As expected, the Clear Options Gold credit card continues Suncorp’s trend of expensive and vaguely described credit cards. With the majority of the features that Suncorp offer there are footnotes that apply. The problem is that the footnotes don’t clarify a whole lot for potential Suncorp customers.

The complimentary rewards program is subject to terms and conditions that aren’t readily accessible, excess for purchase protection claims is unknown, and the details of the other insurance covers aren’t explained so you can’t even compare it to other cards to see if you’re getting a good deal or not.

Now for the stats.

Strangely, the Gold card has a slightly lower interest rate than the Clear Options Plus credit card, at p.a. on purchases and  p.a. on cash advances. This might seem like an advantage at first, however, the annual fee means you’d end up using what savings you did make to pay your annual fee anyway.

The balance transfer rate is the same as the rest of Suncorp’s credit cards at p.a. for 15 months. After the first 15 months it reverts to the cash advance rate p.a. so while this is good, if you have a lot of credit card debt that is going to take you longer than year to pay off then there are definitely other options that are going to be more worth-while for you.

Because it is a premium card you get extra benefits that are unavailable on other lower level cards such as international travel insurance, transit accident insurance, purchase protection, as well as the option of cash back or converting your reward points to Qantas frequent flyer points. This is at a cost (Qantas Frequent Flyers joining fee) which must be paid each year.

With high interest rates, a high annual fee and so much uncertainty about the terms and conditions of the credit card, the decision as to whether or not this card has its merits is hard to say. But when it comes to dealing with money, we would say that the initial confusion is enough to make us look elsewhere for a credit card.

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