What are the primary things you look for when choosing a credit card? If you’re like most consumers, you probably look for low (or no) annual fees and low interest rates. If you’re already using a high interest credit card, you might also be looking for a great balance transfer rate to lower your overall interest payments.

The problem is that credit cards often focus on one or two of these benefits, but it can be difficult to find a credit card that offers all three. Not anymore! The Bankwest Zero Platinum credit card manages to combine consumer-friendly low costs of completely no-frills credit cards with just enough perks to give it an edge, and a deserved place in your wallet! read more..

ANZ Bank, along with Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and the Westpac-St. George Group, is slashing penalty fees charged to banking customers, to the tune of $750 million collectively.

New legislation, taking effect in January, allows customers to challenge the amount of penalty fees charged for overdrafts, dishonours, and late payments. Mindful of this, and also aware of the overall unpopularity of such fees, the Big Four banks have initiated reductions that are estimated to strip as much as $500 million from their collective annual profits. read more..

Do you ever feel overwhelmed when your credit card statements arrive each month? Do you stress about being able to pay off your credit card debt or meet your minimum payments? Financial stress can lead to all-around tension in the rest of your life, but fortunately there are some simple things you can do to minimise it even if you can’t pay off all of your credit card debt immediately.

Follow these tips to help you stop stressing about credit card bills today: read more..

Retail sales in Australia haven’t sagged during the recession as much as they have in other nations, so Australians are still shopping. But increasingly they’re using debit cards or cash, and leaving their credit cards in their wallets.

Data released by the Reserve Bank of Australia states that July credit and charge card receipts for both purchases and cash advances fell to $19.1 billion, a drop of −1.4% from June’s level, while the dollar amount of just purchases fell by −1.1%. read more..

It might seem a bit too early think about holiday shopping yet, but some consumers like to get some or all of their holiday shopping done early. The obvious drawback to this is that store return policies aren’t always the most favourable to shoppers. Did you know you can take some of the risk out of early holiday shopping by using credit cards? read more..