News Archive for November 2015

The US tradition of “Black Friday” is catching on in Australia, with online shopping sites adopting special deals today through to “Cyber Monday”, which are readily available for Australians.

With only a few more weeks 'till Christmas, Tigerair has launched a surprise 48 hour sale, which started at 6am this morning and will run until midday tomorrow with ticket prices starting from as little as $29 each way.

Qantas and NIB have teamed up to launch a new wellbeing app that converts steps into Frequent Flyer points, which can be redeemed on over 400 partner flights, shopping or towards bringing down their health insurance premium.

The Commonwealth Bank has today announced it will be providing refunds to some of its customers with a Mortgage Advantage or Wealth Package home loan. The refund is a result of the big bank conducting a review and finding that some customers didn’t receive all the discounts that come with these home loan packages.

Action on climate change is getting a serious push from the Greens who are calling for the creation of a new government authority to help Australia reach a 90% target for clean energy by 2030.

The Australian dollar made a surprising comeback today to US72.34 since Friday’s figures at US71.99. This boost marks a new opportunity for travellers to lock in their travel money, as the dollar is tipped to fall again.

Owner occupier and investor home loan borrowers are affected today by interest rate hikes set by a number of banks in a bid to gain capital.

Aussies are tipped to spend $96 billion over the Christmas period but are being warned that the deregulation of bank and merchant fees could cost them $650 million as a whole.

Melbourne's booming tourism industry dominated at the annual RACV Victorian Tourism Awards on Monday night. The Melbourne Cup Carnival won gold in the Major Festivals and Events category for the third year in a row, earning its place in the Hall of Fame.

It’s common knowledge that many rewards credit cards, come with high annual fees attached. Now American Express is going against the grain launching its new $0 annual fee Essential Credit Card this week.

Workers lost an estimated $2.6 billion in 2013 due to employers failing to pay superannuation accounts, revealed a report by the Construction and Building Industry Super.

Australians are taking fewer trips to ATMs that charge fees, according to the Australian Bankers’ Association. The findings revealed a 26% fall since 2009 in customers’ using a different bank’s ATM to their own.

It’s good news for investor borrowers, as AMP Bank has announced it will begin approving mortgages for investment purposes once again.

AirBnB has been in the news lately due to the death of a father at an AirBnB rental in texas, bringing to light the risks that hosts face if their home and contents policy doesn’t cover these kind of incidents.

Roy Morgan research shows consumer confidence has risen this week to its highest level since January 2014, in spite of the mortgage rate increases by a number of banks.

Brisbane and Gold Coast households are being urged to shop around for a better electricity dealafter Mozo research found the average household in these areas could save $288 on their annual electricity bill by switching providers.

While some people prefer to travel to a different destination every time, this is not always the case for Australian holidaymakers after Roy Morgan Research found that one in five chose their last destination based on having visited it before.

We’ve just had one of the coldest winters on record, but guess what? We’re all in for a sizzling summer. According to the weather bureau, Australia is going to see higher than average temperatures this season.

The Commonwealth Bank today announced that its first quarter cash profit for the three months ending 30 September 2015 has increased by 4% to $2.4 billion.

Residents as well as businesses can look forward to better access to sustainable power and savings on their energy bills if a proposed electricity network rule change is put into action.

Are you planning on paying for the cost of Christmas with the current plastic in your pocket? Before you do any major spending we recommend checking what the interest rate is. If the average credit card rate of 17.43% is anything to go by, chances are your credit card has a sky high rate attached too.

After plenty of speculation in the lead up to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s November meeting, the board has decided to drop the official cash rate to a record low 1.75%.

Mozo has urged big bank home loan customers to be prepared to ditch and switch if their bank holds out on any rate cut made today.

You’ve probably heard the off the plan disaster stories like Tara Ende’s when her developer rescinded on the contract of her Surry Hills apartment, just days after she’d contacted her bank to pay the balance.