Please Help Me Choose a Credit Card

Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:05
Last edited 08/10/2025 - 13:17

My husband and I have a joint visa credit card (NAB Rewards Platinum Visa) which we've had for decades. We use it for all our day to day spending as well as most larger purchases. Our monthly spend is considerable (being a family of 6) but we always pay on time so as not to be hit with interest fees. We're not big travellers so travel insurance, lounge passes and currency fees etc aren't a priority. We've enjoyed accruing points with NAB which I've used mainly to convert to flybuys $$ to spend at Coles (although I also shop in equal amount at Woolworths). I'm a big user of Shopback and Topcashback though and am noticing that I'm forever missing out on "bonus" cashback offers due to not having a Westpac (or BoM or St George card).

My question is….is there any way to ascertain the relative value of points from each bank (assuming I were to continue to convert them to gift cards / flybuys $$$ to spend at the supermarket or Australian retailers)? And taking into account the "sign on bonuses" offered by Westpac/BoM/St George currently, and the opportunity to get increased cash back through Shopback, should I be switching from NAB? If so, to which bank? We don't want multiple credit cards. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you! We'd like to stick with visa card (not Mastercard), regardless of which bank we go with.

Financial Credit Card

Comments

  • jv on 08/10/2025 - 13:08
    +1

    Mastercard

    • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:18
      +1

      Sorry, I should have specified….we definitely want to stick with a Visa card - the issue is do we stick with Nab or switch to Westpac / BoM / St George to take advantage of their affiliation with Shopback and get any bonus sign up points.

  • tenpercent on 08/10/2025 - 13:13
    +2

    Visa

    • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:19

      Sorry, I should have specified….we definitely want to stick with a Visa card - the issue is do we stick with Nab or switch to Westpac / BoM / St George to take advantage of their affiliation with Shopback and get any bonus sign up points.

      • tenpercent on 08/10/2025 - 13:22

        Are there any fees?
        Do you always pay on time?

        To compare points earning and value I'd suggest a starting point (pun intended) is here: https://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-cards/

        I would probably go to another bank to get a sign-up bonus (and to take advantage of shopback bonus cashback) and then possibly go back to NAB for their sign-on bonus once you've been away from them long enough.

        • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:24

          Our Nab card has a $300 annual fee. We have always paid on time and always will.
          Thanks for the link and I like your points pun!

  • singingwolf on 08/10/2025 - 13:18
    +2

    Amex

    • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:19

      Sorry, I should have specified….we definitely want to stick with a Visa card - the issue is do we stick with Nab or switch to Westpac / BoM / St George to take advantage of their affiliation with Shopback and get any bonus sign up points.

  • Pepperchicken on 08/10/2025 - 13:21

    Have a look at this site https://www.rwrds.com.au/qantas

  • silenthillrocks on 08/10/2025 - 13:31
    +2

    Diners Club

  • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 13:36

    I just assumed that Visa is better than Amex, Diners Club and Mastercard etc because it's accepted at all retailers - in store and online? And because we wouldn't use the travel insurance / overseas travel benefits / concierge services etc that the non Visa cards tend to come with.

    • djl4 on 08/10/2025 - 17:09

      Mastercard is accepted everywhere instore and online, I've never heard of somewhere accepting Visa but not Mastercard. Most Visa cards also have complimentary insurances including from NAB. I've only ever had MC and I've never been somewhere which did not accept it. Not sure where you got this info from. Amex has by a significant margin the best point value per dollar spent because merchants pay higher fees to accept Amex, thus there is more value to pay you in terms of rewards and other benefits (RBA legislation sets a cap for interchange fees at 0.8% although due to Amex being both the issuer and network operator no such fee applies thus they are exempt). Most larger stores will accept Amex without fees like Woolworths, Coles, McDonalds, and so on whereas smaller stores will either not accept Amex or charge a surcharge. If you were willing to have two cards, using an Amex where its accepted without a surcharge, and using a Visa/MC for all other purchases would give you the best overall rewards value for money spent.

  • Drakesy on 08/10/2025 - 18:28

    Just churn and burn all the banks for the bonus points.

    Outside of owning a high turnover business, earning points from expenditure is for chumps.

  • VladImpaler on 08/10/2025 - 19:03

    If you're looking for bonus % on ShopBack my experience is that the Westpac offers are consistently better than their smaller banks.

    A simple plan could be to churn 1 card each year, taking advantage of bonus signup points. A key factor to look for is not just the earn rate per $1 spent, but also the monthly cap on points.

    AMEX is widely accepted but not everywhere, but there're little if any difference in Australia between Visa and Mastercard.

    Separate to credit cards, if you have sufficient disposable income you can just open a Westpac bank account, and when you see a deal you want just shift money to that account to get the bonus ShopBack %. Just make sure your main bank does real time payments eg Osko so you don't have to wait overnight for funds to transfer

    • Kategs on 08/10/2025 - 20:36

      Thanks. This is really useful advice. I appreciate you taking the time to share your wisdom!

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