No Credit Card for You!

Hi Scott,

Today I opened accounts with ING Direct and applied for a credit card. I also transferred money from my current bank to ING. With my credit card request, it was denied because I am retired and do not get a weekly payslip. My wife and I get over $40,000 a year tax-free, own our home, and have very little debt. Their decision to refuse me, even though I have an exceptional credit history, smells of discrimination to me. Your thoughts?

Doug

Hi Doug

Yes, it sounds like the bank is discriminating against you … though is that a bad thing?

Given you’re retired and living off $40k a year, it could be argued that you can’t actually afford a credit card.

If you don’t pay it off each month, the interest bill will make everything you buy 20% more expensive. And if you are paying it off each month, why bother?

Rewards points, right Doug?

Unfortunately rewards points are ‘so 2016’.Analysis from comparison site Mozo has revealed that the big four banks have slashed the value of their rewards points by a whopping 96% since 2016. Here are the figures: if you spend $24,000 a year on your credit card, you’ll receive, on average, just $12 back in rewards.

And if you forget to pay your CBA credit card bill you’ll be hit with a $20 fee, plus backdated interest.

How’s that for discrimination?

Scott

Reminder: I first wrote about this years ago and highlighted the low fees. Today there are better bank accounts on offer. How do I know? Because my readers constantly email me about them! So before you do anything, google the best accounts on offer now.