Which Card Is Better CreditLine or Gem?

kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:02
Last edited 12/09/2019 - 08:42 by 1 other user

Both Samsung and Apple have 0% financing options. I figured it's a good idea not to cause a big dip when buying some new phones this year for the family.

CreditLine has a $0 annual fee, but $4.95 monthly fee, which comes about to $59.40

Gem has no monthly fee, but an annual fee of $99

I want to use one card to buy both products from Apple and Samsung.

Are there better cards out there? Should I worried about other hidden costs (I will be paying the installments on time of course, so I won't incur any fee… right?). Will the price of a product be different if I used Apple finance or Samsung Finance? What's the catch?

All the cards are from Latitude finance, but CreditLine seems the cheapest.

Update:
Both CreditLine and Gem charge $0.95 for online "payment handling"

Financial Credit Card

Related Stores

Latitude Financial
Latitude Financial
Latitude Gem Visa Card
Latitude Gem Visa Card

Comments

  • twobit on 11/09/2019 - 19:04

    GEM also charges $0.95 per deposit from memory but has 6months interest free for purchases over $250

    • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:05

      ew, all the more reason not to go for it. wonder why Latitude has so many different cards that offer pretty much the same service - 0% interest fee installments

    • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:09

      but it also says "You can avoid this fee by making your payments via mail, direct debit or via the Online Service Centre." how does that work lol, what other online payment method is there… payment to their bsb account via my bank would incur a fee, but not their online service center?

      what if their online service center has a sign up charge lmao

      • tomsco on 11/09/2019 - 19:19

        what if their online service center has a sign up charge lmao

        It won’t.

        Payment via the Online Service Centre (OSC) is basically like a one off direct debit. It pulls the money from your bank account.

        The 95c charge will be for BPay payments.

        • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:27

          interesting that line is only there for the more expensive option Gem. not for CreditLine cards.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 11/09/2019 - 19:19

    Latitude are a shitty company, with shitty practices and shitty governance.

    Pay cash, otherwise if you can't, consider why you're buying $1k+ phones if you can't afford it.

    • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:26

      everyone likes their price protection card though.

      why you're buying $1k+ phones if you can't afford it

      I can but based I dont like the hit to my bank account, would rather have it spread out over time, just a mental state thing

  • Godric on 11/09/2019 - 19:26

    No Credit card

    • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 19:28

      Ive used Coles and Woolies credit cards for their $100 offers, and have dumped one, and use the other for collecting points and always pay (the full amount) on time.

      I often get calls from them to get loans from their cards, but I aint falling for that trap.

  • Stone Monkey on 11/09/2019 - 19:31
    +1

    The correct answer is neither card. They both terms and conditions which are designed to have you pay more in fees and charges.

  • tsunamisurfer on 11/09/2019 - 21:48
    +1

    Lets say your 2 phones are $1000 each.

    That $2000 in your bank account will be lucky to fetch $20 @ when you consider interest is 2%, with an eroding principal as you will be making payments and after taxation.

    So for the benefit of $20 and your faux happy mental state of not 'taking a hit', you'd happily part with $160 in fees? Thats assuming you will pay off your debt by the 6 month interest free period, otherwise interest at 20%.

    Sorry this plan is crap….if you have the money right now, use it rather than pay for a credit facility.

    There's not even rewards at the end of this rainbow.

    • kehuehue on 11/09/2019 - 21:53

      ok you win. i got it through the 28 degrees card.

  • BlueGlass on 11/09/2019 - 22:44

    Both of the options you have provided are awful. period.

    but…

    Depending on when you are planning on actually paying for the phone, a zero percent purchase rate may be suitable. You can get a full year (-1 day) for $0 apparently from the top listed offer in the link below. You will still have to pay 2% of the outstanding balance per month, but that's not really a big amount. Just pay off the full debt within a year!

    Really though, the whole point of credit cards is to reap fees off those who don't really understand the underlying profit model associated with credit cards. a few users pay most of the fees, which subsidises the benefits of the credit cards to others, who then spruik then benefits to others, thus finding more users to pay the fees.

    https://www.finder.com.au/credit-cards/0-purchase-credit-car…

  • the Unforgiven on 12/09/2019 - 11:29

    I have 2 CC from Latitude because of Hardly Normal 50 months interest free, if it wasn't for that, I would never get one of these cards

    Is Gem any better?

    Can you get a low interest rate CC from a major bank, not a small company, they are small for a reason; where do they make up their money from?

  • Stone Monkey on 13/09/2019 - 11:07
    +1

    Interesting article today, about these types of consumer loans provided by retailers like Harvey Norman and finance companies like Latitude Financial.

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/northern-ter…

    They have been fined 2.5 million dollars.

    This statement from the article is the most relevant to this discussion

    Unlike mortgages and other loans, credit provided by retailers is not regulated by the National Credit Code and they do not have to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.

    • kehuehue on 13/09/2019 - 12:05

      interesting, thanks for posting

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