Review of the 28 Degrees Master Card

Update September 2016:

I no longer recommended the 28 Degrees MasterCard, as it is no longer a “Fee Free Card”. To pay your credit card back through Bpay, you now have to pay a $0.95 payment handling fee.”

Don’t bother getting a credit card from the big banks, or from other Credit Card Issuers… You need to get the 28 Degrees Master Card. I was told by my cousins, cousins about this card, and thankfully for him, it’s the best credit card anyone could possible get.

• No annual fees
• No transaction fees (for domestic and International Transactions)
• No conversion fees
• Basically, all you have to pay is for the things you buy

Pretty much, the only fees you can possibly pay is the interest (if you don’t pay your account on time), a late payment fee, or over the limit fee). So if you are good managing your credit cards, you pretty much don’t pay a cent.

I was looking to get a credit card from ANZ or Commonwealth Bank, but this card is 1000 times better. It’s like an EFTPOS Card that you can use anywhere in the world, as I’ve heard being quoted.

Every purchase I’ve made (Hotels, Car Hire, Food) where we haven’t paid by cash, I’ve put on this card. You can pay in any currency MasterCard accepts, and are charged using MasterCard Currency Conversion rate which are a lot better then what you get with banks, currency exchanges, or with the Ozforex Travel Card.

I mainly got the 28 Degree Master Card just for overseas to which it’s strongly marketed towards, but after my positive experience with it, I will also be using it as my primary card in Australia.

The other great thing about this card, is that if your account is in credit (E.g you put your own money on the card), you can do cash withdrawals without paying the Cash Advance Interest Fee. So overall, this card is much better than the Ozforex Travel Card as you can use it almost anywhere, you don’t pay the common transaction fees other cards charge, and you can make cash withdrawals – just like you would do with EFTPOS.

Support

Unlike the Ozforex Travel Card, I have rang the 28 Degrees Support hotline a couple of times, just to ensure a few queries I had (ensuring if I put extra money onto the card, and withdraw cash, I don’t pay the Cash Advance Interest). The really good thing I like about contacting support is that you can call them through Skype. So if you are stuck overseas, it won’t be an expensive phone call as all you need is an internet connection and a laptop and you are set. Just when you call them, ensure you have a headset on or no one is around you.

Since I’m camping, a lot of people are around and can eavesdrop (for those that know English). I am using my laptops inbuilt speakers and microphone and when they ask for my password, I don’t give it to them because I don’t want to yell it out across the room, so I answer my security questions. So once they confirm my account, they say “AND YOUR PASSWORD IS…..”. When I say I am in a public place, don’t yell out my PASSWORD!!!! They did that twice, both when people just happen to be walking by.

Oh, did I also forget to mention, three rings and an operator picks up the phone. Every time I’ve called them over Skype, someone answered instantly.

Insurance

The card also offences insurance, so if you purchase something on the card (with a few exclusion) and it get’s lost or stolen, they will refund you the money. If your credit card get’s stolen, they will give you $200. If you buy a TV for $1000, and you see the same TV in the shops 5 months later for $600, they’ll refund you the difference of $400. They best part is, the insurance can be free. The insurance premium is charged at 0.5% of your statements closing balance. So if you use the credit card as a Debt Card, your statement will show that you don’t owe any money, so your insurance will be $0 – you can’t get much better than that.

My Recommendation

If you are looking for a credit card to use in Australia, or even overseas, I would defiantly get the 28 Degrees MasterCard by GE Money. It’s the best card I’ve seen from the big banks such as ANZ and Commonwealth Bank.

The only downside is the future. They sent me out a survey and got me to compare some card options and they all either contained transaction fees, currency conversion fees, annual fees, or in credit fees (when you use the card as a debt card). I just hope they keep this card fee-free for a while.