The St George No Annual Fee credit card is yet another card that totally misses the point in terms of what people want and need in a credit card.

Ok, we don’t live in a perfect world so we’re never going to get a cheap as chips annual fee AND a really good interest rate. But we thought more banks would be willing to take a risk in this area. This card has no annual fee, so in turn offers an interest rate of 19.49% p.a. for cash advances and purchases with no interest free days.

This could seem like a good deal compared to credit cards that have a mid range annual fee of say, $60 or more, but in most cases you’ll end up paying more because of the higher interest rate than you would if you just got a credit card with an annual fee.

In all fairness, it is a bonus that the cash advance rate is lower than most at 19.49% p.a.*, but with no other features like purchase security or travel insurance to boost the value of the card then it seems a bit unjust paying this rate for both cash advances and purchase.

There is also no option for balance transfers onto this card, so if you are looking to merge any existing credit card debt then this is not the credit card for you. As with all St George credit cards, the No Annual Fee card includes free membership to the St George Instant Benefits program. This gives you access to instant discounts when shopping, amongst other special offers.

When it comes down to it there’s not much else we can say about this card except that we would not recommend it. Blunt, but fair.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

GE Money’s GO MasterCard is a little different to most other credit cards out there as it’s aimed primarily at financing purchases for around the home. This includes such purchases as furniture, electronics, and white goods at GE Money’s retail partners, Domayne, Harvey Norman and Joyce Mayne.

You can apply for this card online on the GE Money website or at any of GE Money’s participating retailers (listed above). Interest is charged at 19.99% p.a. on purchases and a through-the-roof rate of 29.49% p.a. for cash advances, which can be avoided with up to 62 days interest free on purchases (as long as you pay your monthly balance in full).

For purchases made with the GE Money GO MasterCard at the participating retailers (as listed above), there are two special deferred payment options. The first of these is the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ option. Let’s say you buy a plasma TV from Harvey Norman with 24 months interest free. You’ll get take it home that day and won’t have to make any payments until your interest free period of 24 months is over.

If you can save money during that time to pay off your TV in full before it 24 months is up then this is a smart option for you as you won’t end up paying any interest whatsoever, and you will have had your television the entire time that you were ‘saving’ for it. If this isn’t the case then it probably best to avoid it otherwise you’ll get stung by a very high interest rate of 29.49% p.a. as soon as the interest free period is over.

The other payment option available is the ‘Interest Free’ option. This alternative differs from the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later option as you have to make a minimum payment each month throughout your interest free period. This will be whichever is highest of $25 or 3% of your monthly bill. As this is the ‘minimum’ amount required you will need to make larger payments in order to avoid paying interest charges at the end of your interest free period.

Despite there being no annual fee, there are a few other fees that should be taken into account. First is the one off set up fee of $25 and the other is the $3.95 monthly service fee. The monthly fee is only charged if your monthly bill includes cash advances and is more than $10 (so does not apply to purchases alone).

There are also GO Rewards available, with 1.25 reward points earned for every dollar spent with your GO MasterCard at Domayne, Harvey Norman, or Joyce Mayne, and 1 point for every dollar spend at any other retailer. While this is an ok earn rate the redemption rate is pretty lame, with something as simple as a hammock (while it is pretty cool) requires 6,870 points in order to get it! That’s a spend of nearly $5,500! For a hammock!

This card is great if you need finance for your household items as it has a huge interest free period and no annual fee, however you will need to be very disciplined with your payments and other expenses. If you can manage it, get another cheaper credit card for other purchases and cash advances so then you can get 100% interest free on major household items while still getting a cheap rate on another card for other purchases.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

The GE Money Clear Advantage MasterCard is a very basic credit card supplied by GE Money through Wizard Home Loans.

It has no annual fee which is great, however the interest rate compensates for this a bit at 18.49% p.a. for both purchases and cash advances. While this is pretty high for purchases its one of the lowest we’ve seen for cash advances. It also comes with up to 55 days interest free and a 4.9% p.a. balance transfer rate for the first 6 months.

As banks have their own ATM’S to make withdrawals from it might seem like a bit of a disadvantage getting the GE Money Clear Advantage credit card because of the withdrawal fees you’d get using other banks’ ATM’s. But there’s no need to worry.

GE Money and Wizard have teamed up with Westpac to allow people with this credit card unlimited access to Westpac ATM’s free of charge. So if you go with this card you can use Westpac ATM’s for all your withdrawals without the hassle of ATM fees.

GE Money has had a fair crack at providing a good low annual fee credit card so hats off to them. But when it comes down to it, there are better options out there. Sure there’s no annual fee, but other cards that offer better interest rates will cost you less in the long run despite (in some cases) having to pay a small annual fee.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category