What Is A Silver Credit Card?
With so many different kinds of credit cards available, it is often hard to know exactly what each option represents.
The term “silver credit card” may have come up in articles or comparisons, but these days it is hard to find a solid definition. That’s because these credit cards are now few and far between.
In the past, silver credit cards were a step up from standard or classic cards, offering people more benefits and complimentary extras as well as potentially higher credit limits.
A former silver credit card from Citibank, for example, offered membership to the banks Dining Program, World Privileges, an exclusive Silver Rewards program and a range of complimentary insurance options.
Similar benefits could be found with silver cards from other issuers like CUA, which used to have this upgrade option for most of the card range.
But as premium credit cards have become more accessible, silver credit cards have been pushed aside in favour of gold and platinum options.
As their names suggest, more status is given to the latter two options than for a silver credit card anyway, with benefits including:
- Higher credit limits
- Exclusive experiences and competitions through MasterCard and Visa
- More competitive rewards programs
- More complimentary insurance options; and
- Personalised services, including concierges
These days most card issuers give people three different card level choices – standard, gold and platinum – with some going even higher, like the Commonwealth Bank’s Diamond Awards card.
Credit card products are regularly updated by issuers as a way of staying in touch with what cardholders actually want and silver credit cards are not the first or the last casualty.
Above platinum cards lie even more exclusive options like the Visa Select status level, currently only offered in the form of the Citibank Select card but arguably one of the most exclusive credit cards in Australia.
The different status levels offered for credit card products give people a chance to get a card that offers them as much credit as they need plus a few more extras.
Learning about these options will help make your credit card comparisons more informed so that you can find the perfect option for you.