Go Mastercard

[abcde]

Does anyone own one of these cards?
i applied for one , .. and got my card today..

its mentions " no annual fee" on their website.

but they sent me a financial table. under fees and charges..
it says
*an establishment fee of $25 is payable as part of the monthly payment due immediately after the first statement period in which the closing balance includes an amount owing other than for the establishment fee or a buy now pay later promotion.
and
* an account service fee of $2.95 will be charged to the account monthly if the closing balance on the statement date is $10 or more.


on the first one does it mean. i have to pay a one off $25 after i activate my card?
and the second one . if i spend over $10.every month ill have to pay a 2.95 fee?
so they dont charge an annual fee.. but they charge you a monthly fee instead?

this was never mentioned in the on the website in the application.
if thats what they charge you .. im gonna cancel it

 

[JohnK]

Does anyone own one of these cards?

No but something similar.

on the first one does it mean. i have to pay a one off $25 after i activate my card?

Sounds like a once off payment after you receive your first statement and any subsequent statement contains an outstanding balance other than what is mentioned. I assume you can avoid this by continually paying off your balance before receiving next monthly statement.

and the second one . if i spend over $10.every month ill have to pay a 2.95 fee?

No. When they send a statement every month if there is an outstanding balance on the statement of >$10 you will be charged $2.95. If you pay off the balance every month before receiving statement this can be avoided.

so they dont charge an annual fee.. but they charge you a monthly fee instead?

Only if you have outstanding balance of >$10 in any statement received.

this was never mentioned in the on the website in the application.
if thats what they charge you .. im gonna cancel it

Part of the fine print. It is the enticement. Bait.

 

[oz_mark]

Does anyone own one of these cards?
i applied for one , .. and got my card today..

I have one of these cards, but mine was an 'upgrade' from a Buyers Edge Card that I got years ago. My last card was 2 years old and had not been activated..

Also, for some off reason, they keep referring to my card as a Premium Go card. I have no idea why. It is also a somewhat darker green than all the pictures would have you think.

its mentions " no annual fee" on their website.

Correct.

but they sent me a financial table. under fees and charges..
it says
*an establishment fee of $25 is payable as part of the monthly payment due immediately after the first statement period in which the closing balance includes an amount owing other than for the establishment fee or a buy now pay later promotion.
and
* an account service fee of $2.95 will be charged to the account monthly if the closing balance on the statement date is $10 or more.

On the $25 fee, my financial table does not include this fee, so I cannot comment.

For the $2.95 monthly fee, mine continues to say 'except we will not charge this fee when the closing balance on the statement date consists only of a credit card purchase balance'. This means it only applies (to me at least) if I have an interest free purchase of some sort on the account. If used just as a normal credit card there is no fee.

 

[abcde]

im a bit confused here...
i will type out the whole thing..

*an account service fee of $2.95 will be charged to the account monthly if the closing balance on the statement date is $10 or more.except we will not charge this fee when the closing balance on the statement date consists only of a credit card purchase balance*

does this mean.. i only get charged this fee if i owe them money?(ie. if i pay all my balance in full before the due date,which is what i always do. then there are no fees?)


or does it mean.. ill get charged this fee. if i spend over $10 every month?

thanks

 

[oz_mark]

im a bit confused here...
i will type out the whole thing..

*an account service fee of $2.95 will be charged to the account monthly if the closing balance on the statement date is $10 or more.except we will not charge this fee when the closing balance on the statement date consists only of a credit card purchase balance*

does this mean.. i only get charged this fee if i owe them money?(ie. if i pay all my balance in full before the due date,which is what i always do. then there are no fees?)


or does it mean.. ill get charged this fee. if i spend over $10 every month?

thanks

Understand that the Go MasterCard (like the ColesMyer Source Mastercard) is actually two cards in one. So you need to understand when is something a Credit Card Purchase and when is something not a Credit Card Purchase.

In the terms and conditions you will find that a Credit Card Purchase is defined as

credit card purchase means a purchase which is not and was not the subject of a promotional offer.

So, based on this, the way I understand this is that if you take up a promotional offer (instalment interest free, buy now pay later, etc) you will pay the $2.95 a fee month. If you just use it for normal credit card purposes you will not pay the $2.95 fee.

 

[abcde]

ive just rang customer service..
their answer is pretty straight forward..

if you spend $10 or more every month. then your have to pay the $2.95 fee every mth.
even if you pay it in full before the due date..
the only way to avoid this fee is dont use the card or dont go over $10..

bit of a scam i reckon when they advertise "no annual fee" but then charge people with this.

 

[NM]

bit of a scam i reckon when they advertise "no annual fee" but then charge people with this.

What's the problem? Its not an annual fee ... its a monthly fee.

 

[Sheriff]

bit of a scam i reckon when they advertise "no annual fee" but then charge people with this.

Now thats clever advertising !


Sheriff

 

[oz_mark]

Didn't Amex start this way with the Maximiser - no annual fee, but a $12 per month fee?

In any case, the way I read the Go T&C is that the $2.95 is not charged if used solely as a credit card (it's the except bit in the phrase). If using the card for one of the promotions you get charged.

 

[gwood]

I just signed up to reply to this thread!!

anyway, i have just got this card in early Jan 06 after purchasing some interest/payment free stuff.

there was the $25 establishment fee in Feb but an interesting line

MONTHLY SPEND REWARD $2.95CR
ACCOUNT SERVICE FEE $2.95

So i didnt pay a monthly fee. I used the card >$500 for other items.

I'm not sure what the $ amount to get the monthly spend reward is(to make it a $0 monthly fee), anyone?

 

[oz_mark]

I hunted through my financial tables and conditions of use, and can't find any reference to this.

 

[abcde]

i emailed ray hadley on radio 2GB(sydney radio station) about this..
he wrote back and told me to report it to the Banking Ombudsman on 1300 78 08 08.
he wouldnt dare read my email out on air.. because his good friends with gerry harvey.

 

[mileagemax]

Looks like GE is making amends. As they get bigger and more well known in Australia, they will get more attention. I hear they will become a bank soon, like they have overseas, so they will need to watch these things closely in the future.





GE to refund card fee

August 30, 2006 02:45pm

Article from: AAP


GE MONEY is refunding a $25 establishment fee to 2500 of its GO Mastercard customers, after the corporate watchdog claimed a statement advertising the product was likely to be misleading.
The local financial services arm of US-based General Electric agreed to provide the refund in response to concerns raised in March about one of its internet advertisements by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). A statement in the advertisement said: "There is no annual fee for your GO MasterCard. That means it costs you nothing to have it – pay nothing and make it your card of choice year after year."
ASIC said the statement was definitive of the product and likely to mislead consumers, despite the $25 fee being disclosed in other GE Money advertising material.
"The fact that an investigation of all available material will provide customers with a thorough understanding of the product does not excuse representations that are on their face likely to mislead," ASIC head of consumer protection Greg Tanzer said.
ASIC said it welcomed GE Money's decision to refund the establishment fee.
GE Money said it did not believe the statement in its advertisement was in breach of the ASIC Act, and it was therefore legal, but it was committed to working with ASIC in a cooperative manner.
"We take our compliance obligations seriously, and have worked constructively with the ASIC to develop a solution to address their concerns," GE Money chief executive Tom Gentile said.
GE Money is one of the largest providers of consumer finance in Australia with a network of 114 branches.
In March, GE Money gave ASIC an enforceable undertaking to change its life insurance sales practices and compensate affected customers after an investigation found it had provided inappropriate advice when selling life insurance products.

 

[splotgem]

hey,

Just wondering if anyone could help with this question I have regarding my go mastercard.

I'm wanting to use it, but possibly not for the big ticket items so it probably wouldn't qualify for the 6 or 12 months interest free. I'm finding the website unclear with how long I have to pay the money off - it says that you have up to 62 days* interest free.

When is it less than 62 days? and what is the interest rate after the 62 days?

Hope you can help!

 

[Cynicor]

Credit cards have 'up to' X days interest free because of when each month's cycle date is. The cycle date is when the your statement is issued and the due date for payment is set. In a card with 62 days the due date for payment would be about 1 month from the final date of the statement.

For example- your cycle date is 1st of the month. If you buy an item on the 1st your statement will be issued on the first of august and sent. It will ask for payment by the due date of August 31, giving you approx 62 days interest free.

if you buy an item on the 31st of july however, your statement still comes out on the 1st of august and is still due on the 31st august, giving you only 31 days interest free.

A quick google shows the card rate to be 19.99% and 28.99%, so it's not a cheap card.

Jon