28 Degrees Versus Macquarie Black

brownbag on 19/09/2019 - 07:33

I have both the 28 degrees card and Macquarie Black. I use the former for overseas transactions and the Macquarie Black for other purposes. The Macquarie Black card now has no international transaction fees, so I'm wondering whether I still need the 28 degrees card.

I want to see if I can compare the currency transfer rate on these - I understand that the 28 degreee card is as good as you get as it they use market rates set by Mastercard. From recent checks, it is as goos as the Citibank Plus debit card. Does Macquarie also use market rates or is their currency conversion not as favourable to the customer?

Financial Credit Card

Related Stores

28 Degrees Card
28 Degrees Card
Macquarie Bank
Macquarie Bank

Comments

  • pgcs on 19/09/2019 - 08:26

    Quick look on the Macquarie site yields the info you seek:

    https://www.macquarie.com/au/personal/credit-cards/expertise…

    The bit to watch is where they are like PayPal:
    Under the Visa scheme, if the purchase is made in United States dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars, Singapore dollars, Pounds Sterling, Euros or Japanese Yen then the amount will be converted directly into Australian dollars. Purchases made in any other foreign currency will be converted into United States dollars before being converted into Australian dollars. The online conversion rate calculator shows you the indicative rates set by Visa for these conversions.

    https://www.visa.com.au/travel-with-visa/exchange-rate-calcu…

    • brownbag on 19/09/2019 - 12:02

      So Macquarie for some countries and 28 Degrees for others. Interesting. Thanks.

  • FirstWizard on 19/09/2019 - 10:09
    +1

    Out of curiosity, what's the benefit of the Macquarie Black card?

    It has an annual fee of $299 and I don't see a clear way to easily recoup the fee. Except through points, which is a lot of purchases per year.
    Insurance and other benefits are mostly the same as other platinum cards.

    28 Degrees card on the other hand, though no points, does not have an annual fee.

    • PLA74 on 19/09/2019 - 11:04
      +1

      No annual fee on mine as I used to have their Hilton CC (no annual fee) which they stopped and migrated customers over to Black card (still no annual fee).

      • FirstWizard on 19/09/2019 - 11:14
        +1

        Oh gotcha, Cheers for the reply!

        • brownbag on 19/09/2019 - 12:00

          yes, same here. I have no annual fee too on the Macquarie Black card.

  • aussie222 on 19/09/2019 - 10:47

    I've got both these cards as well. From my experience, the Visa's rates (which Macquarie uses) are approximately 0.2% worse than Mastercard's rates (which 28 degrees uses). However, due to the rewards points with Macquarie (>1% even for gift cards), the Macquarie card better for use overseas. That's my 0.2 cents.

    • RockyRaccoon on 19/09/2019 - 11:02

      as long as you spoend BIG overseas to make up for the annual fee

      • brownbag on 19/09/2019 - 12:01

        unless you have no annual fee. :)

        • aussie222 on 20/09/2019 - 13:47

          May I ask how you got the no annual fee?

          • PLA74 on 20/09/2019 - 14:54

            @aussie222: No annual fee on mine as I used to have their Hilton CC (no annual fee) which they stopped and migrated customers over to Black card (still no annual fee).

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