King of Fruits - Part 1

The following article is from the Star published on 23rd June 2007.

Times are changing so the way of doing business must change too!

Don’t leave home without it???

Pay for durians with credit card

By NG SU-ANN

PENANG: A banner saying “We accept Master and Visa” hangs outside the stall at Jalan Van Praagh here. Only, it’s not your usual touristy shop. It’s a makeshift durian stall.

And yes, you can buy the King of Fruits with credit cards.

At least three stalls in Penang have opted to extend “credit” purchases to their customers after a bank approached them.

The other two stalls are located in Relau and Mt Erskine.

Seng Durian Enterprise owner Ngang Boon Seng said: “Just like supermarkets and boutiques which accept credit cards, we want to offer such flexibility to our customers, too.”

“And business has been good as customers tend to buy more using credit cards,” he said, adding that a customer recently bought RM800 worth of durians.

“Nowadays, many shoppers don’t like to carry too much cash for fear of being robbed,” he added.

Ngang noted that most of his customers use credit cards to pay for their purchases towards the end of the month when most people were short of cash.

The 37-year-old said credit cards were accepted for purchases above RM40.

Ngang said he gets about 100 customers daily, some from as far as Indonesia, Europe, Korea, China and Singapore.

“We sell a variety including Ang Heh (Red Prawn), Tangkai Panjang (Long Stem), Ganja, D2, D11 and 604.

“Durians are more costly this year as the harvest has dropped by about 30%,” he said.

Retired driving instructor Loh Hoon Wan, 66, was among the many who used his credit card to buy durians yesterday.

“I’m buying RM100 worth of durians as presents to my relatives and friends,” he said, adding that he preferred to use his credit card as he could “buy now and worry later.”