a Available on new Low Fee Gold and Low Rate Gold credit cards when you create an application between 01 November 2019 and 29 February 2020 only. Excludes and all other card types. The 0% p.a. promotional interest rate on purchases is valid for 15 months from the date of card approval (and excludes balance transfers). At the end of the 15month period, the interest rate will revert to the standard variable purchase interest rate for your card at that time. Offer excludes all existing cards, switches from other card types and will not be applied if you switch to a new product during the promotional period, offer can be withdrawn at any time.
Applications are subject to credit approval. Full Conditions of Use will be included in our Letter of Offer. Fees and charges apply.
b CBA will waive your annual fee for the first year, and then continue to waive your annual fee each subsequent year as long as you spend at least $10,000 in the previous year (on purchases and cash advances only). Otherwise, the annual fee is $89.
c If you activate an international travel insurance policy included with an eligible credit card or where a claim event on other insurances occurs on or after 1 October 2018, the insurance is provided by Zurich Australian Insurance Limited, ABN 13 000 296 640, AFS Licence Number 232507 through its agent Cover-More Insurance Services Pty Ltd ABN 95 003 114 145, AFSL 241713 (Cover-More) for Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Cover is available for you, your spouse and your eligible dependent/accompanied children for return trips from Australia, up to a set period. You need to activate your international travel insurance included with eligible credit cards before each trip in order to have comprehensive level of cover. If you don’t activate, you’ll receive personal liability cover and overseas emergency medical assistance and overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses cover only.
Restrictions, exclusions (including for pre-existing medical conditions and persons aged 80 years or over), limits and excesses may apply to all insurances. More information and the relevant Credit Card Insurances Product Disclosure Statement and Information Booklet can be found here.
Would you like a low fee credit card that can fairly easily be a ‘no fee’ credit card, and still enjoy complimentary overseas travel insurance and other complimentary policies, plus the benefits of a long 0% interest introductory period on purchases and a short-term low-interest balance transfer? All of those desirable features and more are combined in the Commonwealth Bank Low Fee Gold Credit Card.
It’s a low fee card, regardless of how much you spend, and it’s free in the first year
The ongoing fee for this card is $89. But in the first year, you’ll pay no fee at all. You could apply and just try it for size, maybe for the sake of the introductory offer on purchases, or the free overseas travel insurance – both would cost you nothing.
But if you manage to reach a spending target of $10,000 with the card, in the second year, and in each subsequent year after you reach the target, there will continue to be no annual fee. At an average spend of $833 per month, it’s quite achievable for most cardholders who channel all their everyday spending through a credit card. If you do it year after year the result is a free credit card with continuing benefits.
There’s no charge for additional cardholders on the account. And if you miss the spending target in any year, $89 is not too much of a shock.
Complimentary overseas travel insurance, every year
CommBank’s overseas travel insurance is not your average credit card product. It differs in several ways – mostly good – and we advise you to read the insurance terms and conditions document very carefully if you’re going to apply for this card.
First of all, there’s no card spending requirement in order to activate overseas travel insurance. Most credit cards demand that you either purchase airfares or spend a specified amount on prepaid trip expenses using the card, for each traveller requiring cover (e.g. $500 per person). But this CommBank card delivers overseas medical expenses and liability cover automatically to the cardholder and accompanying spouse and dependent children.
Secondly, if you want to take advantage of the policy’s other types of overseas travel cover – the cover for baggage, travel delays and rental vehicle insurance excess, for example – you need to activate your cover for each specific journey by contacting CommBank online or by phone.
Finally, the free overseas travel policy does not cover existing medical conditions, or travellers aged 80 or over, or cruise holidays, or adventurous sports (skiing, bungy jumping, scuba diving, white water rafting, &c). These are fairly standard exclusions which are common to the vast majority of credit card travel policies. But CommBank differs yet again in a good way by offering optional policy extensions to remove these exclusions. There’s a premium payable for this, but your cost is likely to be much lower than if you had to start from scratch by purchasing the type of travel policy that covered one or more of these special conditions.
Extended warranty insurance
The manufacturer’s Australian warranty on both personal and business items purchased with the card is automatically doubled, up to a maximum of 12 additional months. Shop with your card and enjoy extra peace of mind.
Purchase security insurance
Although it’s not usually on a credit card applicant’s wishlist, purchase security insurance can provide very useful fallback cover if you are aware of the benefits and remember to use them. Goods purchased with the card are covered for 90 days after purchase against loss, theft or accidental damage, subject to claims value limitations on jewellery, watches and fine arts.
0% p.a. on purchases for a long 15 months
Although this benefit appears well down the list, it could turn out to be one of the most valuable if you are planning major purchases such as home appliances, technology or a holiday. You can use your card for purchases for 15 months and make no repayments (other than the 2% minimum monthly repayments) for 15 months without incurring any interest.
Just make sure you keep an eye on your mounting card balance though, because the total could be quite high after 15 months. You need to be confident that you will be able to repay the total in full at the end of 15 months, to avoid the nasty 19.74% p.a. revert interest rate.
A low interest balance transfer if you need it
You can even have a low interest balance transfer if you need it because you have existing credit card debt subject to a much higher interest rate than the 5.99% p.a. available for five months with this card.
It’s not a great offer when compared with the 26 months at 0% occasionally offered by competing cards, but at least there’s no upfront transfer fee to pay, and it does mean that you might be able to start using your new CommBank card immediately instead of waiting until you’ve paid off your existing debt.
But once again, beware the revert interest rate – in this case 21.24% p.a. – which comes into play if you can’t repay your balance in full at the end of five months.
No overseas transaction fees – great for travellers and online shoppers
Online shoppers and overseas travellers will be glad they chose this card since they can avoid the 2-3% surcharge levied by many cards, on top of the purchase price, for processing overseas transactions. Overseas transactions are defined as transactions where the merchant’s processing takes place outside Australia, even if you’ve paid in Australian dollars, so it’s easy to get caught out. But there’s no need to worry when you use this card.
Lots of built-in tech features
You’ll expect Tap & Go PIN-free transactions under $100, and you’ll get this feature with Mastercard PayPass.
You’ll be able to rely on CommBank’s award-winning internet banking and mobile apps for their functionality, reliability and convenience.
You’ll even be able to pay with your phone or wearable device via Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, since all three are available with this card.
Unpleasant ongoing interest rates
Once the introductory offers on purchases and balance transfers have expired, you’ll want to avoid the card’s unattractive interest rates on purchases (19.74% p.a.) and cash advances (21.24% p.a.).
But why would you want to spoil what can be a free card, with lots of free benefits, by paying interest on overdue balances or cash advances? Find a better way to access cash, extract great value from the up to 55 interest-free days always granted on purchases, aim to pay off your balance in full every month once the introductory offers expire, and you’ll never pay a cent in interest charges.
Take a look at competing cards
Would you like to compare this card’s travel insurance cover with that available on other cards? Check out our ‘Free travel insurance’ page by clicking on the Features drop-down list at the top of this page.
Or maybe you’re more interested in cards that have no annual fee, or the potential for no annual fee like this one? In that case, you need to visit our ‘No annual fee’ page.
Or check out our ‘No foreign transaction fee’ card page if that’s what you find most attractive.
Almost everything you could ask for
Just about the only common benefit missing from this card is rewards points. It has introductory interest rate offers, free travel and other insurance, no foreign transaction fees, no annual fee in the first year and the potential for no annual fee every year. That’s a pretty compelling basket of benefits, so if you can do without rewards points and definitely don’t want to pay for them via a high annual fee, you may find that this credit card is just what you are looking for.
The card comes with few rewards options. The only benefit you get from this card is that you get credit of 45 days when spending.
There are few offers with this card. It seems to me that this card is for those who need credit for cigarettes and wine.
The annual cost of this card is low, and if you spend a certain amount the annual fee is waived. So cost wise it is good.
The Commonwealth Bank credit cards are great in general due to their integration with their app. This allows for people with newer phones to use their card through their phone fairly easily.
The only issue I have had is the actual card itself is not amazingly durable and I had to replace one after it began to crack and eventually stopped working with some machines.
There are no fees, It’s a good credit card, and convenient. I love this credit card. It is what it’s supposed to be, a credit card but with no fees attached. How cool is that? Just pay the balance owing on time every month, and you don’t get charged one cent. I can’t believe ii, but it’s true, and I have had it for years.
This is an everyday use credit card with low fees and a good interest rate. I looked at getting a rewards card with the Commonwealth Bank, but the very helpful person I spoke to in the bank showed me the pros and cons. In the end they helped me choose what was the best for me.
Fair return for what I am paying. The card has the basics of what I need: low rates, travel insurance, and a good credit limit for my lifestyle. If the credit card had no annual fee, I think that would be the best. I’d also like it if it earned rewards points, for example with Myer.
Just put $1000 through in your annual anniversary year and you don’t pay the annual fee. Pay it off before due or when due and avoid interest charges. I keep it as a back up card to use if I forget my ATM card or it doesn’t work. Also the limit on this is high enough, so you can book holidays etc.
Low fee card, convenient and our life saver. They have excellent customer service and an easy way of paying bills. This is a very high security credit card that will always ask for additional security to avoid any fraud, which gives us a peace of mind whenever we use it.
I changed to the Low Fee Gold credit card due to the bonus points being offered and Award cards being included with use of the cards. The fees and costs are still quite high though, especially if you’re not able to pay the monthly outstanding payment each month. However, being able to add Award cards to this card is a bonus, along with extended warranty on any item purchased on the card.
I only have a low credit limit, but this is what suits me for my life style I do not like to have a large debt and the low credit limit suits me so I don’t get myself into much trouble in that way. It is convenient if something pops up before pay day.
This card gives me the ability to manage my money on a monthly basis, with low fees. Statements are easy to understand, and the bank abides by it’s promises. It’s awesome for organising and booking travel and it’s great to know I’ve paid before I even leave the country! The bank was very generous with my credit limit and do not hassle me about all sorts of other deals.
Interest rate | Period | Fee | Limit | Revert rate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Balance transfers | 5.99% p.a. | 5 months | 0% | 90% of credit limit | 21.24% p.a. |
You can't balance transfer to the Commonwealth Bank Low Fee Gold Credit Card at the promotional balance transfer rate from:
Interest rate | Period | Fee | Limit | Revert rate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Balance transfers | 5.99% p.a. | 5 months | 0% | 90% of credit limit | 21.24% p.a. |
Purchases | 0% p.a. | 15 months | N/A | N/A | 19.74% p.a. |
Monthly | Annually | |
---|---|---|
Cash advances | 1.77% | 21.24% p.a. |
Purchases | 1.65% | 19.74% p.a. |