What is the cheapest credit card in Australia?
Do you know how to find the best value, lowest rate, no fee credit card that suits you and your lifestyle and spending habits?
Credit cards are great for convenient shopping, managing cash flow, accessing credit when needed and earning rewards points. However, credit cards can also be expensive and can push people into financial hardship and debt stress if not used wisely.
Choosing the right credit card for your lifestyle and spending habits makes all the difference.
To find the cheapest credit card in Australia for you, you need to consider:
• The interest rate: If you don’t repay all your spending every month, you need to be looking for a card with a low interest rate. If you do repay all of your spending each month, within the interest free period, the interest rate is not so important for you.
•
The Interest-free period: many credit cards now offer 44-day interest-free
periods but this ranges from zero to 60 days.
•
Annual fee – The Annual Fee on your credit card can be a significant cost. If
you are after a cheap credit card you will be considering cards that don’t
charge an annual fee or a very small fee. Annual fees on credit cards range
from zero dollars to $700 and above for platinum level credit cards
Rewards program: Many credit cards are linked with a rewards program, but if you are interested in keeping your credit card costs low, you may have choose a card with frequent flyer or a rewards points scheme.
Introductory offers and balance transfer interest free period: There are plenty of credit card offers in the market right now offering introductory periods of low or no interest. There are also more than 70 balance transfer offer credit cards now offering no or low interest for transferring your existing credit card balance to a new card.
•
Special offers: Keep an eye out for discounts, special offers and
promotions, but be aware, many of the cheapest credit cards are not the most
promoted cards.
•
Additional card holders: If you want an additional card for your partner
or children, check out whether that extra card will attract a fee.
Which credit card is the cheapest credit card in Australia?
Infochoice lists 128 low-rate credit cards now available in the Australian market. Thirty- one of these low-rate cards also offer no annual fee. If you repay all your purchases within the interest-free period, these credit cards will cost you nothing, or close to nothing.
And to make your task of comparing the cost of credit cards easier, Infochoice has done all the maths and gives you an estimate of the minimum cost of each card over the first 12 months of use.
Bank Australia’s Visa credit card has a low rate of 12.39 per cent, up to 55 days interest-free and no annual fee.
The McGrath Pink Visa credit card from Community First Credit Union has an extremely low purchase rate of 8.99 per cent with a low annual fee of $40.
The frank Mastercard from ME is currently charging a low ongoing purchase interest rate of 11.99 per cent after 55 days interest free and no annual fee.
CUA’s Low Rate Mastercard credit card has a current headline rate of 11.99 per cent, up to 55 days interest free and an annual fee of $49.
The Myer Visa credit card has a relatively high purchase interest rate of 23.49 per cent, but a longer than average interest free period of up to 62 days and an annual fee of just $39. The Myer card also gives you access to Myer Shopping Credits rewards points.