Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Gold Credit Card

Do you like the sound of a credit card that lets you carry an interest-free purchase balance from month to month for a long 15 months, and then has a low ongoing interest rate once the introductory offer expires? The Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Gold Credit Card has a fairly low annual fee in addition to its low interest rate, but still packs in some valuable complimentary overseas travel insurance plus other useful insurance cover.

0% interest rate on purchases for the first 15 months

This is a really beneficial offer if used wisely. For the first 15 months after card approval, you’ll only be required to make the minimum monthly repayment – the greater of $25 or 2% of your balance owing. And you won’t be charged any interest at all on the purchases part of your balance.

It’s an offer best used if you have major expenditure planned, such as a holiday, kitchen appliances, furniture or technology. You’ll get some interest-free breathing space to accumulate enough cash pay off the purchase price. Just remember that any unpaid balance from month 16 onwards will attract interest at 13.24% p.a. It’s a low rate (for a credit card) but still best avoided if possible.

Low ongoing purchases interest rate will help when you can’t repay all your balance

It could be worse, though. Many credit cards have a purchases interest rate of 20% p.a. or more, which is seriously nasty. When the 13.24% p.a. purchases interest rate kicks in in month 16, you’ll be glad you chose this card in preparation for those times when you just can’t manage to clear your balance by the due date.

Up to 55 interest-free days on purchases – ongoing, after introductory offer expires

Here’s another feature to be pleased about. When purchases are no longer interest-free beyond the normal payment due date, you’ll still get up to 55 days interest free on each purchase transaction. That’s much better than some cards which offer only 44 interest-free days. It means that there are 132 more days each year during which your cash can remain in your bank account, earning a little bit of interest.

Free overseas travel insurance with optional extras you can pay for

This is not your average card, and it comes with complimentary travel insurance that’s also a little out of the ordinary.

Most credit cards require you to pay for a substantial part of your travel costs with the card in order to activate the ‘free’ travel insurance. But CommBank does things a little differently. You’re automatically covered for emergency overseas medical expenses for the cardholder and accompanying immediate family members, plus personal liability cover, without spending a cent – just because you hold the card.

However, before you leave Australia you should contact CommBank to activate the rest of your free cover, for baggage, travel delays, rental vehicle insurance excess and more.

Another unusual feature of CommBank’s overseas travel cover is the optional extras cover. Once again, the average credit card policy will not cover you for adventurous sports (e.g. skiing, bungy jumping, scuba diving, white water rafting), or for cruise holidays, or if you’re aged over 80, and CommBank’s cover is no different in this respect. But it does offer you the option to add on one or more of these features by paying a premium, once again saving you money because the add-on premium will almost certainly cost less than the kind of gold-plated policy that covers unusual events.

More free insurance cover

In addition to the overseas travel cover, you’ll also receive extended warranty insurance (doubling the manufacturer’s Australian warranty on your card purchases, up to a maximum of 12 additional months) and purchase security insurance (protecting your card purchases against loss, theft or accidental damage for 90 days).

Short low-interest balance transfer if you need it

This is not a standout benefit when compared with the 26 months at 0% offered by some cards as a balance transfer feature. You can transfer a balance to your new CommBank card and pay a low 5.99% p.a on the balance for five months, reverting to the 21.24% p.a. cash advance rate from the sixth month if you haven’t repaid it by that time.

But if you like the card’s other benefits, it could be worth bringing across a balance (especially if you’re currently paying around 20% p.a. on your credit card debt) so that you can take advantage of your new CommBank card right now instead of waiting until you’ve paid off your existing balance.

Priceless Cities

Under this heading, CommBank assembles special worldwide dining, entertainment, sporting and cultural experiences for its cardholders – often at events not available to the general public, or with priority access or reserved seating.

Mobile wallet enabled

If you have a smartphone or wearable device and would like to use if for making fast credit card purchases, you’ll be pleased to know this CommBank card is compatible with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

Lots of handy features in NetBank and the CommBank app

Take full control of your spending via NetBank online banking or the CommBank mobile app. Here are just some of the things you can do:

• Block or unblock international payments
• Block or unblock contactless payments
• Temporarily lock your card, unlock it when you’re ready
• Set a spending limit per transaction
• Set a cap on total spending in a given period
• See where you money goes with Spending Tracker & Insights
• Set up a SurePay instalment plan for managing repayments

Reasonable annual fee

The word ‘gold’ is in the card’s name for a reason. It has plenty of features to set it on a level well above the sort of cheap and cheerful card that has no frills and no – or a very low – annual fee. But the $89 annual fee is not unreasonable given the included benefits. There are no rewards points of course, but you usually have to pay more for those.

Compare other options

Before you decide, compare this card with similar offerings on the ‘0% purchase’ page in our Features section. You’ll find that most of them have a higher annual fee, or if the fee is lower, no complimentary insurance cover.

Common sense and good taste

Just because you are shrewd enough to look for a card with a low interest rate, it doesn’t mean that you don’t appreciate the finer things in life, like broadening your horizons with travel and cultural events. CommBank have designed a card that will appeal to a select section of the market looking for gold benefits coupled with a budget interest rate and a moderate cost.

You can't balance transfer to the Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Gold Credit Card at the promotional balance transfer rate from:

• Aussie
• Commonwealth Bank