Do you deal with your credit card debt all by yourself or through a credit counseling agency? As for me, I use AKPK (Agensi Kauseling dan Pengurusan Kredit) to manage my credit card debt. In fact, I have been in the debt management program since October 2008.

Read: AKPK Debt Management Program – Part 1.

Read: AKPK Debt Management Program Part 2.

Read: Back Then in 2008 and Now 2010 for AKPK Debt Management Program Application.

There can be various reasons why people choose to go for a credit counseling and debt management agency.

Some feel that they are not comfortable in dealing with credit card debt by themselves, so they let a credit counselor handle it for them. Some go for a credit counselling and debt management agency because they lack of time to do the research and evaluate options for credit card debt settlement. Others just want professional advice and hence they contact credit card debt management agency.

Whatever be the reason for using a credit counseling agency, a good credit card debt management agency would surely be of help.

However, it’s important that you select a good credit counseling and debt settlement agency.

Never Fall for Ads of Credit Card Debt Management Agencies That Promise to Wipe Off Your Debt Overnight!

No Credit Card Debt Settlement Agency or Anyone Else Can Do That!

You should select a credit counseling and debt settlement agency which has verifiable credentials or a company that you know has a good reputation. If some friends have been through this process previously, they might be able to recommend a reliable credit counseling and debt management  agency to you.

Once you find a reputable credit card debt management agency, be honest with your credit counselor about your debt or/and debt-related information no matter how bad your debt is.

It is important to note that no credit counseling and debt management agency will be able to help you if you are not ready to help yourself. So, follow the advice given by your credit card debt counselor and practice good spending habits.

Things have been so much different when it comes to collecting debts by banks and applying for Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit‘s debt management plan.

Banks. Back THEN in 2008, there were no third party collection agencies collecting credit card and loan payments on behalf of the banks. Or were there but I didn’t know??

But NOW, there are so many real cases where third party agencies appointed by some local banks call and send text messages day and night to collect overdue payments. They yell, scold, threaten or humiliate the debtors when they are unable to collect the outstanding payments they want. ^ ^!!!

The third party collection agencies and maybe the banks do not seem to be interested in collecting 1/3, 1/2 or 3/4 of the owed minimum payments anymore. Instead, they want full minimum payments owed by the debtors.

AKPK. Back THEN in 2008, it seemed to be less complicated when it came to applying for its debt management program. Thank God there were not so many applicants at that time.

First, I gave AKPK Ipoh branch a call at 05.242.8319 for an appointment to meet a credit counselor. Next, met the counselor at Unit B-2-1 Greentown Square, Jalan Dato’ Seri Admad Said, 30450 Ipoh, Perak.

The counselor went through last 3 months’ payslips and the latest statements for EPF, EA, credit cards, personal loans, house and auto loans before he calculated/worked out to see if there was a positive source of income.

Then, he explained the pros and cons of joining a debt management program. Once the counseling session was over, I went home to fill in the application form and attach a photocopy of all documents needed (watch my video of Documents to Bring When Meeting the AKPK Counselor or AKPK’s video. Oh, AKPK got the credit report called CCRIS (Central Credit Reference Information System) on behalf of me at that time!

Lastly, submitted the application form and waited for more than a month for approval. Once I was notified that my application was successful, I went to deposit the first payment at Maybank. After that, faxed the bank in slip to AKPK’s office and waited for the approval letter. (For the complete story of my application, please read my post of A Credit-Card-Debt Woman is Under AKPK Debt Management Program Malaysia

Let’s talk about NOW if you want to join AKPK’s debt management plan. First, call its toll free number 1800.88.2575 to attend its briefing for 30-minutes. After the briefing, make an appointment within 7-10 days to meet a counselor.

Before seeing the counselor, you have to go to BNM (Bank Negara Malaysia) personally to print out a copy of your CCRIS. With all the documents/statements needed by AKPK, go meet your counselor.

Submit your form, together with the first payment bank in slip and wait for 2 weeks for approval.

The free debt management program is offered by AKPK, Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit, in Malaysia.

As a credit-card-debt woman who has been in AKPK’s debt management program for a year now, let me assure you that it’s a free DMP that involves NO credit counseling fee, NO enrollment fee and NO monthly service.

It’s normal that when you are looking for help with a financial crisis, you may wonder if AKPK is really a free of charge agency that can help you. The answer is YES.

You may have heard of for-profit and non-profit credit counseling and debt management agencies, but they don’t exist in Malaysia. There is only ONE credit counseling and debt management agency that provides free credit counselling and debt management programme services in Malaysia so far.

Like you, I am worried about hidden charges too. Malaysian banks, agencies and companies are simply too notorious for charging surprise fees and hidden charges to consumers. Fortunately, I haven’t been charged any fees by AKPK so far.

With the faltering economy and free credit counseling and debt management services offered by AKPK, the number of people seeking help from the agency has increased tremendously.

If you think that you are in need of help for your financial trouble, you had better waste no more time. Waiting may only end up costing you more. A few days’ time can mean the difference between settling a debt or watching it go into a default status and having third party collection involved.

Hurry! Go to a nearby AKPK branch, attend its briefing and fix an appointment to see a credit counselor there and understand what a debt management program is.

A debt management program is a good way to take care of an escalating credit card debt and other money problem without having to declare bankruptcy or deal with collection agencies.

Wow, it’s been a year since I started making monthly debt repayment to AKPK! You know, I have also been able to save extra money in my personal savings account as emergency fund due to the debt management plan.

A debt management program is one of the many debt relief options that a credit counselor might suggest when you’re having issues with credit card debt.

It is also a good option if you don’t want to apply for a debt consolidation loan or declare bankruptcy.

Okay, let’s see some of the benefits of enrolling in a debt management program.

1. Reduced Interest Rates. Once enrolled in a DMP, your credit counselor will negotiate with your creditors to reduce your interest rates.

Interest rates will vary depending on your situation and your creditors, most rates are between 2% to 9% and under certain circumstances, some creditors may completely eliminate their interest rate to 0% interest.

2. One Single Payment. Instead of making multiple credit card payments on various due dates, a debt management plan enables you to make ONE payment to One agency on ONE due date.

I will never forget those old days when I had to run 6 banks to bank in 15 credit card payments!

Now I only need to make one payment to the credit counseling and debt management agency’s collection account by the end of every month. The single monthly payment will then be distributed by the agency to the creditors.

3. Waived Late Payment Fees. If you have late payment fees for delayed credit card payments, the credit counseling agency will help you negotiate with your creditors to waive them.

4. Creation of a Budget. The program you choose usually will help you to organize your personal finances with the creation of a budget. In this way your credit counselor can make sure that you are able to make your monthly debt repayment on time.

5. Peace of Mind. With the help of a debt management plan, you are able to start organizing your money and seeing how the amount of debt reduces and your personal savings increases.

Of course, there are disadvantages of enrolling in a debt management plan too. Before you decide if a debt management program is right for you, check the other debt relief alternatives and balance the advantages and disadvantages.

Hi Vedis, I’ve been a loyal follower to your blog on journey to regain your financial freedom again. I’m drowned with unmanageable debt myself and planning to pursue AKPK soon. Wish me luck!

Oh, if you subscribe to Astro, you should check out channel 733 – Discovery Home & Health’s Til Debt Do Us Part. This show actually features her helping couples with financial problems so that they’re moving towards financial freedom within a certain period of time.

Currently I think they’re showing it on weekdays at 11:30pm and I make it a point not to miss the show whenever I could. I think you gonna love this show!

Alternatively, you may check out her website at www.gailvazoxlade.com to learn about the show & use some of her interesting financial tools to help you manage your personal finances.

Hi, Sally, it’s nice that you cared to look up my name before leaving your comment. This definitely spurred me to go on reading your comment.

You’ve got to hurry if you want to enroll in AKPK’s debt management plan. I read that the number of people with credit card debt trying to sign up with the program is on the increase; an AKPK DMP applicant said his appointment with the credit counselor was a few weeks after the credit counseling briefing!

I remember when I made an appointment with my credit counselor Mr. C in Ipoh branch back in August 2008, it’s very fast. I mean I met the counselor the next day! When my hubby was ready to enroll in the debt management programme in December 2008, he had to meet the lady counselor the following week!

Of course in the end, he didn’t have to wait until the following week to see the credit counselor; he met her the following day after I called and talked to the counselor.

What did I say to the counselor that she agreed to let hubby see her the next day? Well, I told her that I was also in the AKPK debt management program and I had already gotten the original and photocopy of all required documents ready. I told her that I had even worked out the debt repayment amount for hubby’s plan.

I convinced her that she didn’t have to give hubby any credit counseling session as I had already told him everything that he needed to know.

The lady counselor just needed to fork out 15 minutes to go through all the documents to see if hubby was eligible for the debt repayment plan.

Sally, thanks for telling me Astro’s Discovery Home & Health’s Til Debt Do Us Part programme. Unfortunately, I am not an Astro viewer.

But I will google to see if there are online videos or clips for this Til Debt Do Us Part program. Oh, I tell you, I love watching reality TV shows!

I will definitely spend some time reading this Canada credit counselor and personal money management expert, Gail Vaz Oxlade’s articles at her website.

Wish you good luck! May AKPK debt management program help you get out of unmanageable debt soon.

Updated on 02/10/2009: You can watch the videos of Til Debt Do Us Part online at www.Slice.ca provided you are living in Canada.

I understand. Been there and done that.

To thoroughly convince yourself to enroll in the debt management plan, read as many success stories of AKPK as possible. There are more success stories of AKPK or AKPK bloggers now if compared to last August when I submitted my application form.

Before you read others’ experience using debt management program, read the FIRST AKPK success story; it’s my bumpy journey from submitting the application form to being approved of the debt repayment plan.

And here is another success story that I would like to share with you. CEO, a man who is under RM200,000 credit card debt, has successfully applied for the AKPK debt management program recently.

He left a long comment at my credit card debt blog on August 1st, thanking me for sharing my credit card debt reduction and AKPK application process with others.

You don’t have to hop over to my credit card debt blog to read his comment. I have decided to copy and paste the entire comment on this debt management program blog for easy reading.

First of all, A BIG THANK TO YOU FOR THIS BLOG. You are not only a woman of courage to reveal all that detail, but you have helped me tremendously.

I just got out from the AKPK office, and they proposed to reduce my monthly commitment from nearly RM10,000 to just RM2,000 per month.

I got into a heavy credit card debt 5 years ago when a friend asked me to join him in a business. Trusting him, I quit my job, funded the business with my credit cards, supported HIM with a supplementary credit card which he took only 1 month to swipe up RM20k, and lastly he just ran away, leaving me to pay everything.

Finally, the economy hit my career, and this month I had to accept a drastic paycut. It scared me at first, but I decided that maybe there was a silver lining.

I found your blog. I read and re-read it until 3 am.

I thought — maybe, if I go to AKPK, and they reduce my monthly repayment, I can actually start seeing some SURPLUS from my smaller income. Better to have a small income but with extra money, than having a big income but nothing to show for it. Of course, with my previous 5-figure salary, AKPK would just kick me out, but now I had the advantage of the situation.

Last Monday, I braved myself to go to AKPK. It was the hardest thing to do, to be SEEN walking into debt counseling. I have appeared in the media before, television, magazines and newspapers. Didn’t know where to hide my face. I arrived at 11.45, and was put immediately into the intro class.

I was surprised to see quite a few “corporate people” in the class, dressed in their office attire. I don’t know if they were as ‘embarrassed’ as I was to be there. I sat down for 1 1/2 hours, after which I immediately went to Bank Negara to collect my credit report.

I made the earliest possible appointment to see a credit counselor. In the meantime, I went to each bank and collected any missing statements.

I went to see the counselor this morning. She was polite, comforting and never did anything to make you feel small. She said she would try to negotiate it down to RM1,800 a month for the first 2 years then RM2,200+ thereafter. I said never mind, let’s make it RM2,000 flat. I’m sure by the time the economy rebounds, I will be able to afford the RM2,000 easily.

She even guided me to fill up the application form properly (to fill the correct figures so the application can be approved easier). In short, she was there to help, and I mean REALLY help.

I got close to RM300k at first, but over the years, paying slowly, I have managed to bring everything down to under RM200k (which makes your RM60k something to smile about, actually!).

I have been earning 5-figures every month from my salary, yet I never get to taste my own money. My children have to settle for cheap clothings like poor kids.

Every month, I pay pay pay pay… I try to keep myself motivated, but it is tiring to wake up every morning, thinking to yourself, “I am running every day, only to stand still.”

She asked for the first payment of RM2,000 to be deposited, which I will do next week as the banks are closed today. From there, processing will take approximately one month.

She says no need to pay the creditors, if they call I just need to tell them I have submitted an AKPK application and fax the deposit slip if necessary.

Fortunately I am not yet under any legal problems, and most of my loans are still current. If you are thinking about doing it, do it now. It is important to take action at THIS stage before the banks start harassing you.

I do not really care that I will not be able to get any new loans until the 10 years are up. I am selling my house and just live with the car. Maybe not now, but when the economy goes back up, and my salary climbs back to normal, I should be able to save up for a couple of years, and pay for a new budget-priced apartment in cash. The important thing is I will now have a positive income and room to breathe, and I HAVE YOU TO THANK.

God bless you. Please keep up the good work.

First off, the debt management program I enrolled in my country is FREE; there is neither enrollment fee nor monthly service charge.

As far as I am concerned, there is only ONE credit counseling and debt management agency in my country. It’s different from the US where there are lots of non-profit and for-profit credit counseling agencies.

Since it’s free debt management plan that involves zero service fee, why not?

Next, contacting banks and negotiating a partial settlement or a reduction in the bills is more difficult than you think.

I DID try to call up and write in asking for lower interest rates. Out of six banks, only one bank agreed to reduce the interest rate to 9%. A few banks were between 12% and 15% while the rest declined to lower the 18% per annum interest charge.

When I found out that my credit counselor was able to negotiate with banks to reduce my interest rate from 18% to 6% and 7% for some banks, and most important of all, to waive late payment fess and over limit charges, it didn’t take me long to make up my mind.

I signed up the free debt management program after the certified credit counselor explained in details what a debt management plan was and reminded me a few times that all my card accounts would be included in the program and closed.

Take note: All Your Credit Card Accounts Will Be Closed Once You Are In A Debt Management Plan (DMP). Shutting down all your accounts means that it’s likely to damage your credit score.

Since my maxing out most of my credit cards had already harmed my credit utilization ratio, a key component of credit scores, it’s okay to shut down all card accounts.

If you are in the US, make sure you sign up with a credit counseling agency affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies.

An accredited credit counseling and debt management agency typically charges $30 one-time setup fee, and $15 per month while you’re on the debt management plan.

If you don’t want to deal with your creditors directly and you need help with all of your credit cards, opt to go through a debt management program.

As a credit card debt woman who is now in a free debt management program, let me share with you what a debt management program is.

A debt management program, also known as debt management plan, is a program designed to combine all your existing multiple unsecured debt payments from credit cards, students loans, personal loans, and medical bills into one payment.

So instead of paying multiple payments to various creditors on different due dates, you make a single payment to the credit counseling company you sign up the debt management plan with. The credit counseling and debt management company is then in charge of distributing the debt repayment to all your creditors.

The consolidation of multiple monthly payments into one monthly payment usually results in lowering the total monthly payment previously paid and thus allowing you to continue to pay your debt with lower payments and reduced interest rates and most important of all, restore your credit score.

However before you enroll in a DMP, it’s important that you attend a credit counseling briefing first. To effectively use your time with a credit counselor, make sure you have certain pieces of information in hand before your first meeting.

If it is determined that a recommended budget is enough to help you get out of debt, your credit counselor will NOT enroll you in a debt management plan.

Beware of credit counselor that automatically signs you up with a debt management program! This means your debt management counselor does not have your interest at heart; he tries to make money from you through collecting fees.

A certified credit counselor will help put your debts and finances in order by helping you develop workable budgets and money management skills and pay off debts.

Often times, the term “credit counseling” is used in the same sentence as debt settlement, but actually, it’s a completely different process.

With credit counseling, you will actually work with a credit counselor to pay off your debt in smaller, monthly payments that you can afford.

So, do you really need credit counseling to get you out of debt? You need it if you have been receiving harassing phone calls from bill collectors or if you are unable to make another month’s high interest credit card payments.

Before you attend any credit counseling briefing, it’s important that you choose a good credit counseling agency so that you are not scammed.

Look for a reliable credit counseling agency that is a member of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA) or the National Foundation of Credit Counseling (NFCC).

Once you have identified the right credit counseling agency, you’ll have to meet with a certified credit counselor, and provide him with all of the details of your debt.

After a thorough review of your debt, credit history, and a detailed analysis of each of your creditor accounts, your credit counselor will let you know if there is a need for you to enroll in a debt management program.

Once it is determined that signing up with a debt management plan is right for you, your debt management program counselor will negotiate with all of your creditors to reduce interest rates, eliminate late payment fees and lower payments before creating an affordable debt repayment plan that you can live with.

It’s true that working with a credit counseling service can do some damage to your credit report. But if you are at the stage where your last resort is filing for bankruptcy, you would definitely consider a debt management plan in order to avoid bankruptcy or a report full of charge-offs.

Getting help from credit counseling service doesn’t mean that you must participate in a debt management program. You do not need a debt management plan if a credit counselor determines that you just need a little advice on budgeting and money management.

But if your unsecured debts including student loans, payday loans and credit card debts are out of control, then you need a qualified debt management program counselor to take time to go through your debt and income levels, discuss debt relief options for getting out of debt, and explain the pros and cons of a debt management program to you.

Beware of credit counseling agency that enrolls you in a debt management program automatically without providing assistance with budgeting and money management!

Once it is determined that a debt management plan is the right debt relief plan for your financial situation, the credit counselor will start negotiating and creating a payment schedule with each of your unsecured creditors in an attempt to lower the total amount of money owed, reduce your interest rates, and have all late fees and over-limit charges removed.

Make sure the monthly payment that the debt management counselor works out for you is an amount that you can afford; a debt management repayment which is higher than what you can afford each month is not going to help you make any progress.