In our monthly Ratehacker round-up, Jeremy Cabral from finance comparison site Finder.com.au highlights recent credit card offer changes, plus the best savings accounts and home loans.
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We have seen some really competitive offers come to market in the last few weeks as well as some newcomers which are worth mentioning for some of their perks.
Credit Cards
Bankwest Breeze MasterCard: 0 per cent per annum for 10 months on balance transfers. Consistently offering the lowest interest rate of all Australian MasterCards (currently 11.99 per cent per annum) the Breeze is now offering a balance transfer offer at 0 per cent per annum for 10 months – reverting to 11.99 per cent per annum at the end of 10 months. If you are willing to pay a higher annual fee and meet the application requirements you can also upgrade to Gold or Platinum and get additional perks.
HSBC Platinum Qantas Credit Card: 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on international purchases, 35,000 Bonus Qantas points after first purchase. This card has some considerable perks including 2 complimentary Qantas Club lounge passes, Visa Platinum concierge, 2 QFF points for every $1 spent on overseas purchases and 1 QFF point for every $1 spent on eligible purchases in Australia.
Westpac Earth Black: 40,000 Bonus Qantas points after first purchase. A new card in market designed for high flyers, this card has a high earn rate at 1.5 Qantas points per $1 spent on AMEX (the MasterCard earn rate is only 0.625 Qantas points per $1 spent). It also offers 2 complimentary Qantas Club lounge passes each year. It’s important you take into account the annual fee of $395 and calculate whether or not your spend level will net you enough rewards to exceed the costs of owning this card.
Home Loans
UBank UHomeLoan (Variable Rate): 4.62 per cent comparison rate. Backed by NAB, UBank are offering a very competitive variable rate home loan with a $0 application fee and no ongoing admin fees.
Loans.com.au Blackboard Special – 80 per cent to 90 per cent LVR: 4.66 per cent comparison rate. This is a fully featured home loan with no application fees. Available for purchasing and refinancing with the option of fortnightly repayments. It also offers the option of paying interest only for up to 10 years and a 100 per cent offset redraw facility.
NAB Choice Package – 2 Year Fixed Rate Home Loan: 5.59 per cent comparison rate. A good option to consider from one of the big four. Benefit from no application fee, legal fee, valuation fee or settlement fee. As part of the package you will received a discount of 0.10 per cent per annum interest rate discount and also have annual fees waived on NAB credit cards, discounted Home Insurance and bonus interest on term deposits.
Savings Accounts
RaboDirect High Interest Savings Account: 4.76 per cent per annum for 4 months. Available to new customers only for balances up to $250,000. There is no minimum balance with this high interest savings account and it’s also available for DIY Super, Joint Accounts, Trust Accounts and Online SMSF.
RAMS Saver Account: 4.51 per cent per annum for 4 months. If you deposit at least $200 per month with no withdrawals you can get an an interest rate of 4.51 per cent per annum The standard variable interest rate is 3.21 per cent per annum with the bonus 1.30 per cent when monthly conditions are met.
ING DIRECT Savings Maximiser: 4.50 per cent per annum for 4 months. For 4 months receive a high interest rate on balances up to $250,000, then the standard ongoing variable rate of 2.75 per cent per annum For customers who deposit a minimum of $200 monthly you will receive a bonus interest rate of 0.50 per cent per annum on balances up to $50,000.
Transaction Accounts
Citibank Plus Transaction Account: Free free bank account, no foreign currency conversion fee. No ATM withdrawal fees when using Citibank, Westpac, BankSA and St.George branded ATM machines plus no monthly account fee, dishonour fees, or overseas ATM withdrawal fees. It also offers free international money transfers and a free bottle of wine when you dine and pay with your card at Citibank Dining Program restaurants.
ING DIRECT Orange Everyday Account: 5 per cent cash back on contactless purchases. Benefit from 5 per cent cashback on any purchase up to $100 made with contactless payment. There are also no monthly account keeping fees or ATM withdrawal fees for ATM withdrawals over $200 at any ATM machine.
Bankwest Zero Transaction Account: No ATM withdrawal fees at any major bank ATM. No monthly fees when you deposit at least $2000 per month. There are also no fees at all major bank branded ATMs. If you deposit a minimum of $4000 per month you will qualify for a Platinum Debit MasterCard with benefits including a 24/7 Platinum Concierge Service, purchase protection and extended warranty.
Jeremy Cabral is the Personal Finance Publisher at Finder.com.au which includes popular comparison sites CreditCardFinder.com.au and SavingsAccountFinder.com.au, helping over 4.8 million Australians compare financial products every year. Connect with Jeremy on Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Comments
10 responses to “Ratehacker: September’s Best Credit Card, Bank And Home Loan Deals”
So, largely the same as last time. And the time before that.
Paid advertisement?
hi grantguest, thanks for the comment. What would you like to see in the next ratehacker piece?
There were a couple of changes but in the last couple of months the standout offers have stayed fairly consistent.
I think we want to see something beyond what the paid advertisers on Finder.com.au have to offer. Does the same compliance present on Finder.com.au apply here as well? Particularly item 5 on Finder.com.au Important Information page.http://www.finder.com.au/terms-and-conditions
@ga thanks for the comment. We feature products based on their features relevant to the column – it’s a regular catch up on products in the market, and forms the start of a lot of comparisons.
eg: 28 Degrees featured in our March ratehacker.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/03/ratehacker-marchs-best-credit-card-bank-and-home-loan-deals/ This piece focused on overseas purchases and reducing the fees associated with them.
It’s really important everyone does their own research before making any commitment to a product and the info we provide in the article we hope is helpful and relevant for them.
I really do appreciate the feedback, it helps us stay sharp and we definitely want to be always offering the best value we can for your time reading the article. I’d love to talk further if you’re interested? [email protected]
Thanks for your reply Jeremy. You have to understand that when I did do my own research based on the products you listed on this and previous articles, I was disappointed to find Finder might be making a profit from those product suggestions without any disclosure in the Lifehacker article. I wouldn’t normally be bothered by that, everyone needs to make a dollar, and advertorials are a great way to do that. But because a number of the products featured here on LH by Finder aren’t even the best value products in their category, I’m left to question Finders sincerity and objectivity.
As I’ve suggested before in a previous Ratehacker article, I’d love to see how the Mutuals compare. I’m thinking about ditching one of the big banks for a credit union or mutual bank, but with so much on offer and being as time poor as I am, I rely on services like Finder and other comparison sites for the information.
Check out IMB (imb.com.au). My husband and I originally went with them as my parents had been happy with them for years. I knew they were competitive, but didn’t have the time when applying for our home loan to check if they were actually the best or not. At the beginning of this year my husband and I did sit down and started looking at as many alternative options to make sure we had a good deal. In the end, we stayed with IMB, but changed our loan to a different loan they had on offer now, the Essentials. From my research, IMB’s loan with the offset account (important to us) was the lowest rate and the offset account was still covered by the government’s guarentee.
I don’t know if you’re looking for a loan or just a plain banking account. They are associated with Westpac’s ATM network, I rarely need to go into a branch, but there’s one in Sydney CBD, and a few others sprinkled around the place.
@ga Thanks for the reply also. I’d love to chat through the products you didn’t think were best value in their category because I really do put in an effort to make sure I include a good cross section for people to consider. Your tip to include the mutuals etc. was a valid one, we’re working that up and figuring out the best way to restructure the column – so thanks again for that feedback!
I’m glad we can save you time – it’s definitely our objective and one of the core benefits of our service. If I can ever be of help to you just drop me a line 🙂
@ga open coffee invite if by chance you work in the Sydney CBD too – I know some wicked coffee spots! 🙂
Thanks Jeremy, I work in Melbourne. Next time I’m up north I’ll hit you up.
With regards to RaboDirect, I believe the rate you have presented should now be considered ‘stale’ as it does not reflect yet the RBA’s drop in official rates.
“*Information and rates correct as at 24/05/2013. ”
People should be made aware of this as a drop in the rate is almost certainly imminent. No way RaboDirect won’t pass it on.
Probably a bit late to the party, but just saw this article and thought it was funny to feature the NAB 2 year fixed rate home loan with a comparison rate of 5.59%. There are lenders out there such as ING who’s actual interest rate is 0.2% cheaper than NAB’s during the fixed rate period, and due to their lack of annual fees actually results in a comparison rate of 5.13% on their 2 year fixed rate product. There’s plenty of other smaller lenders with more competitive offerings out there than the big 4. If you need a hand finding some of the more competitive offerings for the next article, feel free to drop me an email and I’d be happy to assist without any kickbacks or hidden commissions etc (I am a mortgage broker).