Best Credit Cards Offered In Australia For Home Owners

Find out how you can track down the best credit card offer to help reduce the burden of crippling mortgage repayments. Take advantage of a lifetime of the debt balance transfer to grab yourself an interest rate 10% less then the cheapest personal loan.

Best Australian Credit Card

The Bankwest Lite MasterCard has the lowest MasterCard purchase rate in Australia combined with a long balance transfer period making it the best credit card to apply for

• $59 annual fee
• 5.99% for 12 months p.a. on purchases
• 5.99% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers
• Cash Advance Rate of 21.99%

Click here to read the Bankwest Lite MasterCard terms and conditions

With the Reserve Bank of Australia lifting its interest rate for the fourth time since the start of the financial crisis, homeowners are struggling even more with their mortgages and many are searching for the best credit card offers that can temporarily reduce their burden of debt. Australia’s Cash Rate now stands at 4%, making it the highest in the Western world.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the majority of young home buyers – many of whom took advantage of the Rudd government’s $14,000 first-home buyers grant – are now having to meet their loan repayment obligations by raiding other sources of finance, and that includes credit cards.

Where are the best credit card offers?

How effectively a credit card can help an individual will depend upon what credit limit they have on their card, and the interest rate applicable to any debt they carry over from month to month. With the lowest personal loan standing at 13.99% from Aussie, the best credit card offers will obviously be those with interest rates that undercut that figure. Anyone who’s lucky enough to have a Bankwest Lite MasterCard, for example, can benefit from an ongoing interest rate of 9.99%.

This means that they will be able to shift some of their regular spending such as groceries and utilities onto their card, thus providing a temporary respite. Even luckier are those people who have not yet applied for this card because it currently boasts the best credit card offer on twelve month balance transfers of just 1.99%. This allows an existing debt to be shifted over and a significant saving to be made over the course of the year. The hope is that twelve months might allow those suffering to get back on more of an even keel.

If a twelve month period isn’t going to be long enough, then there are a couple of credit cards offering balance transfers for the life of the debt. The Citibank Platinum Card is offering 4.9% on lifetime balance transfers, and the Suncorp Clear Options Platinum Card is offering 3.9% on lifetime balance transfers. The drawback here is that both of these credit cards are platinum level, meaning not everyone will be able to take advantage of them due to minimum income requirements. However, if you are able to make an application, then these two cards are certainly the best credit card offers for Australian homeowners who are in financial difficulties.

• Comparison of Top 10 Credit Card Offers

Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards

Credit Card	Card Details	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Interest free days (up to)
HSBC Credit Card	Editor's Choice: 0% for 6 months Balance Transfer & No Annual Fee Featuring a $0 annual fee for life, and 0% p.a. balance transfer for 6 months, the HSBC Credit Card was voted the Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010.	16.99%	20.75%	0% for 6 months	$0	55
Suncorp Clear Options Standard Visa Card	A great 12 month balance transfer offer, combined with a low annual fee and a good interest rate on purchases.	12.24%	17.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$39	0