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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As per the prediction of our panel of 11 leading economists, the RBA decided to leave the cash rate on hold this month. Regardless of the rate pause, new finder.com.au research found that it’s now cheaper to switch variable home loans so borrowers are urged to take advantage of the competition and consider switching their loans. Check out our comparisons below for savings across your important financial products.
Credit Cards
Feature: 0 per cent balance transfer
Westpac Low Rate Card:0 per cent per annum for 14 months on balance transfers. This card features a low annual fee of $45 and a low revert rate at the end of the balance transfer period of 13.49 per cent per annum.
Feature: Cashback Offer
Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Card: Get up to $200 cashback. Spend $100 or more at one of four participating retailers (Caltex, Dymocks, Flight Centre or JB-HIFI) and received a $50 gift card from that retailer. Purchases must be made on the card by 31 May 2014.
Feature: No annual fee with frequent flyer points
American Express Qantas Discovery Card: $0 Annual Fee with Qantas Frequent Flyer Points. Earn up to 7500 bonus Qantas Points by spending $300 on purchases within the first 3 months and 2,5000 on selected Qantas products and services. Earn 1 Qantas point per $1 spent on-going.
Home Loans
Feature: Variable rate
Loans.com.au Blackboard Special – <80 per cent LVR: 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. Receive a 0.25 per cent discount for the first 3 years of the loan. At the end of this period the interest rate reverts to the variable interest rate. Borrow up to 95 per cent of the property value.
Feature: Fixed rate home loan
UBank UHomeLoan Fixed Rate (3 year): 4.83 per cent comparison rate. There is also a 1 year option with a 4.85 per cent comparison rate and 5 years at 5.56 per cent per annum. It is possible to borrow up to 80 per cent of the property value.
Savings Accounts
Feature: Introductory variable rate
ME Bank Online Savings Account: 4.60 per cent per annum. Open an Online Savings Account with the Everyday Transaction Account to receive the bonus interest of 1.70 per cent per annum above the standard 2.90 per cent base rate.
Feature: High Base Interest Rate
RaboDirect Notice Saver 90: 4.05 per cent per annum. If you provide 90 days notice to withdraw your funds you will receive the interest rate of 4.05 per cent per annum for amounts up to $250,000.
Feature: Bonus/Incentive Savings Account
ANZ Progress Saver: 3.81 per cent per annum. Deposit $10 or more in a month and make no withdrawals or debits to receive an additional 3.80 per cent per annum above the 0.01 per cent per annum bonus rate.
Transaction Accounts
Feature: No foreign transaction fees
Citibank Plus Transaction Account: Fee free bank account, no foreign transaction fees. Benefit from no monthly fees and free ATM access at Citibank, Westpac, St.George and BankSA ATMs. Receive a free bottle of wine when you dine at any participating Citibank Dining Program restaurants.
Feature: Cashback transaction account
ING DIRECT Orange Everyday Account: 5 per cent cash back on Visa payWave purchases. Cashback applies to Visa payWave purchases under $100 for the 6 months and reverts to 2 per cent cashback if you deposit $2,000 into your personal bank account each month. Free ATM withdrawals when you withdraw $200 or more.
Feature: No ATM Fees
Bankwest Zero Transaction Account: No ATM Fees at Bankwest, CBA, Westpac, NAB and ANZ branded ATMs. No monthly account fees if you deposit a minimum of $2,000 per month into the account. If you deposit $4000 per month you will qualify for the Platinum Debit MasterCard which has a 24/7 concierge service, purchase security protection and extended warranty.
Personal Loans
Feature: Low interest debt consolidation
MyState Special Rate Secured Personal Loan: 9.92 per cent comparison rate. Borrow between $10,000 to $75,000 over a loan term of 1 to 10 years. A redraw facility is available and there is no penalty if you pay off your loan early.
Feature: Line of credit
Citibank ReadyCredit: 5.9 per cent per annum for 24 months. Borrow between $5000 and $60,000 for any purpose. Minimum income to apply is $35,000. Includes a Visa Debit Card for everyday use and for withdrawing without a cash advance fee.
Feature: New car loan
IMB New Car Personal Loan: 7.51 per cent comparison rate. Borrow up to $70,000 with fixed repayment amounts. The loan term is between 1 and 7 years with no on-going.
Life Insurance
Feature: Low interest debt consolidation
NobleOak Life Limited: 25 per cent discount on your premiums and first month free. Exclusive offer for Life Insurance Finder customers – receive premium savings of up to 25 per cent and you will get one month cover for free.
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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