If you’re on the hunt for a credit card, there is no shortage of offers to entice you—often with same-day approval. Whether it be balance transfer offers, frequent flyer bonus points on sign-up or low interest rate cards, there are myriad choices on the market to suit a wide variety of spending habits, needs and wants.
The first question you need to ask yourself is whether you are able to pay off a new credit card in full each month. Credit cards can be a trap if not used widely, and one that many Australians are increasingly reliant on as the cost-of-living crisis continues to eat into household budgets.
If you are able to manage your money and the responsibilities of a credit card, it’s important that you shop around to find a credit card offer that suits your needs.
Here’s what you should know.
Note: The list below represents a selection of our top category picks, as chosen by Forbes Advisor Australia’s editors and journalists. The information provided is purely factual and is not intended to imply any recommendation, opinion, or advice about a financial product. Not every product or provider in the marketplace has been reviewed, and the list below is not intended to be exhaustive nor replace your own research or independent financial advice. For more information on how Forbes Advisor ranks and reviews products, including how we identified our top category picks, read the methodology selection below.
A credit card offer is a perk attached to your credit card that is unique to that particular card and designed in order to stand out against the competition and attract new cardholders. Some perks are only offered for a limited time, while others may be tied to a card permanently, such as a no interest rate card.
Which credit card offer is best for you will depend on your financial situation and preferences, as there are many different types of credit card offers on the market.
Here are our top picks for the best credit card offers currently available to Australians, listed in alphabetical order.
Below we outline the different types of credit card offers available to Australians, and round up our top ten picks for the best deals on the market right now. It’s worth noting that these deals aren’t always standalone offerings, either. Some cards will have numerous offers attached to them.
Credit card companies will frequently offer a period of 0% balance transfers to new cardholders, encouraging them to move from their current credit card issuer. Since a credit card balance transfer involves moving the amount you owe (the balance) to another credit card, you may end up saving money if you transfer your balance within a promotional period and pay zero interest.
These balance transfer offers vary with some offering the 0% interest rate for a period of six months and some for up to 28 months. After this period expires, the balance transfer interest rate is usually quite high.
Related: Balance Transfer Credit Cards Explained
Many rewards cards offer cardholders the ability to earn points, which can then be redeemed for a variety of goods and services. Sometimes these points are directly linked to the company—such as Coles’ Flybuys points program—while others can be used to redeem in a variety of stores, or even to put towards paying off your balance.
Bonus points are a common introductory offer for new customers. Credit card companies will entice individuals to sign up to their credit cards in order to receive a large chunk of bonus points if they spend a certain amount of money within a specified time frame.
Credit card companies may also offer ad-hoc bonus point specials, such as extra bonus points to customers who shop at a particular store (again, spending a certain amount of money within a timeframe). These bonus point deals are for a limited time only and vary across each credit card company due to their retail partnerships and the like.
Similar to bonus point offerings, frequent flyer credit cards may also offer deals to their customers, albeit in relation to travel. While this often involves a large amount of frequent flyer points upon sign-up, it could also include a waived annual fee of a frequent flyer membership program, access to airport lounges at no extra charge, travel insurance, and other travel-related perks.
Related: Our Pick Of The Best Frequent Flyer Credit Cards
Sometimes a credit card company may offer you a cash back deal when you sign-up and spend a certain amount on your new credit card within a specified period from when you are approved for the card. The amount of cash back, the spending criteria, and the period of time ranges depending on the credit card issuer. This is another example of an introductory offer.
It’s worth noting that some cards have cash back deals as an ongoing offer, which are valid through partnerships with the credit card issuer. For example, at the time of writing, the American Express Velocity Escape Card is offering $100 back to those who spend $500 at Samsung online when they activate the offer. These offers are valid for a limited time, and therefore vary throughout the year.
A common sign-up offer from credit card companies is to waive the first year’s annual fee for new customers, and then revert back to the standard annual fee after the first 12 months. This is an example of an introductory offer.
However, there are some cards on the market that don’t charge an annual fee whatsoever, although many charge a monthly account keeping fee. These types of cards can suit those who are looking for a no-frills type of card, that they may only use in the case of an emergency, instead of a rewards card that is designed to maximise perks and points.
Many card companies are now offering no interest rate charges on the first year for new cardholders. As this is an introductory deal, it would revert back to the actual interest rate, which may even be much higher than the average interest rate on the market.
However, there are also cards that offer no interest as a permanent offering, again suiting Australian consumers looking for a straight-forward, no-frills option.
To establish the above list, Forbes Advisor Australia conducted extensive research into the credit card offers currently on the market. To best represent all of the deals, we found a minimum of three cards for each of the following categories:
After establishing the large spread of deals available to Australian consumers, Forbes Advisor Australian then analysed the cards to find the leading contender/s of each category. The criteria varied depending on the offer, but largely included:
Answering the above questions then helped us to establish the stand-out offers in each category, and rank them accordingly. From these rankings, we then established our top 10 picks.
As you can see from our pick of the best credit card offers, some credit card deals were featured multiple times via different credit cards, while other categories were only featured once. This is due to the overall benefits that the credit card could provide a cardholder, along with the standard of reviews via ProductReview.
Whatever you decide, it is critical to fully understand the terms and conditions of a credit card agreement before applying. Though we always recommend paying off your balance in full each month, it’s particularly important with rewards credit cards as interest rates are generally higher. Any interest charges on a balance will quickly wipe out the value of any rewards earned.
A low credit limit on a credit card can be a good thing for those looking to spend within their means, and don’t want to risk falling into credit card debt. By having a lower credit limit, cardholders can be assured that they will be able to pay off their balance in the specified timeframe. Higher minimum credit limits, therefore, are more risky for those who don’t have the financial means to be borrowing—and repaying—a large figure per month. It also means that you are looked upon more favourably by lenders because when you apply to borrow for a mortgage or loan as lenders assume your credit card limit is reached—even if it isn’t—when they assess your loan viability.
While it is common for American Express to offer bonus point deals for new cardholders upon signing up, it is not guaranteed. For example, at the time of writing, only six of the nine personal American Express credit cards are offering a new cardholder offer of bonus points.
These bonus point offers are for a limited time only, and can change in value throughout the year.
Most credit card deals are only available to new card holders, and many are known as introductory offers for this purpose. If you already hold a credit card and a new offer commences, such as no annual fee for the first year, you will not be eligible. However, if it is a deal that is tied to the credit card permanently, then you will be.
The terms and conditions of each credit card deal and offer depends on the credit card issuer, so be sure to read the fine print before signing up to an offer.
