug, 2012, and he had used his cash dollars in exchange for a lower price of insurance service. During the transaction, Mr. Tsui found out that his cash dollars is insufficient to process the...