Commonwealth Bank Credit Cards

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is one of Australia’s oldest and largest banks. It leads the so called “big four” banks and has operations across three continents. It also stands the distinction of being Australia’s first bank to be backed by the Reserve Bank. As would be expected, Commonwealth Bank carries an immense selection of credit cards to cater for your every need.

Commonwealth Bank or Commbank as it’s more commonly known, generally offers their cards with one of three focuses: low bank fees, low interest and those focused on awards.

Low Bank Fees

For infrequent card users who want basic and easy to use cards with standard features, Commbank offers several card variants. The Low Fee Credit Card has a very low annual fee and generally takes a minimalist approach to features and perks. However it’s still a functional credit card and most new users won’t notice the difference at all. The Low Fee Gold credit card has a much higher fee (contrary to its name), but is designed for more frequent users. Thus its annual fee is waived if you spend over $10,000 a year. The Low Fee Gold has additional features such as international travel insurance and shopper insurance, which are par the course for more medium range credit cards. All Low Fee credit cards have about standard market interest rates.

Low Interest Rate

Commonwealth Low Rate cards are very much categorised in the same format as the Low-Fee cards in terms of features and perks and corresponding card levels. There is a Low Rate credit card with few features, but will more than function for the average card user, and a Low Rate Gold credit card. The fees of low rate credit cards will be substantially higher (generally comparable to reward cards) but their interest rate on purchases will generally be about 6-6.5% lower than other cards. Otherwise, the features and perks of Low Interest cards are comparable with Low Fee cards, with the features of the standard and gold category of each type matching respectively.

Award Credit Cards

Commonwealth Award credit cards come in too many variants to list, but they all operate under one principle: the more you repay upon cash advancements and payments, the more reward points you get. The variants of the card – standard, Gold, Platinum and Diamond, determine how many reward points you get for per dollar paid. These points can be used in reward programs for gifts, offers, vouchers etc. Top tier Award Credit Cards are loaded with extra features and premium service, such as overseas travel insurance, personal concierges etc. But as expected, with extra service comes extra fees. The interest rates of Award Credit Cards are generally the standard market interest rate.