Repeat after me. Credit card is my tool, not my master. Say it three more times. Now you are ready to read this post!

Credit card has always been a major problem in Australia. It is an easily approved personal loan, which “helped” many Australians into very deep debt. Therefore many have portrayed it as an evil master that you kept in your wallet, and for many people it would be better of without a credit card.

But maybe it is just me, I have absolutely zero problem with credit cards. In most cases I am less an impulsive buyer, which means there is even less a desire to pull out a credit card at inappropriate time. In fact I am often the opposite — thinking way too much whether I really need it, and often only concluded that I wanted to buy after missing out the good deals! In my case, credit card has been my tool to get even more discount when I go shopping. Since I always have a rough idea on how much I have in my bank account, and will never buy more than I can afford even on credit, I can always pay off the balance before any interest is charged.

Anyway, this post is not about how one should use credit card without getting into too much debt, but rather how my existing credit cards have helped me to save.

These are the cards I have.

BP-Citibank MasterCard

I have previously reviewed this card thinking the benefit does not justify, until this deal showed up. Now the BP-Citibank MasterCard has became the main card for the household. Not sure whether that BP-Staff deal still works, but there are certainly other offers (if you search around) that either give you no annual fee, or BP fuel vouchers.

Pros

• 1% cashback on all transactions, up to $600 in 12 month window.
• 5% cashback on BP purchases, i.e. $1.30/litre fuel you’ll get 6.5cent/litre off.
• First year annual fee waived + $50 fuel voucher if you use that BP-staff deal.

Cons

• Expensive annual fee ($79 + $30 per additional card) — even more expensive than some gold cards.
• Citibank’s Internet banking facility leaves much to be desired.
• It is GREEN! Just does not match my wallet :)

NAB Visa Mini Card

I looked at this one almost 2 years ago, later applied, and have been using it for a year and half already. I am currently using NAB Visa Mini for all my business related expenses, just to separate them out from my other cards. I keep the actual mini card at home as they are pretty useless, and just use the regular size card.

Pros

• 1% cashback on all transactions, up to $10 per month.
• Relatively low annual fee at $19/year.
• Came with useless accessories like plastic card holder, strips, etc.

Cons

• Only $10/month cashback, i.e. spend more than $1,000 and no more cashback for the month.
• Automatic payment/direct debit is only available to NAB transaction account customers, which I am not.
• If Citibank’s net banking facility is bad, NAB’s is even worse.

Virgin Money Credit Card

I have got my rounded-corner Virgin Money Credit Card for a few years now, and I have only used it once. However I am still keeping it for one simple reason — no annual fee! And if there is a good Mate’s rate reward I can always pull up mine.

Pros

• No annual fee, which means everyone can afford to have one.
• Virgin Mates rate instant rewards. Pretty good savings sometimes.
• If it is from Sir Richard Branson it must be good. There is even a Wikipedia entry about it.

Cons

• Everyone seems to have one.
• I never seem to know which shop gives me Mates rate. Often a few days later I checked the web, “hey I could have used my Virgin Visa Card!”

Coles Myer Source Card

I personally don’t use this card, but my wife does. We keep our Source MasterCard also for one reason — 4cent per litre fuel voucher from Shell, if you spend $30 or more from Coles or Kmart. Oh, there is no annual fee as well. It is also very easy to apply. My parents, who do not have full time job in Australia (they work overseas), have no problem walk up to their counter and come back with a card.

Pros

• No annual fee!
• Extra 4 cents/litre fuel voucher if you spend $30 or more in Coles.
• Shopping voucher when you first sign up (10% off Myer voucher in my case).
• Earn you extra FlyPoints!

Cons

• Anyone ever redeemed anything from FlyPoints?
• No rewards if you shop elsewhere.

ANZ Reward Visa Card

I have been an ANZ customer for almost 1 years, and my first credit card was an ANZ Telstra Reward Card. That card has been renewed a couple of times, and I currently have this ANZ Reward Visa Gold. However, I am planning to get rid of this card in the next month or two, and I am just listing it here since I am still carrying it in my wallet.

Pros

• Linked to my ANZ accounts.
• It earns you some reward points when you spend, more points when you spend in its expensive partners.
• It is a Gold Card! Now show respect!

Cons

• Expensive annual fee — $101 per year + $22 additional cards.
• It only has an effective cashback rate of 0.53%, in the form of points.
• Everyone else has Gold or Platinum cards.

Others

We do have other cards in the past, and quite a few American Express as well. Both my wife and myself love American Express. It always gives free gifts (travel luggage, watch, magazine subscriptions, etc), and annual fee is always free for the first year. So we pretty much just applied for them, got the gifts, and then cancel the card. Except you might need to be in some professional fields to get these offers — my wife is a CPA so she always got those American Express offers. I am just a lowly engineer and has never received any :(

Any other good credit cards around that offer shoppers good rewards?