What credit card to get?

[LucasK]

I've been thinking about getting a credit card to make payments on the Internet, since its a lot more convenient than PayPal.

Is there such thing as credit cards where you have to put money in before they charge you? Similiar to a bank account, but in the form of a credit card, where instead of being billed for whatever you spend, you simply have a "prepaid" type of account.

[Sim]

Yup, they are called "debit cards" ... many credit unions offer them, and I think some banks do too.

I used to have a "VISA debit card" through Australian Central Credit Union while I was at uni - I didn't have much income, and couldn't afford a credit card, but the convenience of paying for stuff on VISA was very handy - provided I actually had the money in the account to cover the expense.

[Gee Cee]

:eek: Guess it depends on what you want?

I have a GMH card through Westpac. It only has a small limit. However if I have a big expense to run through it I just deposit extra funds into the account so it is positive. It earns 10% towards a rebate off a new Holden up to $3000.

Not much use if you are not buying a new car in next 3 yrs. However if you update car each 2 yrs the 3k rebate cheque back from GMH is a good move.

I like to run everything through the card.(Rates, insurances, holidays, grog, lunch out, & the odd coffee :D

I like to update my cars each 12 to 18 mths. That is if I can negotiate a great deal. (Eg February for last yr plated model or end of June specials.)

If you do it right you can virtually have a new car each 18 mths for only a few thousand dollars changeover. :) Or the cost of a new set of tyres, a maintenance service and a rego.

But if you are not into a new car each 2 yrs i am sure there are a number of cards out there that offer good benifits. Any Opinions? :cool:

[geoffw]

:eek: Guess it depends on what you want?

I have a GMH card through Westpac. It only has a small limit. However if I have a big expense to run through it I just deposit extra funds into the account so it is positive. It earns 10% towards a rebate off a new Holden up to $3000.Gee Cee

I like the general rewards programs better. A gift voucher for Grace Brothers is very much welcome.

I've had a lot of benefits because I've furnished a few units using the card, and I always pay off the full amount.

But a lot of people get sucked in by rewards, and then don't pay the balances.

MrsW has had people paying for trips by credit card. For travel, there is a 1% surcharge. Yet people still use the credit card to get reward points, even though the value of the "free" reward points is less than the exctra cost they are paying.

[LucasK]

Debit cards, thanks, I'll keep that word in mind in my search! :D

I'm mostly looking for something that's cheap and no-frills. I'm not planning to spend a lot with it, probably about $200 a year or so. My only concern is to prevent fraud as much as possible (thus the prepaid thing).

Is it true that cards that offer you cheaper per-use fees will actually have higher yearly fees, and viceversa?

[Sim]

From memory, my credit union debit card didn't cost me a cent. Your mileage may vary.

[geoffw]

Debit cards, thanks, I'll keep that word in mind in my search! :D

I'm mostly looking for something that's cheap and no-frills. I'm not planning to spend a lot with it, probably about $200 a year or so. My only concern is to prevent fraud as much as possible (thus the prepaid thing).

Is it true that cards that offer you cheaper per-use fees will actually have higher yearly fees, and viceversa?I don't know about fees. But a bank is not really likely to give you something for nothing. (That may be the reason major banks don't promote them).

A debit card will not give you a hit on servicibility in the same way as a credit card.

You have a bit of due diligence in front of you.

Your report is expected on this forum shortly :D

[JoannaK]

St George Bank issues you with a debit card as standard with each account that is opened...it's very convenient being able to use it as a credit card but only using your own money.

[LucasK]

Hi, thanks for all the advice. I've looked at getting a Visa with the lowest limit ($500). The fee seems cheap, $30/year on the no-frills option (I can't see myself spending enough money for those points to be worth the extra $29).

One of the things I'm concerned about though is the whole fraud thing. I'd only buy from stores I actually trust, and have made a check on, but still, there's that nagging uncertainty.

The bank seems to be very vague about fraud situations, they say I can dispute charges but don't seem to be able to tell me what the success rate is. If someone steals your credit card number, charges it, then disappears (or shuts down), and you dispute the charge, will it usually be successful?

[Aceyducey]

Lucas,

Visa are the ones to talk to about disputing charges, the banks are useless.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

[mmerlin]

The bank seems to be very vague about fraud situations, they say I can dispute charges but don't seem to be able to tell me what the success rate is. If someone steals your credit card number, charges it, then disappears (or shuts down), and you dispute the charge, will it usually be successful?
Hi Lucas,

In 1997 I had $1100+ of fraudulent charges racked up on my credit card. I had been using my credit card all over the internet for at least a year or so previously, I had been buying books, CD's, hosting services, domain names, etc. I suspect server security was nowhere near as important back then as it is now... and my guess is one of the databases that contained my credit card was stolen. I only used secure pages for credit card entry, and never send my card number via email, so it pretty much had to be a theft of my number from a "back end" system.

Anyway, the fraudulent charges were for things like ISP bills in Japan, and the USA, college books in the USA, etc.

I called Visa, they put a block on the card and said, send us your statements and highlight the fraudulent transactions.

They refunded all the money, except for one transaction, which was greater than 4 months old (their cutoff limit for notification of fraud).

So my simple rule is to make sure and check every single transaction on the visa statement every month and if anything unusual is on there, then call Visa immediately and you should have no problems getting a refund.

Interestingly, I have used my card on the internet with much more frequency since 1997 and I have had no problems since then. But if anything suspicious appears on my statement, I know that if I deal with it immediately then it can be resolved.

[geoffw]

So my simple rule is to make sure and check every single transaction on the visa statement every month and if anything unusual is on there, then call Visa immediately and you should have no problems getting a refund. That applies to any account.

I once had a cheque presented on my account- I only really noticed it because the cheque number didn't fit the correct sequence. On checking the cheque, the bank found the signature was nothing like mine, and refunded the amount (providing I reported it to the police).

[LucasK]

Thanks for all the advice. I've decided to try the Visa credit card to see how it goes. The yearly fee of $39 seems to be ok, and I stuck a $500 limit on the card monthly just in case. Also I just saw on ad on TV about some kind of new Visa password protection system for credit cards, although I'm not too sure how this would work.

[mmerlin]

I just saw on ad on TV about some kind of new Visa password protection system for credit cards, although I'm not too sure how this would work.
This would be the "Verified by Visa" system.
It is only available if the merchant gateway offers it, and the site you are buying from decides to implement it.
My understanding is that when you make a purchase, you are redirected to a Visa (or merchant gateway) owned page where you enter your "Verified By Visa" password and then the site you are buying from gets a response notifiying them that you are legit, since you know your VBF password. Anyway don't quote me verbatim on that, I read about it many months ago and that's what filtered through to my brain. My merchant gateway ematters.com.au (http://www.ematters.com.au) is offering VBF but I haven't used it for our customers as yet.