Kogan Money Black Credit Card

Roland Bleyer

Credit Card Expert with over 15 years card experience and the founder of Creditcard.com.au. Ask Roland a Question about this card.

The Big Review: Kogan Money Black Credit Card

Allowing users to earn and redeem points within the Kogan network, the Kogan Money Black Card helps to keep costs down with no annual fee for the primary cardholder and up to four additional cardholders. With uncapped points earning on offer, the card also provides complimentary Kogan First membership, which offers access to free shipping, upgraded shipping, exclusive member deals and priority customer service. Apply now to take advantage of the card’s intro offers: $500 Kogan.com credit (minimum spend applies) and 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 12 months.

• Earn $500 Kogan.com credit (apply by December 6 December 2019)
• Earn up to 2 rewards points per $1 on eligible purchases at Kogan.com
• Earn 1 rewards point per $1 on eligible spending elsewhere
• Uncapped points earning
• Up to 4 additional cardholders at no extra cost
• Complimentary Kogan First membership (saving you $99)
• Access to BNPL at Kogan.com
• 0% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers (no balance transfer fee)
• Annual Fee: $0
• Additional Cardholder Annual Fee: $0
• Purchase Rate: 20.99% p.a. (variable)
• Cash Advance Rate: 21.74% p.a. (variable)
• Interest Free Period on Purchases : Up to 55 days

This Card: The Lowdown

As an online retailer, Kogan is a name you generally associate with low cost shopping. But, having branched out to provide everything from cars and car insurance, to travel insurance and travel deals, it’s perhaps no surprise that Kogan now has its own credit card as well. Underwritten by Citi, the Kogan Money Black Card is Kogan’s first foray into the world of credit cards – and who knows, if it’s well-received, there may be more on the way.

So, what does the Kogan Money Black Card offer? Created in conjunction with the newly formed Kogan rewards program, the Kogan Money Black Card allows cardholders to earn rewards points when shopping at Kogan.com and elsewhere. As you’d expect, points earning is tiered, so that cardholders earn the most points when shopping at Kogan.com on Kogan exclusive brand purchases, however, points can still be earned on everyday spending elsewhere as well.

Anything else on offer? The Kogan Money Black Card is designed to be a low cost card. Which means, even though it is a points earner, it charges no annual fee. Cardholders can also benefit from complimentary Kogan First membership, which provides access to free shipping and upgraded shipping, alongside exclusive member deals and priority customer service when shopping at Kogan.com. In terms of intro offers, new cardholders can get their hands on $500 Kogan.com credit (minimum spend applies), and 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 12 months.

Digging Deeper

With the basics covered, it’s time to dig a little deeper into what’s on offer with the Kogan Money Black Card, so you can decide whether this card is right for you.

This Card: As a Rewards Card

First and foremost, the Kogan Money Black Card is a rewards card. It allows cardholders to earn points on the Kogan rewards program, which can then be redeemed within the Kogan network.

Earning Points

Offering tiered points earning, the Kogan Money Black Card allows cardholders to earn:

• 2 rewards points per $1 spent on Kogan exclusive brand purchases
• 1 rewards point per $1 spent on Kogan.com non-exclusive brands
• 1 rewards point per $1 spent outside Kogan.com

What’s nice to see on this card is the fact that even though it is a no annual fee card, it has uncapped points earning. So, as a cardholder, whether your spend is big or small, you pay nothing in annual fees, and you can earn as many points as your spending allows.

As for what is classed as ‘eligible’, these are transactions that are not cash advances, balance transfers, special promotions, BPAY payments, refunds and chargebacks, purchases of foreign currency and travellers cheques, transactions made in operating a business, payments to other Citi accounts, bank fees and charges such as interest and ATM charges, transactions made using rewards points, and government related transactions

Redeeming Points

Unlike many rewards programs, Kogan keeps it pretty simple in terms of points redemption. The rewards points you earn are redeemable at a rate of 1 cent per point. That means, if you spend $500 on Kogan exclusive brands, you will earn points equal to $10, which can be redeemed on future purchases on Kogan.com.

To redeem points in this way, first you must register your Kogan Money credit card for ‘Shop with Points’ within your Kogan.com account. This will then allow you to use your points to pay for eligible purchases at the checkout.

As alternative, you may also redeem points on Kogan Mobile and Kogan Internet purchases, also at a rate of 1 cent per point. To do this, log in to your credit card account online or on your mobile app, select the eligible credit card payment, and follow the instructions to pay with your rewards points.

This Card: Extras on Offer

While the Kogan Money Black Card may be branded a black card, it is not in fact a black card. Nope, there are no fancy features here, and this is not a prestige card. However, there are a few nice extras on offer, which we will run through now.

Bonus Credit Offer

If you apply for a Kogan Money Black Card by 6 December 2019, you can earn $500 Kogan.com credit. All you need to do is spend $500 in the first 30 days from card approval, and you’ll receive $500 in Kogan.com credit to use within the following 12 months.

Again, that $500 initial spend must be made on ‘eligible’ purchases, which are the same as those mentioned above. Also worth noting is the fact that your $500 Kogan.com credit may take up to 10 weeks to be credited to you after the 30 day qualifying period – just in case you had a purchase in mind, and were wanting to get your hands on it sooner rather than later.

In addition to that, your Kogan.com account will be set up upon approval of your application (if you don’t already have one). You will then receive an email requesting that you activate your Kogan.com account and agree to the Kogan.com Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Balance Transfer Offer

New cardholders can also take advantage 0% p.a. on balance transfers, with up to 12 months to clear their transferred balance before it starts attracting interest. Here’s what you need to know about this offer:

• You will pay 0% p.a. interest on balance transfers for 12 months.
• There is no balance transfer fee.
• You can request to transfer account balances from other financial institutions and stores, such as other credit cards, personal loans, and other types of unsecured credit.
• The balances being transferred must be in your name, as the primary cardholder of this new card account.
• If you have a balance transfer on your Kogan Money card, you will not receive interest free days on your purchases. That means, any new spending on the account will attract interest from day one.
• If you do not pay off the transferred balance within the introductory period, it will revert to the card’s cash advance rate.
• This offer is valid until 6 December 2019.

Complimentary Kogan First Membership

As a cardholder, you will receive complimentary Kogan First membership, which is currently valued at $99 per year. This could be a great bonus for regular Kogan.com shoppers, as it provides free shipping on thousands of eligible products with no minimum purchase.

What about products that already feature free shipping? Kogan First membership provides free upgrades to express shipping on eligible products. On top of that, members can benefit from access to exclusive member deals and priority customer service.

To take advantage of these benefits, you will need to register with Card Rewards. Also note, additional cardholders are not eligible for complimentary Kogan First membership – this feature is for primary cardholders only.

BNPL at Kogan.com

While there’s not much info available on this feature, Kogan does advertise the fact that cardholders can Buy Now Pay Later at the Kogan.com checkout, using their existing credit limit. To use the feature, you have to register your card and then opt in for an installment plan at checkout.

Interest Free Period on Purchases

If you want to make the most of the Kogan Money Black Card’s low cost attributes, clear your balance each month to benefit from up to 55 days interest free on purchases. As mentioned previously, you will not receive any interest free days when you have a balance transfer on your account.

Account Management

Kogan makes managing your account pretty easy, using either the Kogan Money Credit Cards Mobile App on your mobile device, or by accessing your account online at cards.koganmoney.com.au.

As you would expect, accessing your account online or using the app allows you to perform functions such as card activation, to review your transaction history and statements, to make BPAY payments, and to set up alerts. Using the app, you can also receive transaction updates through real-time push notifications, and chat 24/7 with the Kogan Money Credit Cards team.

Also note, your credit card statements will not be mailed to you by post – instead, you will receive e-statements to your primary email address. For that reason, it’s important to keep Kogan Money up-to-date with your email address, and to keep an eye out for statements arriving in your inbox.

Visa Features

While Kogan may be new to the world of credit cards, Visa is not. Issued by Visa, the Kogan Money Black Card offers all the basic Visa features you would expect from a classic card, including Visa payWave for tap-and-go payments under $100, and card security and fraud protection with FRAUDSHIELD and Visa Zero Liability.

This Card: The Essentials

First up, what do you need to apply? To be eligible for the Kogan Money Black Card, you will need to be an Australian permanent resident aged 18 or over. You will also need to have a valid email address and mobile number, and you must earn more than $35,000 a year.

So, as long as you are eligible, what will you pay out to keep this card in your wallet? The Kogan Money Black Card is a no annual fee credit card, which means, you will pay no annual fee for the life of the card. You can also add up to four additional cardholders at no extra cost. This is a nice extra on a rewards card as it allows you to stack up points faster.

As for interest, this is definitely not low. So, if you want to make the most of what the Kogan Money Black Card has to offer, you will need to clear your balance each month to avoid interest accruing on your purchases, while staying away from cash advances altogether.

On that note, let’s look at the balance transfer offer. If you want to utilise the balance transfer offer on this card, you will need to pay off your purchases straight away to keep interest costs down, or avoid spending on the card until the balance transfer is paid off. And while it’s nice to see there is no balance transfer fee, balances that remain unpaid revert to the card’s high cash rate.

It is also worth pointing out that, unlike many low cost cards, the Kogan Money Black Card has a fairly high minimum credit limit of $6,000.

Decision Time

The Kogan Money Black Card is unusual in that it offers rewards, while charging no annual fee. It could be a good choice for cardholders who shop frequently at Kogan.com, or those who have Kogan mobile or internet services. However, it could also work well for those who only shop at Kogan.com now and then, where it is used as an everyday card to build up points, which can then be spent as needed on Kogan purchases. Kogan First membership could offer great value for Kogan.com. shoppers, and the intro offers provide an extra boost.