Westpac 55 Day Credit Card

The Westpac 55 Day credit card has gotten a lot of positive feedback from cardholders, probably because it is such a no-frills card without any hidden fine print. Thanks to the low annual fee, the Westpac 55 Day card is a great choice for infrequent spenders or for a first-time credit card.

Benefit of the Card’s Best Features?

Compared to all the hoopla amongst Australian credit cards, the Westpac 55 Day credit card is remarkably simple. There aren’t any hidden catches and even those unfamiliar with how credit cards work could easily manage this one. Even the fee system is straight forward and easy to understand. If you miss a payment, you pay $9. If you go over your limit, you pay $9. The fees only occur once in a billing cycle – not recurrent like with some other cards.

The Westpac 55 Day credit card does have a nice introductory deal of 0% p.a. interest on purchases for 5 months. You will want to make sure you pay off all your purchases within this period though or you will face hefty interest later.

With a low annual fee of $0 p.a., the Westpac 55 Day card is by far one of the cheapest credit cards on the market. They even waive the fee for the first year and will waive it in subsequent years if you spend $10,000 in the previous year.

If you are responsible about paying your bills on time, then you don’t have to worry about accumulating any debt on interest. With 55 interest free days, it becomes much easier to pay your bills on time and avoid interest repayments.

There are also some other nice small perks. They have a useful contactless technology which lets you just hold your card up to a payment termincal to make purchases (of under $100). You don’t have to put in a PIN code or anything. It is also nice that you get to choose between Visa or MasterCard.

Are There Any Drawbacks?

In terms of interest rates, this card is mediocre in every category. Interest rates are variable and the 19.59% p.a. on purchases could really take its toll if you don’t pay your balance at the end of the month. At 21.49% p.a., cash advances are worse than the already-bad industry norm. To make cash advances even worse, you will have to pay 2% of the amount you withdraw or a minimum of $2.50.

Even though Westpac offers a balance transfer promo, it is not the best deal currently available at 3.99% p.a. for up to 6 months. After 6 months, any outstanding balance will revert to the interest rate of 19.59% p.a. If you do decide to use this balance transfer deal, then make sure you pay off your purchases at the end of the month! Any payments you make to your credit card will first go to pay off the balance transfer. So, until you pay off your balance transfer in full, you will be paying the high interest on purchases. You don’t even get the 55 day interest free period until you pay off your full balance transfer.

Who Would be Suited?

Westpac’s 55 Day credit card may be an option if you have some big purchases to make in the near future – but only if you can pay them off within the promotional period. You could benefit from the balance transfer promo if you are paying very high interest at your existing credit card.

Who is Eligible?

To be eligible for the Westpac 55 Visa or MasterCard, you must be at least 18 years old and a permanent resident of Australia.