Commonwealth Bank Low Rate Gold Credit Card

Key features

If you apply before 30 June 2020 you could benefit from a 0% p.a. purchase rate for the first 15 months from the card approval date. It should be noted that the 0% p.a. offer excludes balance transfers, cash advances and is not available if you already have a card or if you switch from a different card or to another card during the 15 months. When the 15 months is up, the standard purchase rate for the Low Rate Gold Card will revert to 13.24% p.a. And if you pay your balances off in full each month, you'll get up to 55 days interest free.

There's also free travel insurance with this card, which you will need to activate via NetBank before you leave Australia.  Otherwise you will only be covered for the base insurance which is limited to cover for overseas medical and hospital expenses only. Your insurance will cover you for your spouse and children who are travelling with you but be sure to read the Product Disclosure Statement in full before your trip as there are some limits on the coverage and exclusions. You can upgrade your coverage if you need.

The Low Rate Gold Credit Card is a Mastercard so you can use the card anywhere where Mastercard is accepted around the world. For convenience it also comes PayPass enabled so just "tap and go" for purchases under $100, plus Apple Pay. Overseas purchases (online and in person) are subject to a 3% international transaction fee.

Other perks of the card include purchase security insurance, which means that if an item bought on your card gets lost, damaged or stolen within 90 days of purchase Commonwealth Bank will replace or repair the item. There is also extended warranty insurance which gives you an additional 12 months warranty on top of the manufacturers warranty.

If you live in Sydney or travel to the city regularly you'll also get access to Mastercard's Priceless Sydney service which gives you exclusive offers to restaurants, sports and entertainment events. There are a number of other Priceless cities around the world which you can also access with your Mastercard.  

New users will also get a fun bonus. You'll score $200 if you apply for the card by 28 October 2020 and spend $1,000 on eligible purchases using your new card by 31 January 2021.

The card also comes with a handy lock, block and limit feature to give you greater control by allowing you to set limits or block features that you don't want activated. For instance if you are not travelling you can block the card from overseas transactions, you can also block ATM cash withdrawals and limit the maximum purchase amount that can be processed in a single transaction. Best of all the feature is fully self managed so you can change them whenever it suits you via NetBank or the CommBank App.

Who is it good for

The Low Rate Gold Card is a great everyday credit card to have in your wallet here and when you travel. The low purchase rate means that if you occasionally carry a balance on your card you won't get too hard hit by interest payments.

There's a minimum credit limit of $4,000 so if you only want a low limit try the regular low rate card.

Any catches

You'll have to automate your monthly repayments if you want to avoid paying a $20 late fee.