In our monthly Ratehacker round-up, Jeremy Cabral from comparison site finder.com.au highlights recent credit card offer changes, plus the best savings accounts and home loans.
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It’s almost tax time so it’s important to get your finances in order to make sure that you maximise your tax returns. To help make it easier we’ve started a new online tax returns section on finder.com.au. It’s also time to make sure you have all your accounts sorted so you can make this new financial year the year where you have all your receipts in order and make sure that you get the most bang for your buck by reducing your monthly expenses, consolidating your debts and start to kill off all those unnecessary bank fees and interest charges.
Credit Cards
Feature: 0 percent balance transfer
St.George Vertigo Platinum: 0 percent per annum for 20 months on balance transfers and 0 per cent per annum on purchases for 3 months. At the end of the balance transfer period the interest rate reverts to a low 12.74% per annum standard variable rate which is different to many other balance transfer offers which revert to a high cash advance rate. The annual fee on this card is also competitive at just $99.
Feature: No annual fee credit card
Virgin No Annual Fee Credit Card: 0.9 per cent per annum for 15 months on balance transfers. Whilst this card has no annual fee, be mindful of its revert rate at the end of the balance transfer period which is 18.99% per annum. If you spend $2000 within the first 3 months you will receive $100 cashback.
Feature: Bonus Qantas Points and $0 annual fee
ANZ Frequent Flyer: 50,000 bonus Qantas points. When you spent $3000 on purchases within the first 3 months you will receive a bonus 50,000 Qantas Points, beyond the standard earn rate of 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on AMEX and 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent on Visa purchases. There is also the benefit of a $0 annual fee for the first year.
Feature: Platinum Card with 0 per cent purchase rate
Bankwest Breeze Platinum MasterCard: 0 per cent per annum for 13 months on purchases. This offer is exclusive to applications made via finder.com.au. The purchase rate is 12.99% per annum and there is also the benefit of no foreign transaction fees and complimentary international travel insurance.
Home Loans
Feature: Variable rate home loan
loans.com.au Dream Loan Essentials: 4.04 per cent comparison rate. The variable rate for this home loan is 4.02% per annum up to an LVR of 80%. There is no application fee with this home loan.
Feature: Introductory rate home loan
Mortgage House Pure & Simple Home Loan: 3.99 per cent comparison rate. The maximum LVR for this home loan is 80% with a loan size between $100,000 and $500,000. There is no interest only repayments feature.
Feature: Fixed rate home loan
loans.com.au Dream Loan Fixed: 4.29 per cent comparison rate. Up to 10 years interest only repayments plus low rates on 1, 2 or 3 year fixed terms. It’s possible to pay a fee at the time of settlement to lock in your interest rate for up to 60 days.
Savings Accounts
Feature: High maximum variable interest rate
ING Direct Savings Maximiser: 3.50 per cent per annum. This rate applies if you have an Orange Everyday bank account with ING and deposit your salary of at least $1000+ each month. This interest rate is available on balances up to $100,000.
Feature: Incentive saver
RAMS Saver: 3.60 per cent per annum. If you deposits at least $200 per month and make no withdrawals, keeping your balance between $0 and $500,000 you will be able to earn a bonus rate of 1.6% per annum above the variable base rate of 2.00% per annum
Feature: High base interest rate
RaboDirect Notice Saver 90: 3.20 per cent per annum. This interest rate applies if you give 90 days notice before withdrawing the funds from your account and is available on balances up to $250,000.
Transaction Accounts
Feature: Free ATM withdrawals
Citibank Plus Everyday Account: Free ATM Withdrawals. Account holders will have access to fee-free withdrawals at over 3000 ATMs around Australia plus unlimited fee-free transactions.
Feature: No monthly account-keeping fee
ING DIRECT Orange Everyday Account: No account keeping fees. This Everyday Account charges no monthly fees, including account keeping fees – though there is an overdraft interest fee of 10.00% per annum
Feature: Cashback on PayPass purchases
ME Bank Everyday Transaction Account: 5% cashback on PayPass purchases on amounts of $100 or less. This account offers 5% cashback on PayPass purchases for the first six months for new customers who switch to ME by 30 June 2015.
Personal Loans
Feature: Debt consolidation line of credit
Citibank ReadyCredit: 8.99% for 4 years. An unsecured line of credit with an introductory rate of 4.99% per annum for 4 years. You’ll have access to your funds with a Visa debit card and you can borrow up to $60,000.
Feature: Fixed rate new car loan
Loans.com.au Car Loan: 7.02% comparison rate. A competitive fixed rate loan that lets you purchase a car – you can also add the on-road costs into the loan amount. The loan comes with no monthly fees, but a $350 establishment fee applies.
Feature: Low interest rate personal loan
SocietyOne Low Interest Personal Loan: 13.11% comparison rate. An unsecured loan with no monthly fees and a loan term of between 1 and 5 years. The interest rate you’re offered depends on your credit score.
Travel Insurance
Feature: Policy discount
InsureandGo Travel Insurance: 10% discount on your policy plus free kids cover. Exclusive finder.com.au offer to get a 10% discount on your travel insurance policy with InsureandGo. Features unlimited medical cover on all overseas policies.
Life Insurance
Feature: Discounted premium
NobleOak Life Limited: 25% discount on your premiums and first month free. Exclusive offer for Life Insurance Finder customers — receive savings on your premium (up to 25%) and you will get one month of cover at no charge.
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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