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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For those that have received their tax return it’s time to consider how to spend your refund. It’s important to assess your options, whether that’s debt repayment or putting the funds into a high interest savings account. Check out the latest deals below.
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. Surprisingly the revert rate on this credit card is lower than that of the St.George Vertigo Visa. The annual fee is reasonable for a Platinum card as well at just $99 per annum
Feature: No annual fee credit card
HSBC Platinum Credit Card: 0 per cent per annum for 8 months on balance transfers. This card typically has an annual fee of $129 but is currently available with no annual fee for life. It’s also possible to earn 1 rewards point for every dollar you spend on this card.
Feature: 0 per cent purchase rate
NAB Low Rate Credit Card: 0 per cent per annum for 12 months on purchases. At the end of the promotional interest rate period the interest rate reverts to 13.99% per annum. The annual fee for this card is $59 per annum and it also includes a 4.99% per annum for 6 months balance transfer offer.
Feature: Bonus Velocity Points
American Express Velocity Platinum Card: 100,000 bonus Velocity points. This amount of bonus points is equivalent to a return flight from SYD-LAX in Economy (with points left over!). In addition to this you receive a complimentary return domestic flight every year and complimentary domestic & international travel insurance. The annual fee is $349 for this card.
Home Loans
Feature: Variable Rate Home Loan
Mortgage House Pure and Simple Home Loan: 3.99 per cent comparison rate. Mortgage House has surpassed loans.com.au with this offer of the lowest variable interest rate home loan. This offer has a max loan to value ratio of 80% and no application fee.
Feature: Introductory Rate Home Loan
IMB Discount Split Home Loan: 5.01 per cent comparison rate. This home loan offers a discounted rate for the first 12 months at 3.86% per annum. It’s possible to borrow up to 95% of the property value over a period of up to 30 years.
Feature: Fixed rate home loan
Mortgage House Pure and Simple Home Loan: 3.99 per cent comparison rate. Mortgage House has surpassed loans.com.au with the lowest variable interest rate home loan. This offer has a max loan to value ratio of 80% and no application fee.
Savings Accounts
Feature: High maximum variable interest rate
RAMS Saver: 3.60 per cent per annum. Earn an additional 1.60% per annum above the 2.00% per annum standard variable rate when you deposit $200 or more each month and make no withdrawals.
Feature: Incentive saver
NAB Reward Saver: 3.05 per cent per annum. If you make at least one deposit per month and make no withdrawals in one month you will receive a bonus 0.50% per annum on top of the 2.55% per annum variable base rate.
Feature: High base interest rate
RaboDirect Notice Saver 90: 3.20 per cent per annum. This is a unique savings product that requires you to give 90 days notice before being able to withdraw your funds without penalty. This rate is available on account balances up to $250,000.
Transaction Accounts
Feature: Free ATM withdrawals
Citibank Plus Everyday Account: Free ATM Withdrawals. This product has the benefit of fee-free ATM withdrawals at Citibank, St George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA ATMs in Australia and no monthly account keeping fee. You can also receive a free bottle of wine anytime you dine at Citibank Dining program partner restaurant and pay with the attached debit card.
Feature: Cashback on PayWave Purchases and Free ATM Withdrawals
ING DIRECT Orange Everyday Account: No account keeping fees. Get 2% cashback on Visa PayWave purchases under $100 any free ATM withdrawals from any ATM in Australia so long as you deposit $1000 or more into your account each month.
Feature: Rewards Transaction Account
Bankwest Qantas Transaction Account: Up to 5 Qantas Points for eligible purchases. You will also earn 12 Qantas Points per month per $100 amount in your account and 5 Qantas Points each time you withdraw cash from an overseas ATM. (Be aware that you will have to pay foreign transaction fees, and this will likely negate the benefit of earning rewards points.)
Personal Loans
Feature: Debt Consolidation Line of Credit
Citibank ReadyCredit: 8.99% for 4 years.The establishment fee for this loan is $99 and it can be used to consolidate any of your debts. This product also features a redraw facility to access more funds as part of your credit limit.
Feature: Fixed Rate New Car Loan
Beyond Bank Car Loan: 6.98% comparison rate. This special offer applies only to car loans for amounts over $25,000 for a car that is under 2 years old. The loan is available for up to 7 years and you have the option of paying the loan off sooner.
Feature: Low Interest Rate Personal Loan
Direct Money Unsecured Personal Loan: 9.33% comparison rate. Borrow a minimum of $5000 for 3 to 5 years. The application fee is $575.
Travel Insurance
Feature: Policy Discount
YouGo Travel Insurance: 10% discount on your policy. Exclusive finder.com.au offer to get a 10% discount on your travel insurance policy with YouGo.
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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