Avoid the biggest mistake you can make with your credit card

Credit Card Deals

	Interest Rate p.a.	Balance transfer Rate p.a.
ANZ Low Rate	13.14% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months
Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card - Balance Transfer Offer	20.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 8 months
HSBC Credit Card	17.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 6 months

Want to know the biggest mistake 1000’s of credit card users make every month costing them hundreds of dollars in interest charges, unnecessarily extending the typical repayment period by over 26 years?

This mistake is costing a massive amount of Australians thousands of dollars in interest charges. On a credit card balance of $3,300 at an interest rate of 18.5% p.a., if you repay just the minimum amount on this balance (2% works out to be $67 in the first month), it would take you over 28 years and 4 months to repay your credit card balance, and a total cost to you over $11,473, including $8173 in interest charges.

3 critical questions for everyone who has a credit card

1. Do you repay more than the minimum repayment amount on your credit card balance each month?

Have you set an automatic direct debit to repay only the minimum repayment amount on your credit card each month? Every time you see your credit card statement, do you only pay the minimum repayment amount?

If the answer is no, then increase your repayments this month. It will literally save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest charges.

By increasing your repayment amount to $163 each month, you can reduce the interest paid to just $613 and reduce your repayment period to just 2 years!

2. Do you carry a balance on your credit card each month?

1. If Yes:
   1. Do you have a rewards credit card? If yes, scrap it! A rewards or frequent flyer credit card will only benefit you when you if the new rewards value exceeds the cost of the annual fee. Consider a low interest card instead
   2. Do you have a low interest credit card? There aren’t very many scenarios where you have a credit card balance and it makes sense to have any other credit card besides a low interest card – check out our guide to low interest cards
2. If No:
   1. Do rewards or frequent flyer points interest you? If you have considerable spend levels each month on your card there could be some benefit to considering a frequent flyer credit card.
   2. Why pay annual fees? If you don’t want rewards, and you don’t carry a balance each month there are some great cards available that give you the convenience of credit card without charging you an annual fee.

3. When was the last time you did a credit card comparison and switched credit cards?
If the answer is more than 2 months ago, you are missing out. On the 1st of July, the government rolled out a major credit card reform to make it faster and easier to repay your card balance.

There are also huge benefits to new customers who switch. Banks reserve some of their best perks for their new customers, such as 0% interest on purchases, 0% interest on balance transfers or frequent flyer bonus points on sign-up.

Quit procrastinating, and do yourself a favour – start your credit card comparison today. It will take just 5 minutes, and you’ll be better off for it!

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Credit card offers:

HSBC Credit Card	Bankwest Zero Platinum Credit Card	Virgin Flyer Credit Card	ANZ Low Rate
0% p.a. for 6 months on balance transfers & no annual fee	0% p.a. for 9 months on balance transfers & platinum benefits	0% p.a. for 8 months on balances transfers & reward points	0% p.a. for 9 months on balance transfers & low rate

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Credit Cards Comparison

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			Interest rate (p.a.)	Balance transfer rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash advance rate (p.a.)
	ANZ Low Rate	A low rate on purchases, balance transfer and a low annual fee.	13.14% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$58 p.a.	21.49% p.a.
	HSBC Credit Card	No annual fee for the life of the credit card. Plus a low balance transfer offer.	17.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 6 months	$0 p.a.	21.99% p.a.
	Bankwest Zero Platinum MasterCard	Exclusive Offer to Credit Card Finder. No annual fee credit card with platinum benefits.	17.99% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$0 p.a.	21.99% p.a.
	Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Credit Card	A low interest rate offer on purchases and balance transfers.	0% p.a. for 5 months (reverts to 12.99% p.a.)	5.99% p.a. for 5 months	$78 p.a. ($48 for qualifying customers)	21.24% p.a.
	ANZ Platinum Credit Card	No annual fee for the first year and a balance transfer offer.	19.39% p.a.	0% p.a. for 9 months	$0 p.a. annual fee for the first year ($87 p.a. thereafter)	20.99% p.a.

* The credit card offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of credit cards CreditCardFinder.com.au has access to track details from and is not representative of all the products available in the market. Products are displayed in no particular order or ranking. The use of terms 'Best' and 'Top' are not product ratings and are subject to our disclaimer. You should consider seeking independent financial advice and consider your own personal financial circumstances when comparing cards.