How to Find the Cheapest Interest Rate Credit Card?

Best Low Interest Rate Card

The St.George Vertigo MasterCard offers a very low introductory rate on purchases for the first 6 months followed by an ongoing low interest rate. This makes this card ideal for shopping along with 55 days interest free and a low annual fee.

• $55 annual fee
• 13.24% p.a. on purchases
• 0.99% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers
• Cash Advance Rate of 21.49% p.a.
• 55 days interest free
• Minimum Income Requirement of $15,000 p.a.
• Instant discounts and added extras with St.George Instant Benefits

Read the St George Vertigo terms and conditions.

Finding the ‘cheapest credit card’ isn’t simply a matter of the lowest interest rate.

On a crusade for the lowest rates, consumers can get sucked in to picking the card they find with the lowest APR (annual percentage rate) regardless of its other features. The cheapest does not imply that it’s the most valuable.

So what are some of the features that should be taken into account and compared when hunting for the cheapest interest rate credit card?

The Annual Fee

Annual fees are arguably the most unappealing features of credit cards right after high interest rates. Unfortunately for us in Australia, annual fees are a way of life for credit cards, unlike the U.K and America where no annual fee is standard. There are still, however, some $0 annual fee credit cards.

Annual fees for low interest rate credit cards can range anywhere between $30-$100. So what difference does it make how much annual fee you pay?

We compare the benefits and features of two different low interest cards:

• ANZ Low Rate MasterCard: 0% p.a. for 3 months (reverts to 13.24% p.a.), $58 annual fee. A standard competitive low interest rate credit card.
• Citibank Clear Platinum Visa Card: 11.99% p.a., $99 annual fee. A quality offer if you take advantage of the Platinum benefits such as 25% discounts at certain retailers and free international travel insurance.

Small Bank or Large Bank?

Low interest rate credit cards are fairly generic – it basically comes down to interest rate, annual fee and interest free days. The next step when taking into account the cheapest credit card is what bank to go with.

Generally, the smaller banks, such as Bendigo Bank, Member’s Equity and Suncorp offer credit cards with lower rates, but have less branch and ATM access than leading banks. While you may save a fraction more on the credit card itself, you may very likely end up paying more in ATM fees due to a lack of access.

The leading banks, such as NAB, Commonwealth Bank and St.George offer credit cards with marginally higher interest and fees, but tend to offer higher levels of customer service and access. Large banks have been known to offer easier approval for applicants than less competitive banks.

What about ’0% p.a. credit cards’?

No credit card offers 0% p.a. as the standard rate on purchases. 0% APR either comes in the form of an introductory offer (e.g 0% p.a. for the first 3 months when you apply for a credit card) or a balance transfer.

A balance transfer allows you to shift your current credit card balance(s) over to a new credit card at a promotional rate of 0% p.a. for 6 months. Read more about balance transfers here.

Competitive Small and Large Bank Low Rate Offers

• Small Bank: Aussie Home Loans offer one credit card, the standard ‘Aussie MasterCard‘ which features 2.99% p.a. for 12 months
  on balance transfers, a $49 annual fee and up to 55 days interest free on purchases.
• See the Aussie credit card offer here.

• Large Bank: St.George offer their leading low interest card, ‘Vertigo MasterCard‘ which features 13.24% p.a. on purchases, a $55 annual fee and up to 55 days interest free.
• See the Vertigo credit card offer here.
• Visit the low APR credit card comparison table for more quality Australian low interest offers.

Check out today's featured offers:

Citibank Clear Platinum	Qantas AMEX Discovery	ANZ Platinum	Westpac Low Rate
2.9% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers	$0 annual fee Up to 10,000 Bonus QFF Points	0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers	0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers

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Popular Credit Card Offers

			Interest Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)
	Citibank Clear Platinum Card	Competitive interest rate on purchases and balance transfers offer.	11.99%	2.9% for 12 months	$99	21.74%
	St George Vertigo	Take advantage of this great offer from St.George with a low rate on purchases and a low balance transfer offer.	13.24%	0.99% for 12 months	$55	21.49%
	ANZ Platinum Credit Card	An introductory interest rate offer on balance transfers and purchases, plus a $0 first year annual fee.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 19.24% )	0% for 6 months	$0 annual fee for the first year( $87 thereafter)	20.99%
	American Express Qantas Discovery Card	Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points, plus take advantage of the no annual fee offer.	20.74%		$0	20.74%