FEATURES SUMMARY

 

 

• Annual fee: Low annual fee
• Purchase rate: Low p.a purchase rate
• Cash Advance rate: Low p.a. cash advance rate
• Balance Transfer rate: Low balance transfer rate
• Interest-free days: Up to 55 days

• Extras:
  • Rewards
  • Design your own card
  • Visa Entertainment
  • Phone/Internet banking

There are two features of the ANZ Balance Visa which make it an affordable and worthwhile card – the rewards program and the low interest rate.

Purchases made on your ANZ Balance Visa will incur a Low interest rate  p.a.*, and when it comes time to make your repayment, you’ll be rewarded with one rewards point for every dollar you repay. This includes both fees and interest paid on your account. It receives the title of #3 in the Editor’s Choice – Balance Transfer category with just a low p.a. for the first 18 months on all balances transferred.

Points can be redeemed for a number of rewards, such as gift vouchers, shopping vouchers and even cash back. All rewards are available in values of $100, $50 and $20, with cash back rewards credited straight back into your account and the total reward amount being deducted from your credit card’s balance.

There is, however, one downside to this rewards system which is that you need to spend quite a significant amount of money in order to be able to redeem your points. For example, the lowest redemption amount is 4,000 points (which gets you a $20 voucher) and the highest being 22,000 points, which gets you a $100 Caltex voucher. This can be counteracted by the fact that points earned on repayments includes purchases, fees, interest, cash advances and repayments on balances transferred*.

When divided weekly this just over $420 a week, but this would have to be a regular expenditure which, if you are not careful, could result in some huge bills. So spending $22,000 just to get a $100 voucher? Not really the greatest rewards deal out there, but is more realistic with the points earn rate that’s on offer.

With a low annual fee you are paying a bit more than most low interest credit cards but if you are looking for an affordable monthly interest rate with rewards then it is relatively cheap.

Especially seeing as these two features work in tandem as the main draw cards of the Balance Visa; rewards points for repayments act as an incentive to pay back the lower interest on your credit card bill, faster.

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This GE Money eco MasterCard is quite vague when it comes to getting all the little details and interest rates.

Instead it prefers to hide behind the main selling point of the card which is a charity-based credit card rewards program that focuses on offsetting carbon emissions and ‘creating a healthier planet’.

While this is a worthwhile and important cause to get behind, they would do well to make the details of the card clearer and easier to find, as we would predict that the people who are concerned enough about their carbon emissions to get this card would be unlikely to be too worried about the cost.

The good news is that we can give you the details without any fuss.

The purchase rate for this card and the cash advance rate. Balance transfers are available at a very low for the first 6 months, after which it increases. You also get up to 55 days interest free (which only apply if you pay your monthly balance in full).

Now for the rewards program…

GE Money has obviously cottoned on to the issues of today’s society and realized that more and more people are becoming concerned about the environment, so would be willing to forfeit material rewards for something that is more beneficial in the long-run.

So, they now offer a rewards program where on Earth Day (April 22nd) each year, GE Money uses 1% of your credit card expenses to purchase carbon offsets on your behalf from the Origin Energy Carbon Reduction Scheme. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and in turn reduces your carbon footprint.

For example, if you spend $200 on the GE Money eco MasterCard, your rewards will offset 500km’s of car travel. Spending $700 on the credit card per month (for a year) you’ll offset the carbon emissions produced from the household energy consumption and card usage of one average Australian.

Alternatively, you can choose to allocate half of the 1% to carbon offset rewards and take the other half as a cash back reward which would be credited back to your monthly statement annually (after Earth Day).

If you are looking for a card that saves you money then this is most definitely not for you. The annual fee of this card is relatively inexpensive for a rewards card; however the interest rates are quite high. But in terms of rewards programs, it is a very valuable card where rewards are accumulated much quicker and are a lot more valuable than most.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

 

 

• Annual fee: Low annual fee
• Purchase rate: Low p.a. purchase rate
• Cash Advance rate: Low p.a. cash advance rate
• Balance Transfer rate: Low p.a. balance transfer rate
• Interest-free days: Up to 55 days
• Extras:
  • Cash back

• Airfare Deals
• Extended Warranty
• Purchase Security
• MasterCard Moments
• MasterCard Applause
• Transit Accident Insurance
• Platinum 24/7 Concierge Service

For a platinum credit card this one from Commonwealth is pretty standard in most areas, but it does have a wide range of features in order to cater well for a wider range of people.

It comes with all the same benefits as the gold card but with longer time periods and greater values (International travel insurance for trips up to 12 months, extended warranty for up to a year longer than the manufacturer’s warranty, purchase security for up to 90 days and transit accident insurance), plus a few other features just to set it apart.

The card’s annual fee, but if you happen to be applying for (or already have) a Commonwealth Bank home loan or bank account then the annual fee of your credit card will be waived. Or, if you are an existing Commonwealth credit card customer then (depending on which credit card you have) your annual fee will be either waived or reduced.

Bank account or home loan – Annual fee is waived
Awards Card – Annual fee is reduced
Gold Card – Annual fee is reduced
Platinum Card – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate Gold – Annual fee is reduced
Low Fee – Waived when you spend $1000 or more per year on your credit card
Low Fee Gold – Waived when you spend $10,000 or more per year on your credit card

This includes a 24/7 platinum concierge service*, a comprehensive annual summary* (which will help at tax time) and a guaranteed pricing scheme*, so if you a find a product you’ve bought for a cheaper price (in print) than what you paid, Commonwealth will pay you the difference.

And now for the Awards program – with every dollar you spend on your Commonwealth platinum card you’ll get one Awards point. You can also get extra points by using the Commonwealth Travel Plus service, or by shopping at selected Bonus Partners.

These points can be redeemed for all sorts of goodies including cash back (which is credited back to your account), entertainment, shopping, merchandise and also travel. You can choose to have your awards points converted to frequent flyer points for your choice of Virgin Blue or Qantas airlines (you must be a member of your airline of choice’s frequent flyer program). Also, if you happen to be flying business or first class on a flight you’ve bought with your platinum credit card with Air Tahiti Nui, Japan Airlines or Air Pacific you’ll be eligible for companion airfare deals.

While this is probably a good deal, we thought there might be some kind of other benefit to really set it apart from the Gold and standard credit cards (not to mention other platinum rewards credit cards). But for an annual fee we still think it’s a really good deal, which is why it takes out the #3 spot in the Platinum credit card category and #2 in the Frequent Flyer credit card category. Adding to this cards prestige (in our eyes) is the fact that we also named it the #3 place getter in the Editor’s Choice – Rewards Credit Cards category.

The interest rate offered is more reasonable on the platinum credit card than on its lower value counterparts with the same rate, at * on purchases and p.a.* on cash advances, along with up to 55 days interest free*. If you have a credit card balance that you need to transfer to a lower interest rate then you can transfer it onto this card  for the first 5 months. After this time any balance remaining from your transfer will be charged * interest.

But to sum up, the Commonwealth Platinum credit card definitely holds its own in the platinum credit card market with its variety of features and it’s standard pricing. It would be ideal for those who fly regularly with Virgin or Qantas and plan on using their rewards credit card regularly for retail payments each month.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

 

 

• Annual fee: Low annual fee
• Purchase rate: Low p.a. purchase rate
• Cash Advance rate: Low p.a. cash advance rate
• Balance Transfer rate: Low p.a. blance transfer rate
• Interest-free days: Up to 55 days
• Extras:
  • Phone/Internet banking

• Cash back
• Travel Plus
• Gold Awards
• MasterCard Moments
• Extended Warranty
• Purchase protection
• International Travel insurance
• Commission-free travelers cheques

The Commonwealth Gold credit card is the next step up from the Commonwealth Awards credit card. As the name suggests, the card is based purely around the awards program. But with the Gold credit card you get so much more.

With the inclusion of insurance and travel benefits you’re pretty much covered for anything. The Gold card gets you international commission-free travelers cheques, travel insurance for you and your immediate family (partner and children) for up to three months worth of travel, purchase security and extended warranties (over and above the standard warranty from the manufacturer) to name just a few.

What is impressive about these insurance benefits is that quite a few features are included in the standard benefits which at some banks are usually reserved for platinum cards. This includes such features as rental vehicle excess and travel delay cover.

In terms of benefits, with the current pricing for this credit card’s annual fee (see below), the Commonwealth Gold credit card is pretty well priced (especially when you compare it to the standard Awards credit card). That card gets you access to just the Commonwealth awards program. Then you get an upgrade to a Gold awards program and international travel benefits.

So when you think about it, you’re getting the majority of the international travel insurance benefits that you may need while travelling for less than $60. If you were to go to an insurance company you’d be lucky to find anything as cheap as this for just the travel insurance!

Like the rest of Commonwealth’s rewards credit cards, interest on purchases is p.a. and cash advances accumulate p.a. interest. Balance transfers  interest for the first 5 months, after which it increases to p.a.

You’ll also get 1 point for every $1 spent with the gold card with the ability to redeem your points for cash back (credited to your account), frequent flyer points with Qantas or Virgin Blue, entertainment, shopping and a wide range of other merchandise from Commonwealth’s bonus partners.

In short, if you can pay off your bill each month then this card is great value for money. Commonwealth has stepped up to the plate and created a very competitive Gold credit card with rewards and benefits that would suit a wide range of people, from regular travelers to holidaying families. So it is clear to see why it takes out the #3 spot in the Editor’s Choice Gold Credit Cards category.

Current Annual Fee Pricing Scheme:

The card’s annual fee, but if you happen to be applying for (or already have) a Commonwealth Bank home loan or bank account then the annual fee of your credit card will be waived. Or, if you are an existing Commonwealth credit card customer then (depending on which credit card you have) your annual fee will be either waived or reduced.

Bank account or home loan – Annual fee is waived
Awards Card – Annual fee is reduced
Gold Card – Annual fee is reduced
Platinum Card – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate Gold – Annual fee is reduced
Low Fee – Waived when you spend $1000 or more per year on your credit card
Low Fee Gold – Waived when you spend $10,000 or more per year on your credit card

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With a name like ‘Commonwealth Awards Credit Card’ you’d be hard pressed to find someone who couldn’t figure out what the main feature of this card is. So let’s get straight into it. What ‘awards’ can you earn yourself by using the Commonwealth Awards credit card?

Well for every dollar you spend with this rewards credit card you’ll get one point that goes towards your total awards amount. Once you’ve accumulated enough points you can redeem them for such items as vouchers, gift cards or merchandise from over 30 bonus partners, cash back or frequent flyer points for either Air New Zealand, Qantas or Virgin Blue (providing you are already a member of your chosen airline’s frequent flyer scheme).

The card’s annual fee, but if you happen to be applying for (or already have) a Commonwealth Bank home loan or bank account then the annual fee of your credit card will be waived. Or, if you are an existing Commonwealth credit card customer then (depending on which credit card you have) your annual fee will be either waived or reduced.

Bank account or home loan – Annual fee is waived
Awards Card – Annual fee is reduced
Gold Card – Annual fee is reduced
Platinum Card – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate Gold – Annual fee is reduced
Low Fee – Waived when you spend $1000 or more per year on your credit card
Low Fee Gold – Waived when you spend $10,000 or more per year on your credit card

As an alternative you can also redeem points for cash back which is credited back to your account. If you make regular purchases with your credit card with rewards and therefore spend enough money each week to earn enough points to cover your annual fee, then it pretty much pays for itself.

You’ll also have access to Travel Plus, Commonwealth’s exclusive travel service. You can use this service to book anything from flights to snow passes, and car rentals to traffic packages. And to top it all off, any money spent on your awards credit card using this service will earn you bonus points!

Interest is charged at % p.a. for purchases and p.a. for cash advances, and despite having up to 55 days interest free it’s still pretty high for a card such as this, so should be taken into account when considering this card. Balance transfers earn interest for the first 5 months, after which the interest rate increases to p.a.

The Commonwealth Awards credit card would be great for someone who uses their credit card to pay for everyday items as the points earned from this should be enough to cover the annual fee for just having the card. Any points on top of that is a bonus! But with interest rates like the ones that apply to this card, if you’re not always able to pay your monthly bill in full then it might be better to look elsewhere.

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The Bendigo Gold credit card is a bit of a trick. It appears to have the characteristics of regular Gold credit cards, but really it’s just the Bendigo Red credit card in disguise!

The annual fee on the Gold credit card is almost double that of the Red credit card. But what do you get for that? Well, the interest rate is a little more reasonable on a Gold credit card at for both cash advances and purchases, along with up to 55 days interest free on purchases, which is a nice change.

Rewards points have a marginally better earn rate at 1.5 points per dollar spent, but the reward redemption rate is of course exactly the same. So to get a $100 reward you need to spend just under $24,500 which is still a truck load of money for that kind of reward value.

Rewards available under the Bendigo Rewards program include gift vouchers, discounts, movie tickets, cash back, magazine subscriptions, travel and accommodation. Speaking of travel, this credit card does actually offer two benefits for Gold credit card holders who are planning on travelling – commission-free traveler’s cheques and travel assistance.

Travel assistance at Bendigo gets you emergency ticket replacement, legal and medical assistance, lost luggage assistance, and emergency transport assistance. This is available for you, your spouse and any dependent children under the age of 22 when they are travelling with you. While it’s good to see on the Gold credit card it’s not up to the standard of other gold credit cards, so is no reason to be singing from the roof tops, that’s for sure.

If after all that you’re still hell-bent on getting a Bendigo credit card then we think the Basic Black is probably your best bet in terms of price. Otherwise we’d recommend looking to another bank, plain and simple.

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Let’s not beat around the bush…Bendigo’s Red credit card is decidedly average. You could even say it was average to poor.

While the annual fee is not especially high, there is only (up to) 44 days interest free, no balance transfer information to speak of, and the interest rate charged on this rewards credit card is extreme, for both purchases and cash advances. At a guess, we’d say that the reasoning behind this is to compensate for the rewards program, which isn’t even that rewarding!

When you’re approved for a Bendigo credit card you’re automatically enrolled into the Bendigo Rewards program. You can earn one point for every dollar spent on purchases, up to 6 points at Bendigo Rewards’ bonus partner retailers, and 3 points for every dollar spent on travel through Bendigo’s own FlightPoints travel agency.

We have to admit, this a good start but it all goes downhill from here. The redemption value for rewards is just ridiculous. To get a $100 reward you have to fork over 36,667 rewards points – that’s $36,667 worth of spending (without bonus points) and is at least three to four times the number of points needed to get a $100 voucher on other credit cards’ rewards programs. So you’ll have to do a lot more spending on this credit card than you would on others to get a decent credit card reward.

While we’re on the topic we should probably let you know what the rewards are, you know…just in case. With your rewards points you can choose from a wide range of rewards including cash back, movie tickets, gift vouchers, magazine subscriptions, travel and accommodation (to name just a few).

What is odd is that this credit card with rewards doesn’t offer any other benefits to help people out when they’re travelling. Even just a little bit of purchase protection or an extended warranty on credit card purchases wouldn’t go astray. The one good thing we can say about this is that interest is calculated from the statement date, not the purchase date, so you will save a bit of money there. Not enough however to cover the cost of the high interest rate and outrageous rewards program criteria.

After some of the other cards that have been put out by Bendigo, it was surprising to see how bad this credit card really is. It seems as if the rewards program on the Bendigo Red credit card was meant to be the be-all and end-all of credit card reward programs (considering the price that is paid for it). You’d think maybe if they took out the rewards program the card would be a little bit more reasonable, but due to the lack of other features or benefits on offer, all you’d be left with is just a very expensive piece of plastic.

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In terms of rewards, the BP-Citibank MasterCard is a good simple credit card that offers cash back on a regular expense for anyone that drives a vehicle.

For the first $600 you spend in each statement period at BP, you’ll receive a 5% cash back rebate. All other purchases (up to $5,000) made using the BP-Citibank MasterCard will get a 0.5% cash back rebate.

As an added bonus, if you happen to rent an Avis rental car before November 4th 2009 and use your BP-Citibank credit card to pay for it, you’ll receive an extra 2% discount. You’ll receive all of these cash back rebates monthly as a direct credit to your account at the beginning of your next statement period.

These are all great benefits when looked at as a whole, but when it comes down to it, the card is let down by its interest rate. Cash advances interest rate and purchase interest rate on this cash back credit card. While this is pretty standard for a cash advance rate, this is really high for purchases. However if you can pay off your monthly balance in full you’ll be able take advantage of up to 55 days interest free and won’t be stung by these high interest rates.

The balance transfer offer on this rebate credit card is excellent value for the first 12 months. Not a lot of cards offer such a long introductory period, especially when there are cash back rewards on offer so it is a worthwhile consideration.

Teamed with the high interest rate, this card’s annual fee leads you to expect maybe a few more benefits that you may get on other cards of this price. Nevertheless, used wisely, it can be quite a beneficial cash back credit card.

While fuel prices are not as expensive as they were in the last year or so they are still not cheap, so the benefits and discounts that this card offers are still great value for anyone that drives a car. Although to make the most of this card it would be wise to use the BP-Citibank MasterCard card purely for your fuel and use another low interest credit card for other purchases.

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The Bankwest More MasterCard is the most basic of the Bankwest credit cards with rewards.

On any purchases you make you’ll be charged interest, unless of course you pay your balance in full each month and can take advantage of up to 55 days interest free. Cash advances earn a little more interest which is unfortunately at the higher end of the cash advance interest rate scale. Balance transfers are available; however there isn’t an introductory rate like on a lot of other balance transfer credit cards. Instead Bankwest just offers the same interest rate as purchases.

The Bankwest More MasterCard has over 2,800 rewards (including cash back) available for redemption with Bankwest’s More Rewards points and to boost your initial points total, Bankwest gives all new More MasterCard holders 5,000 bonus More rewards points when you activate your credit card.

Every dollar spent on your More MasterCard will earn you 1.5 rewards points. While there is no set rate at which rewards are priced (as some rewards with the same values have varying points prices), a $100 voucher on the Bankwest More Rewards program will in most cases cost you 22,150 points.

That’s a spend of just under $15,000. A point to take note of however is that it seems as if the more ‘expensive’ the rewards are the more value you’ll get from your points. For example, you can redeem 12,000 More Rewards points in exchange for a $50 Woolworths voucher. So by standard logic you would then expect a $100 voucher to cost 24,000 points, but this is not the case. It is actually cheaper, at $22,150.

If you are spending a lot of money on your credit card quite regularly then it might be worth holding out for the higher value rewards. If not then opt for the lower points more regularly as the general redemption rate is quite high in comparison to other credit cards’ rewards programs.

For a basic credit card with rewards, Bankwest’s More Rewards credit card has quite an expensive annual fee and interest rates, without any other benefits to justify these prices. And despite there being a huge range of rewards to choose from, the redemption rate is not quite competitive enough to make this card a valuable addition to your wallet.

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Looking for a credit card with a rewards program that caters for the whole family? Well you’ve come to the right place.

When you make purchases using your Rewards Visa you’ll earn one point for every $1.50 you spend (up to $50,000). Points can be redeemed for holiday perks (through a number of airlines), cash back, electronics, adventure activities, movie tickets, vouchers, and even kitchen appliances.

Just remember that unfortunately, any rewards points earned on this card expire after 36 months (3 years) so you need to make sure you redeem your points before this happens!

While the interest rate on purchases is quite high, the annual fee is still relatively low compared to other rewards cards. No doubt these costs are applied to the ANZ Rewards Visa in order to account for the huge range of rewards on offer.

With an introductory offer the balance transfer rate for the ANZ Balance Visa is very affordable. So if you are looking for a good balance transfer rate then this card is one of a number of good options and comes highly recommended.

While it is similar to the ANZ Frequent Flyers credit card there is much more to choose from with the ANZ Rewards Visa, and with so much flexibility you sure to find a reward that tickles your fancy.

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