Bank of Queensland Blue 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 of Queensland Blue Credit Card

As BOQ’s classic rewards card, the Bank of Queensland Blue Credit Card offers access to the bank’s own Q Rewards program, allowing cardholders to earn points that can be redeemed for travel, merchandise, gift vouchers and now, flybuys points. For a low annual fee, the card offers several appealing features, including 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 18 months and purchase cover insurance.

What we love...

Let’s cover that balance transfer offer first. As a new cardholder, you can take advantage of 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 18 months, helping you clear your credit card debt faster while paying less in interest. You can transfer up to 80% of your approved credit limit, from non-Citi issued cards.

If you’ve been comparing offers, no doubt you’ll be glad to note that BOQ doesn’t currently charge a balance transfer fee. This means you have less to pay off overall, allowing you to focus solely on clearing your balance within that intro period.

In terms of ongoing costs, the card has a lovely low annual fee for a rewards card. There are also no fees to join Q Rewards, helping to offer even more value to the program. Points earning is kept simple, with just one earn rate to remember. You will earn 1 Q Rewards point for every $1 you spend on eligible transactions, with no points capping or points expiry.

Once you’ve accumulated enough points, you have a number of redemption options available to you. Like many of the bigger rewards programs, Q Rewards allows you to redeem points for travel, on flights, hotels, car hire and experiences. It also lets you shop the Q Rewards Store for a huge range of merchandise and gift cards, or convert them to flybuys points.

You may also redeem points using Select and Credit to cover eligible card transactions, or to enjoy annual fee credit, or cashback to spend as you like.

What’s not so great...

There are two important features to be aware of with the Bank of Queensland Blue Credit Card. First up, its interest rate. As a rewards card, this is not a low rate card. To make the most of what’s on offer, you will need to clear the balance by the due date each month. It’s also worth noting that if you have a balance transfer, interest on purchases will start to accrue interest from day one.

In addition, if you fail to pay off your transferred balance within the intro period, it will revert to the cash advance rate thereafter.

Why should you choose this card?

If you want to earn points on a flexible rewards program while keeping costs low with a very reasonable annual fee, the Bank of Queensland Blue Credit Card could be the card for you. With a low minimum annual income requirement of $25,000, it could be a great option for lower income earners, as long as they have a good credit rating and meet other eligibility requirements.

On top of the other features we have already mentioned, the card also offers some nice protection on purchases, with refunds of up to $500 on eligible items that go on sale after you purchase them, plus Purchase Cover Insurance for personal items if they are lost, stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase (terms and conditions apply – read the PDS).

Overall Rating

A very worthy rewards card that offers an alternative to some of the better-known rewards programs, the Bank of Queensland Blue Credit Card offers a decent earn rate with no points cap or expiry and 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 18 months.