Here is a quick rundown of some popular Wizard credit cards.

Wizard Clear Advantage MasterCard

With a zero balance transfer, no annual fee, no additional charge for cash withdrawals and no charge for overseas purchases, there are many good elements to this card. These features are coupled with a 12.4% per annum rate on purchases, and 55 days interest free on purchases.

Wizard Fast Card

This card won’t cost you an annual fee in the first year, and if you spend $5000 or more on the card in a year it will be waived for that year too. There is a choice of two rewards programs and the interest rate per annum is 16.74%.

Wizard MasterCard

The Wizard MasterCard also has no annual fee for the first year and offers home loan interest rates, and can also be used wherever MasterCard is accepted internationally. An interesting feature of this card is that it can be used to access your home’s equity. An option to directly credit your salary onto this card also stands it out from the pack.

This card is designed to maintain the benefits of the previous card and add to it with some new features.

Here is a quick rundown of how the Westpac Ignite credit card works.

Firstly, there is no annual fee associated with this credit card. This is a real bonus because it means you will avoid a nasty shock when an extra fee is tacked onto your bill once a year!A competitive rate of 12.99% per annum on purchases.

An interest-free period of up to 55 days, meaning you have plenty of time to rearrange your funds before paying off your purchases.

Your account is protected from fraud through the CardShield world-class security system. This system means you will not be liable for any internet transactions made with the Ignite card without your consent or knowledge, so long as you notify Westpac of the transaction before the due date appears on your credit card account statement.

Simply put, these cards allow you to earn reward points as you make purchases on your credit card, and are in turn redeemable for a number of goods and services.

One of the most common and popular ways to redeem frequent flyer points is to exchange them directly for airfare tickets. There is a big range in the points cost and types of flights that can be booked, and they are often subject to certain restrictions. For example, the airline will normally only allow a certain number of frequent flyer point tickets on each flight.

To give you some idea of the points cost, you can currently get a one-way ticket from Melbourne to New York for 64000 points.

If travelling is not your thing, you will be pleased to know that there are many other ways to happily spend your frequent flyer points. Popular options include purchasing electronic goods (think home audio systems and gaming units), fashion items (latest sweater and jeans from top brands) and even fitness accessories (treadmills and heart rate monitors are two examples).

Earning points is pretty straightforward – simply use the credit card as part of your daily life and you will quickly accumulate points.Sometimes bonus points will be on offer, and are often even awarded simply for signing up.

Here is a quick rundown of some common credit card features, and how they can be used.

Frequent Flyer Schemes

Simply put, as you spend money on your credit card, you accumulate points that can in turn be exchanged for airfare tickets (and sometimes other goods). Sometimes there can be catches (such as points expiring or only being awarded when you spend a certain amount), so research it fully before signing up.

Balance Transfer

If you have racked up an insurmountable credit card debt, you may want to address this by shifting to a balance transfer card. These cards will offer you very low or zero interest on transferred debt for a period of time, thus enabling you to rearrange your payment schedule.

Travel Insurance

Some cards will cover you for the duration of your travel stint overseas. This is particularly advantageous for those who regularly travel on business, and can mean quite a saving. Check the requirements – sometimes you have to pay for the airfares on the card, and sometimes it will only cover you for a certain length of time.

This is perfectly natural, because we want to be as informed as possible about how much the credit card is likely to cost us.

But there is more to take into account in terms of the cost of a credit card than just the interest rate.

Let’s take a quick look at the main fees associated with credit cards.

Credit card low interest deals are pretty common. You can get a standard credit card with an interest rate of somewhere between 11% per annum and 13% per annum. This seems to be the industry standard, and has been for some time.

If a credit card offers you a lower rate than this, it is likely there is a catch in another area. For example, the annual fee could be higher, or you may have to pay excessively high late payment fees.

Most annual fees on standard cards come in at around $48, with some pushing closer to $100. If you sign up for a card with a $100 annual fee you will want to make sure it offers pretty great features!

Also, remember to check that the interest rate the bank has offered you on your new credit card is not just a ‘honeymoon’ rate. Sometimes a very cheap rate will be offered just to lure you in, but it is only a temporary rate. Very soon the rate will increase and you will be left trying to pay off more money!

When you are looking for the best credit card online there are quite a few options available to you.

An option that is increasing in popularity is the credit card comparison websites, which list the details of recent credit cards alongside one another and allow you to compare their benefits and drawbacks.

There are a number of these sites around and they are growing, but be aware that not all are as useful as others. Once you find one that you like it is a good idea to stick with it.

A second good option is to go directly to the website of the major credit cards providers. This is a ‘direct to the source’ approach, and is recommended because it will ensure you will get the most reliable information about the available products.

This option is generally more time consuming than using credit card comparison websites, but you may find it worth it in the long run.

A final option is to have a look at the recommendations put forward by online finance magazines. These are often good sources of credit card information because they have credibility and they will also be in the know about the latest deals to hit the market.

Ultimately, you may find a mix of approaches will yield the best results.

But with a little patience and organisation, you will soon find that filling out the application is straightforward and won’t even take very long.

The first thing to do is get hold of any documents you will need to fill out the application. Normally, this means you need to provide: your gross annual income, details of your employer, details of your home value, outstanding loan amounts, savings and cheque account details, and information about any other assets or investments.

You will need to be at least eighteen years old to apply for most cards, although there are some that will allow you to apply if you are sixteen years old.

In Australia, you will need to be permanent Australian resident or have a current Australian visitors visa in order to apply.

If you are applying through a bank, you will also need to create a bank account to. This means you will need to follow the normal account setup process, and will have to provide a certain number of points of identification. Normally this means either a driver’s license or passport and two other documents (birth certificate, pension card, council rates or utility bill).

A gimmick that has been around for a long time now and remains successful is the instant approval credit card.

Normally, when you apply for a credit card, a proper review process takes place. The organisation you are applying with will take a look at your credit history and your financial situation, and then they will approve or decline your application.

With instant approval, the criteria you have to satisfy in order to gain approval are greatly reduced. Instant approval cards are often plugged at the point of sale of big retail stores, because this is where consumers are most tempted to sign up.

A big selling point for instant approval cards is often that they will give you an instant discount off a purchase you are about to make. Say you are buying $200 worth of clothes, you may get a $40 discount by signing up to the card.

Unfortunately, there are some things to be careful of when signing up to instant approval. You need to properly read the terms and conditions, or else you may be slugged with a hefty signup fee and other ongoing fees. The interest rate may also be high.

Remember also that it may not be great for your credit history to open a new line of credit. Credit assessors always look at the number of cards you have when compiling a credit report, and every additional card could be seen as an unnecessary risk.

Here is a quick overview of secured credit cards and the ways in which you can search for one that will suit your needs.

What is a secured credit card?

It is a card that requires an amount of money to be deposited on the card before you can use it. For example, if you put $600 on the card, you can then make up to $600 of purchases on it. Most of the time you will be able to continuously add credit to the card as it suits you, and some cards will even reward you for regular use by issuing bonus credit.

Where do I get a secured credit card?

Most top financial institutions will have at least one secured credit card available in their line of credit cards. It is a good idea to browse comparison websites, as these will normally have the most up to date cards and will inform you about the current market standard.

What are the charges?

Some cards will have an application fee, so seek out the ones that do not. There is also quite a bit of variation in the annual fee, so make sure you are happy with the fee you will be charged before signing up.

How much do you have to deposit?

This will vary from card to card, but will normally be between $300 and $500.

Regardless of whether you want to tie in your new credit card to a bank loan or some other financial setup, you will want to get the best advice possible before you sign up to a new credit card.

Here is a quick rundown of the elements that should be included in a good credit card review.

Firstly, the most up to date credit cards should be reviewed. It is no help to you if the cards being discussed are six months out of date, because the credit card market is constantly updating and new cards come out all the time. You want access to the latest information about the latest cards.

Secondly, a full explanation of the fees and charges needs to be listed. This means the interest rate, the interest-free period, the annual fee, the start-up fee, late payment fees and any other charges that could come your way. This is crucial information.

Thirdly, an explanation of any bonus features that come with the credit card. Most of the big Visa and MasterCard cards have a reward points scheme, for example a frequent flyer points scheme. Sometimes the best card is the one that you can redeem for extra value, so it is a really good idea for the review website to list the bonuses that accompany each card.