Investec leads credit providers’ slugfest

IT SEEMS that every corner shop is now offering a credit card product, apparently eager to cash in on the fact that millions of South Africans live on credit.

But despite the fact that only 8% of South Africans have credit cards, it is a particularly hotly contested arena, given how lucrative it can be for the lenders.

As the Bank of the Year survey of the top 20 credit cards shows clearly, existing banks still largely offer the best cards. Investec topped the rankings with a score of 8.4 out of 10, followed by FNB, Discovery and Nedbank.

Customers liked the fact that with Investec everything “is all combined into one card”, and it offered “a better package”.

That Discovery pipped most of the major banks will be a welcome result for Adrian Gore’s group, which began offering the card in 2005, linked to the medical aid’s healthcare reward programme Vitality.

Customers said the card was of “most benefit [for] those who are with Discovery Health and Discovery Life”.

While many customers complained about the cost of credit cards — “highway robbery” is what one person dubbed it, and another said “it scares me it is so expensive” — the rewards programmes linked to the card was a factor in luring customers.

“[The card] partners with the best car rental companies,” said one customer, indicating that customers look at these fringe benefits when picking cards.

Other notable features were that Woolworths’ credit card was judged better than Absa’s credit card, while African Bank’s card and SA Airways’s credit card brought up the rear.

Virgin Money, which billed itself the cheapest card in the market, ranked only ninth in the survey.

One of its customers moaned: “Virgin Money is very quiet. I don’t get to see its adverts or branding anywhere. The only reason I chose it as a credit card provider is by going to Just Money — otherwise I would have easily gone with my bank accountlinked credit card.”

Just Money, along with ThinkMoney, are two financial websites that enable consumers to compare the costs of banking products.