ST.GEORGE BANK
With a choice of four credit cards, St.George Bank has something for everyone in its line-up. If you carry an ongoing card balance, the St.George Vertigo credit card could be a useful choice. It comes with a $55 annual fee, 13.99% rate on purchases and a minimum credit limit of $500, making this an option for anyone getting their first credit card.
St.George’s No Annual Fee card has a 20.74% rate. As well, cardholders enjoy up to 55 days interest free. If you are a cardholder who typically pays off any balance in full each month before interest charges apply, the No Annual Fee card could be a budget-friendly option.
If you’re into card-based rewards, St.George has two Amplify Rewards credit cards – Platinum and Signature. Amplify Rewards is a shared rewards program available through St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA (all owned by Westpac).
It lets cardholders redeem points for a variety of rewards, including flights. Both St.George Amplify cards have a purchase rate of 19.49%. The Platinum card comes with a $29 card fee for the first year (a saving of $70). The Signature card has an annual fee of $139 for the first year (saving $140).
The key difference between the two cards lies in the points they earn. The Amplify Rewards Platinum card earns one point per $1 spent on eligible purchases, while the Signature card earns 1.5 points per $1 spent. If you’re chasing Qantas Frequent Flyer rewards, St.George has two Qantas rewards credit cards – Amplify Qantas Platinum and Amplify Qantas Signature – that can be linked to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account. Both have a purchase rate of 19.49% and 55 days interest free.
“We know that credit cards remain a popular option for our customers, so we are delighted our products and St.George have been recognised as Credit Card Issuer of the Year,” says Steve Rubenstein, managing director, consumer finance, at Westpac Group. “Customers are always after value and that’s exactly what our product offerings have targeted. Our lowrate, low-fee and rewards credit cards continue to receive great feedback from customers and it’s fantastic that the industry has acknowledged this, too, especially in such a competitive market.” Our runner-up, ME Bank, has the Frank lowrate card, which has no annual fee and a purchase rate of 11.99%. It’s linked to Mastercard’s Priceless rewards program.
Money’s other finalist in this category, HSBC, offers four credit cards, with rates starting at 12.99% with the low-rate card. As a plus for travellers, the card charges no overseas transaction fees.