Ratehacker: November’s Best Credit Card, Bank And Home Loan Deals

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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Christmas has come early with some deals that we haven’t seen in a long time being released to the market this month. Each category has been broken up by feature this month making it easier to highlight offers across a broad section of the market.

Credit Cards

Feature: 0 per cent Balance Transfer

St.George Vertigo MasterCard: 0 per cent per annum for 12 months on balance transfers. This card is still the standout balance transfer if you’re looking to transfer your existing debt. At the end of the balance transfer period it reverts to a low 13.24 per cent per annum. (If you’re in Victoria you may prefer Bank of Melbourne for the same offer or BankSA for those in South Australia.)

Feature: 0 per cent Introductory Purchase Rate & 0 per cent Balance Transfer

Citibank Clear Platinum: 0 per cent on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months. This card allows you to do a balance transfer of your existing card(s) and spend on the card with a 0 per cent interest rate for 6 months (note: you will still have to pay the minimum monthly repayment of 2 per cent). Be careful — the revert rate for the balance transfer is 21.74 per cent per annum so keep on top of your balance and have it paid in full before the introductory periods end.

Feature: $0 Annual Fee & Bonus Points

American Express Velocity Escape Card: $0 annual fee and 7500 bonus Velocity Points. This card offers the benefit of bonus points without you having to foot the cost of an annual fee. To get the points you will need to spend $300 on your card within the first three months and be a new AMEX cardmember. (If you prefer Qantas Points, check out the AMEX Qantas Discovery Card)

Home Loans

Feature: Variable Rate

Loans.com.au Blackboard Special (: 4.51 per cent comparison rate. A full featured loan with a flexible 100 per cent redraw offset facility, weekly/fortnightly or monthly repayments and the ability to pay interest only for up to 10 years. You can borrow up to 80 per cent of the property value to get this rate.

Feature: Fixed Rate Home Loan

UBank UHomeLoan 3 Year Fixed Rate: 4.79 per cent comparison rate. Backed by NAB with an LVR of 80 per cent. No monthly fees, borrow between $100,000 to $1 million (subject to approval).

Feature: Discounted Rate

EasyStreet Honeymoon Home Loan Special: 5.23 per cent comparison rate. No monthly fees, borrow up to 95 per cent of the loan value. Includes a 100 per cent redraw offset facility and a special 12 month fixed rate of 4.84 per cent per annum.

Feature: Frequent Flyer Points Earning

Macquarie Bank Basic Flyer Home Loan: 4.99 per cent comparison rate. It’s now possible to earn Qantas points on your home loan. You will earn 10,000 Qantas Points for every $100,000 borrowed as well as 1,000 Qantas Points each month the loan is active and an extra 25,000 bonus points at the 3 and 5 year anniversary for the loan. You really need to consider the value of a Qantas point first before deciding whether this home loan is worth it.

Savings Accounts

Feature: Introductory Variable Rate

ME Bank Online Savings Account: 4.60 per cent per annum for 5 months. Available to new customers only for balances up to $250,000. There is no monthly account keeping fee or minimum balance requirement. You have to open an ME Bank Transaction Account and link it to the account in order to receive the bonus rate.

Feature: On-Going Bonus Variable Rate

RAMS Saver Account: 4.31 per cent per annum. When you continue to deposit a minimum of $200 per month without making any withdrawals you will benefit from a high on-going interest rate of 4.31 per cent per annum.

Feature: Low Monthly Deposit, Regular Savings

ANZ Progress Saver: 4.01 per cent per annum. When you make a single deposit of $10 or more each month you receive a bonus 4.00 per cent interest in addition to the base rate of 0.01 per cent.

Transaction Accounts

Feature: No foreign transaction fees

Citibank Plus Transaction Account: Fee free bank account, no foreign transaction fees. This account has no monthly account keeping fee, dishonour fee or overseas ATM withdrawal fees. When you are using a Citibank, St.George, Westpac or BankSA ATM you won’t be charged an ATM withdrawal fee. Also includes free international money transfers and a free bottle of wine when you pay with your card at participating restaurants in the Citibank Dining Program.

Feature: Rewards Transaction Account

Bankwest Rewards Transaction Account: 5 points for every eligible purchase at Australian based retailers. Earn 10 points when you use your card abroad for eligible transactions and 1 point per $100 on your account balance every day. No monthly account keeping fees if you deposit at least $2000 per month. Points can be spent on vouchers, flights and merchandise.

Feature: Linked Transaction Account

USaver Ultra Transaction Account: Bonus 1.06 per cent interest on normal USaver rate for 1 month. Minimum deposit of $2000 is required to receive 1.06 per cent on top of your normal UBank USaver account interest rate for the following month and an on-going additional 0.80 per cent if you meet the eligibility criteria. You must have $10,000 deposited into a UBank USaver Account or a settled UBank UHomeLoan..

Personal Loans

Feature: Unsecured Personal Loan – Major Bank

NAB Unsecured Variable Rate Personal Loan $10,000+: 13.45 per cent comparison rate. Loan terms of 1 to 7 years for amounts of $10,000 to $55,000. Able to be used for debt consolidation. Application fee of $0.

Feature: Car Loan (New only)

Gateway CU Car Loan – New Car: 7.83 per cent comparison rate. Loan terms of 1 to 7 years for amounts of $3000+. Available for new cars only. Application fee of $99.

Feature: Car Loan (Used or new)

RACV Car Loan: 7.88 per cent comparison rate. Loan terms of 1 to 7 years for amounts of $5000+. Available for either new or used vehicles. Application fee of $294, no on-going fees.

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.