Understanding your credit card costs
Knowing what you pay to use a credit card helps you manage it better.
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 usually be charged an initiation fee when you first sign up for a 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.
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.
It isn't all bad news, however. There are some simple ways to save on your credit card cost.
