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

• Extras:
  • MasterCard Paypass
  • MasterCard Applause
  • Your choice of card colour
  • One free additional cardholder

The Woolworths Everyday Money MasterCard credit card is the newest of all the credit cards we have reviewed and quite impressively takes out the title of #3 in the Editor’s Choice category for Low Annual Fee credit cards.

The main feature on this credit card is the rewards program. Points are earned at a rate of 3 points per dollar spent on Woolworths Select products at Woolworths and Safeway supermarkets (this doesn’t include online purchases).

All other products purchased at Woolworths and Safeway and partner outlets (which includes Caltex Woolworths/Safeway, Big W, epump, Dan Murphys, Woolworths/Safeway Liquor, Thomas Dux, participating Tandy and Dick Smith stores, and last but not least, BWS) earn 2 points per dollar spent.

All other purchases made on your Woolworths Everyday Money credit card earn one point per dollar spent.

Rewards come in the form of shopping cards and start at $20 (which requires 3,448 points). Shopping cards are sent to Everyday Money credit card holders 3 times per year (in March, July and November, or just in November if you have chosen to receive your rewards once a year).

These shopping cards increase in values of $5 (which equates to 862 points), so whatever your points balance is at the time, the nearest corresponding card value (below your rewards points total) will be sent out and any remaining points will be carried over to the next card that is issued to you. All this contributes to the Woolworths Everyday Money Credit Card taking out the top spot for the Editor’s Choice – Rewards Credit Cards category and the #2 spot in the Low Annual Fee category.

You can make balance transfers onto this credit card, at an interest rate p.a. for the first 6 months. After this time the interest rate rises p.a. The downside to this feature is that this Woolworths credit card is issued by HSBC so you won’t be able to transfer a balance from an HSBC credit card.

A great feature of this credit card is that you can use the epump facility at participating petrol stations. Instead of lining up at the counter to pay for your fuel, you pay at the pump instead which means you can get in and out of the petrol station much faster!

There isn’t a frequent flyer program on the Everyday Money credit card, but if you do get this credit card then it’s more than likely you will have a Woolworths/Safeway Everyday Rewards card as well, which you can use to earn frequent flyer points when you make purchases of $30 or more.

A handy hint to know is that your Everyday Rewards credit card acts as a more convenient way to store your fuel discounts. So when you link your Everyday Rewards card to your Everyday Money credit card then you use your credit card at the epumps, the vouchers stored on your rewards card will automatically apply to your purchase.

No more hunting for supermarket receipts!

To ensure your security when making purchases this credit card includes a wee microchip that is embedded within the credit card. This enhances your security by increasing your tracking capabilities and as a result, your protection against credit card fraud.

You’ll also get to take advantage of the MasterCard Paypass facility. For those who aren’t in the know, for any purchase of $35 or less you can just ‘tap and go’ at the checkout instead of having to sign or put in a PIN.

With the interest rates that are attached to this credit card, it’s safe to say that this card would only be recommended over another cheaper card if you used Woolworths and its partner businesses very regularly. If this is the case then there can be some great savings to be made and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Bonus $50 shopping card if you apply by April 30th 2010, and make 3 purchases on your new card by 31 May 2010.

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.

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

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 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, 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