Consumer groups have slammed Wizard Home Loans’ decision to raise interest rates on credit cards a day after the Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by a 0.25 per cent.
Wizard has increased the interest charges for new customers on its Clear Advantage Mastercard by nearly 3 per cent to just under 18.5 per cent.
On the weekend, Wizard announced it would cut its variable home loan rates by 0.25 per cent ahead of the official reduction by the RBA.
Nicole Rich from the Consumer Action Law Centre says the rise in card rates will hit people who are struggling to pay off their mortgages.
Source:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2353969.htm
http://business.theage.com.au/business/further-woolies-domination-on-the-credit-cards-20080826-4336.html
Woolworths is planning to launch a credit card that will reward customers who shop at Woolies.
The card, the first major offering of the company’s Everyday Money division, makes Woolworths the first Australian retailer to launch a general purpose credit card.
The card, offered in partnership with Mastercard and HSBC, can be used as a “contactless” card for retailers with a reading device, and will allow for a personal identification number as a security measure. The features are expected to reduce average transaction times by at least 12 seconds.
The cards, available from September 1, follows the roll-out of Woolworths’ “payment switch”, the back-end payment processing system. The company said it processed about 114 million credit card payments annually, but the percentage of customers using credit or debit cards had remained static at about 48% for several years.
The company has not publicly revealed take-up targets.
Another interesting news article from news.com.au.
To summarise the article, the average Australian card debt is a whopping $3100. 60-70% of Australians do not pay off the debt each month, racking up interest rates monthly.
The best advice for this kind of situation is to know what kind of product you are after. Compare the different types of cards out there. Check the interest rates, check the annuals fees and interest free days. Every aspect of a card is important so shop around!
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,25479,24310525-5013952,00.html
Found a very interesting article about travelling and using cards. To summarise, do not just bring 1 card when travelling overseas. Anything could happen and leave you stranded. The example given in the article is that the ATM machine ate her card whilst she was overseas.
The advice? Use banks or the ATM’s in the banks, not free standing ATMs. Another piece of helpful advice would be to take more then 1 card. Also, do not rely solely on your card, bring some cash along as well when travelling overseas.
Hope that helps!
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,,24106982-27977,00.html