Ratehacker: March’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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The RBA decided to leave the cash rate on hold this month which means if you are looking for savings across your range of banking products it’s up to you to make the switch to a better deal. Be sure to add the following offers into your comparison this month.

Credit Cards

Feature: 0 per cent balance transfer

Bankwest Breeze MasterCard: 0 per cent per annum for 13 months on balance transfers. Although it’s not the longest 0 percent balance transfer (currently the NAB Low Rate is at 15 months) it does have the lowest revert rate for a MasterCard, reverting to just 11.99 per cent per annum at the end of the balance transfer period.

Feature: Cashback Offer

Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Card: Get up to $200 cashback. Spend $100 at Caltex to receive a $50 Caltex StarCash card, $100 at Dymocks to get a $50 Dymocks Gift Card, $100 at Flight Centre to get a $50 Flight Centre gift card and $100 at JB HI-FI to get a $50 JB HI-FI Gift Card. Purchases must be made by 31 May 2014.

Feature: 0% balance transfer & purchases offer

St.George Platinum Card: 0 per cent per annum for 12 months on balance transfers and for 9 months on purchases. This is a unique credit card offer as it allows you to spend on the card during the balance transfer period and pay 0 per cent per annum for 9 months on those transactions.

Home Loans

Feature: Variable rate

Loans.com.au Blackboard Special – : 4.51 per cent comparison rate. A full featured home loan that is able to be used for new purchases or for refinancing. It is possible to borrow up to 80 per cent of the property value and features an offset account and free home loan redraws.

Feature: Discounted interest rate

Newcastle Permanent Discounted Real Deal Home Loan: 5.12 per cent comparison rate. If you apply for a new home loan you will get a 0.25 per cent per annum discount off the standard interest rate for the first 3 years of the home loan.

Feature: Fixed rate home loan

UBank UHomeLoan Fixed Rate (1 year): 4.85 per cent comparison rate. If you are looking to fix in your interest rate for a short period of time this product is currently offering a competitive interest rate. If you apply online by 6 March you will receive a $2014 EFTPOS Gift Card when you settle.

Savings Accounts

Feature: Introductory variable rate

ME Bank Online Savings Account: 4.60 per cent per annum. If you link your account to an ME Bank EveryDay Transaction account you will receive a bonus rate of 1.70 per cent per annum for 5 months for balances up to $250,000.

Feature: High Base Interest Rate

RaboDirect Notice Saver 90: 4.05 per cent per annum. A new type of savings account that requires you to give 90 days notice to withdraw the funds from the account to receive this interest rate.

Feature: Long introductory rate period

Bankwest Telenet Saver: 4.30 per cent per annum for 6 months. At the end of the 6 month introductory period the interest rate reverts to 2.70 per cent per annum ongoing. No minimum monthly deposit is required.

Transaction Accounts

Feature: No foreign transaction fees

Citibank Plus Transaction Account: Fee free bank account, no foreign transaction fees. Free international money transfers and a free bottle of wine every time you dine and pay at Citibank Dining Program restaurants. You also have the benefit of paying no ATM fees at over 3000 Citibank, Westpac, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA ATMs.

Feature: Cashback transaction account

ING DIRECT Orange Everyday Account: 5 per cent cash back on contactless purchases. No monthly account keeping fees and use any ATM for free if you withdraw at least $200. Receive 5 per cent cash back on your purchases under $100 for the first 6 months for Visa PayWave purchases and 2 per cent cash back on-going.

Feature: Rewards Transaction Account

Bankwest Rewards Transaction Account: no ATM charges at over 10,000 bank ATMs. Earn 1 point per $100 of your account balance every day. Earn 5 points for every transaction on your Debit MasterCard and 10 points when you use the MasterCard for overseas transactions.

Personal Loans

Feature: Low interest debt consolidation

MyState Special Rate Secured Personal Loan: 9.92 per cent comparison rate.Flexible loan repayments (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and a loan amount between $10,000 to $75,000. The loan term can be anywhere between 1 and 10 years and there are no penalties for lump sum payments or paying out the loan early.

Feature: Line of credit

Citibank ReadyCredit: 5.9 per cent for 24 months. Can be used for debt consolidation, home improvement, a holiday or you can even ask for a cheque to be made out to you for the amount you borrow. It’s a revolving line of credit which means you can draw down again without having to re-apply for a loan.

Feature: New car loan

IMB New Car Personal Loan: 6.35 per cent comparison rate. Borrow between $2,000 to $70,000 for a loan period of 1 to 7 years. Available for new cars or demo cars if the odometer reading is less than 3000km and the first registration is within the last 3 months.

Jeremy Cabral is the 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.


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