Bank Australia Visa Credit Card

Pauline Hatch

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 8 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. Ask Pauline a Question about this card.

The Bank Australia Visa Credit Card

A classic credit card that helps to keep costs low, the Bank Australia Visa Credit Card has no annual fee and a low rate of interest on purchases. While it may keep features fairly basic, it does offer all the extras you would expect on a Visa, including fraud protection and security features, compatibility with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, and account access via a very handy app.

What we love...

Bank Australia prides itself on its customer-owned status and is more than happy to distance itself from the big banks. What does this mean to you as a potential cardholder? As it is owned by its customers, it doesn’t answer to shareholders. Instead, it can return its profits to customers through better rates and fees, while making investments to create positive social and environmental change.

What this translates to with the Bank Australia Visa Credit Card is a whole lot of money-saving for cardholders. If you choose to apply for this card, you will benefit from a low rate of interest and no annual fee. With its low rate of interest, this could help you save on interest costs on your balance if it carries over from month-to-month. So, instead of paying more in interest, you can work on paying down your balance and clearing it once and for all.

Helping you in this objective is the card’s total lack of an annual fee. Most credit cards in Australia charge some kind of annual fee. You will often find low rate cards have low annual fees, while fancier cards such as premium cards and rewards cards have much higher annual fees. But, if you really want to save money, a no annual fee card is where it’s at. Instead of paying an annual fee each year, you can put that money towards something much more exciting.

What’s not so great...

When you find cards with no annual fee and a low purchase rate, you know you’re getting a money-saver. But, what you’ll also find is that these cards also tend to be fairly basic. Sure, you can enjoy all the standard features most cardholders have come to expect on a credit card, but there’s not much on there that will have you drooling in anticipation for the card to drop into your mailbox.

We don’t necessarily think a lack of features is a bad thing, however. Having a lack of features only really becomes a sore point when you want more from your card. But, if you want more, you will generally be expected to pay more, as these cards typically come with a higher annual fee and higher interest rate. On the other hand, if you want a simple, low cost card, we don’t think you’ll find much to complain about with this offering from Bank Australia.

Why should you choose this card?

There are several reasons why you may choose a low rate, no annual fee card such as the Bank Australia Visa Credit Card:

• You carry a balance each month: Instead of choosing a high interest card, you can choose a low interest card that will save you in interest charges month to month, helping you to pay down more of your balance, and pay it all off quicker.
• You want a card for emergencies: No one likes paying for something they rarely use, which is where a card with no annual fee can come in handy. You can keep it in your wallet while paying nothing for the privilege, and it’s there whenever you need it.
• You’re new to credit: Starting out with a low cost card can be a good idea if you’re new to credit. Then, if you happen to overspend, you will not be hammered with huge interest charges as you work on paying off your balance.
• You want to save money: There is no rule that says credit cards have to be expensive. If you want to keep costs as low as possible, a card with no annual fee and a low rate could help you do that.

So, what kind of features can you expect on a card such as this? You can benefit from easier and safer shopping with Visa Checkout and 24/7 fraud monitoring, you can sync your card to your device with access to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, and you can use Bank Australia’s handy app to manage the way you transact with card controls, to place a temporary lock on your card, and to create custom notifications that monitor your card activity.

Overall Rating

The Bank Australia Visa Credit Card is a card that keeps it simple, providing all the basic features you need, alongside a low rate and no annual fee.