virgin credit card ripping off its australian customers

[kristo]

Virgin credit card are offering UK customers 0% balance transfer but Aust customers must pay 6% or more.
Are they treating us as fools!

 

[johnsmith]

Virgin credit card are offering UK customers 0% balance transfer but Aust customers must pay 6% or more.
Are they treating us as fools!

In the UK Virgin use MBNA Europe Bank as their credit provider and here in Australia they use Westpac, I suspect Virgin don't have much say with the interest rate they charge since they are at the mercy of the big banks.
Almost every credit card in the UK offers 0% for 6 months and I think there are about 450 different types, there is not enough competition here in Australia yet, this will change as more credit card providers are allowed to operate here.

 

[dracoaus]

This thread is a bit old, but for the sake of fairness I must point out that the complaint madde by the original poster is no longer valid because virgin money australia has had an offer to Pay 0% interest for six months when you transfer the balance of your existing card to them and you're a new customer for quite a while

Draco

PS and the offer is not that special now anyway as there's pretty hot competition in the credit card market, if you look at Credit Cards: Compare Balance Transfer than you'll see half a dozen card issuers offering 0% transfers for 6 months

 

[bigjobs]

This thread is a bit old, but for the sake of fairness I must point out that the complaint madde by the original poster is no longer valid because virgin money australia has had an offer to Pay 0% interest for six months when you transfer the balance of your existing card to them and you're a new customer for quite a while

Draco

PS and the offer is not that special now anyway as there's pretty hot competition in the credit card market, if you look at Credit Cards: Compare Balance Transfer than you'll see half a dozen card issuers offering 0% transfers for 6 months

in the US you can get 0% APR on new vehicle purchases for the entire finance period ... i guess it all comes back to the size of the market place, we are just too small here i suppose.

 

[oz_mark]

in the US you can get 0% APR on new vehicle purchases for the entire finance period ... i guess it all comes back to the size of the market place, we are just too small here i suppose.

Hmm, I wish that were the case here.

 

[dracoaus]

in the US you can get 0% APR on new vehicle purchases for the entire finance period ... i guess it all comes back to the size of the market place, we are just too small here i suppose.

another reason for that is because the big US auto companies (Ford etc) are hemmoraging $$ and they have so much excess car manufacturing capacity that one of the ways they get rid of excess stock is ridiculous finance deals like the one you mention

 

[bigjobs]

another reason for that is because the big US auto companies (Ford etc) are hemmoraging $$ and they have so much excess car manufacturing capacity that one of the ways they get rid of excess stock is ridiculous finance deals like the one you mention

these are not ridiculous finance deals from a consumer perspective. what is ridiculous from a consumer perspective is current credit card interest rates in this country and indeed interest rates in general in this country.

 

[dracoaus]

these are not ridiculous finance deals from a consumer perspective. what is ridiculous from a consumer perspective is current credit card interest rates in this country and indeed interest rates in general in this country.

sure, I meant ridiculous from the companies perspective because they're losing money hand over fist

 

[clifford]

these are not ridiculous finance deals from a consumer perspective. what is ridiculous from a consumer perspective is current credit card interest rates in this country and indeed interest rates in general in this country.

Have to agree with you bigjobs, but as I have said before, Australians are happy to pay way over the odds for most things.

This is what fuels the country's rapacious banks, and big business in general, etc, etc.

Guess you have to take the bad with the good if you live here.

 

[bigjobs]

Have to agree with you bigjobs, but as I have said before, Australians are happy to pay way over the odds for most things.

This is what fuels the country's rapacious banks, and big business in general, etc, etc.

Guess you have to take the bad with the good if you live here.

yeah, when all is said and done, our country is just the best place in the world to live.

 

[shutterslide]

The point written by other users are quite valid, the credit card market in the UK is very different and far more competitive than the Australian market.

The good news is that the Virgin Credit Card is currently offering 0% balance transfers for 6 months to Australian customers.

I run a credit card comparison website and in my opinion Virgin is doing more to make credit cards competitive in Australia than any other company. Since they have entered the marketplace many other companies have dropped their interest rates or annual fees.

In the UK it is almost unheard of to pay an annual fee on a credit card yet in Australia it is very normal even for credit cards with few features. If you spend a fair bit on your credit card and pay the balance off each month then getting a credit card with an annual fee and a rewards program can more than pay for itself but if you want a basic card with no annual fee, low interest rate and the 0% balance transfer I think Virgin is hard to go past and I don't think they are ripping people off.