After all, if you know the costs involved you can budget properly while avoiding any surprises that might blow your budget. For a start, you’ll be charged an initiation fee when you first sign up for all credit cards, except if it's a Nedbank Savvy or Professional Bundle credit card.

Your monthly costs

After you have signed up, you will notice certain fees that are charged to your credit card every month. A key benefit of a credit card is that you don’t pay any fees for transactions when using your card.

The main monthly fee is the service charge, which will differ according to the type of credit card that you have. The Savvy and Professional Bundle credit cards don't have a service fee. The same exemption applies on these 2 card bundles if you have an additional card on your credit card account. 

How this works is that you can apply for a second card that you can give to a loved one or trusted companion. Although it’s a separate card, it’ll be linked to your primary credit card account. So, anything bought on the additional card will also reduce the available credit on your main credit card.

Unless you can't avoid it, it’s more cost-effective not to transact in the branch

The only other monthly fee you may be charged is for your participation in the Greenbacks Money Management Programme. This fee applies if you have a Greenbacks credit card or a regular card that is linked to Greenbacks.

Extra costs to be aware of

Your budget could be threatened by a series of costs for services or transactions aside from card swipes at the till.

Most of these fees can be avoided completely if you do self-service banking via Online Banking or the Nedbank Money app. This applies specifically to services like balance enquiries and account statements.

Where you will always pay a fee is if you go into a Nedbank branch to do anything from depositing cash to requesting an account statement. In fact, unless you can't avoid it, it’s more cost-effective not to transact in the branch.

You’re usually charged for electronic or inter-account transfers, as well as deposits and withdrawals. Some products do offer free deposits and withdrawals, so if that will be a major feature of your credit card use, you’ll want to consider them.

Other extra charges to be aware of include those on declined transactions due to insufficient funds, for buying petrol, for incorrectly disputed transactions and for failed payments.

You can also be charged for services like having your credit card delivered or ordering a replacement card if you lose yours. But once again, there are card accounts that include these services for free, so look out for them.

You’ll be charged for international currency conversion, too. And lastly, you also pay a small fee for any Lotto, Lotto Plus or PowerBall tickets you buy with your credit card.