Ratehacker: August’s Best Credit Card, Savings Account And Home Loan Deals

In our monthly Ratehacker round-up, Bessie Hassan from comparison site finder.com.au highlights the latest credit card deals, plus the best savings accounts and home loans. This month’s deals include a 25-month balance transfer offer, 60,000 bonus Velocity Points and a 3.59% per annum home loan.

Credit Cards

Feature: 0% balance transfer

St.George Vertigo Platinum: 0% per annum on balance transfers for 25 months With 25 months before your transferred balance starts attracting interest, this is one of the longest-running balance transfer offers available right now. There’s also no balance transfer fee. To qualify you have to apply online, and you can’t be transferring a balance from one of St.George’s sibling brands (St.George itself, BankSA or Bank of Melbourne). The annual fee is $99, while the interest rate for new purchases is currently 12.74% per annum.

Feature: Bonus Velocity Points

Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer: 60,000 bonus Velocity Points To score the full 60,000 points, you’ll need to apply by 2 September 2018 and spend $1,500 a month across three consecutive months after approval. The annual fee is $64 in the first year (then $129 a year after that). You’ll also receive a $129 Virgin Australia gift voucher each year you hold the card, which effectively offsets the cost of the annual fee.

Home Loans

Feature: Variable rate home loan

UBank UHomeLoan (Variable Rate) : 3.59% per annum comparison rate This comparison rate is one of the lowest on the market right now. To qualify, you’ll need to be an owner-occupier borrowing between $200,000 and $700,000. As well, if you’re approved you’ll receive $1,000 cash in a USaver account. As with most lower-rate loans, you’ll need at least a 20% deposit saved.

Feature: P& I investor home loan

State Custodians Low Rate Home Loan: 3.94% per annum comparison rate While aimed at investors, this is a principal and interest loan, so it may not be suitable if you’re hoping to entirely fund your mortgage payments from rent paid by your tenants. You’ll need a 20% deposit saved to score this interest rate. The loan also features a 100% offset account.

Savings Accounts

Feature: High interest savings account

Bankwest Hero Saver: Ongoing 2.60% per annum interest rate Interest rates on savings accounts have been flat across most of 2018. To score this relatively high rate, you need to deposit at least $200 each month and make no withdrawals. There are no account-keeping fees and you don’t need a linked account.

Personal Loans

Feature: Custom rate unsecured personal loan

Harmoney P2P loan: Interest rate from 6.99% per annum The interest rate for this loan will be personalised based on your credit score and financial history, so it can range from 6.99% to to 28.21%. You can borrow between $5,000 and $70,000. Note that there’s a $500 upfront charge so consider that when comparing loans.

Travel Insurance

Feature: Policy discount

YouGo Travel Insurance: 10% off travel insurance Receive a discount on your travel insurance with this finder.com.au exclusive coupon.

Bessie Hassan is the money expert for finder.com.au which includes tools to compare credit cards, savings accounts, energy deals, insurance, cryptocurrencies, mobile & broadband plans, and a constantly updated database of discounts and coupon codes. Connect with Bessie on Twitter.