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Community First Low Rate Visa Card
Community First Low Rate Visa Card

Community First Credit Cards

Community First Low Rate Visa Card

Updated 2 December 2024

A simple credit card that offers one low ongoing interest rate of 8.99% p.a. on purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances. The annual fee is low at $50 p.a. and you'll pay 0% p.a. on a balance transfer for the first 12 months (no balance transfer fee applies).Terms and conditions apply

Purchase Rate (p.a)

8.99%

Balance Transfer (p.a)

0% for 12 months No balance transfer fee.
Reverts to 8.99% p.a.

Annual Fee (p.a)

$50

$0 over 12 months

My transfer amount

Balance transfer from:

My annual fee

My interest rate

Pros and cons

  • One low ongoing interest rate of 8.99% p.a. on purchases and cash advances
  • 0% p.a. balance transfer offer for the first 12 months. No balance transfer fee applies. Rate will revert back to the standard credit card rate
  • Free Additional cardholder
  • Up to 55 days interest-free on purchases
  • Eligible for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay

  • Nothing really

Creditcard.com.au review

Editor Review

Community First Low Rate Visa Card

Pauline Hatch
Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 9 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. about this card.

The Community First Low Rate Visa Card

With one low ongoing interest rate on purchases, balance transfers and cash advances, the Community First Low Rate Visa Card is a card that knows how to keep it simple. It has a low annual fee and up to 55 days interest free on purchases when you clear your balance each month, backed by Community First customer support and all the features of a standard Visa card.

What we love...

The Community First Low Rate Visa Card is an award-winning credit card that offers no frills benefits to cardholders who want to keep costs down. One of the first things to note about this card is its super low rate of interest. This low rate covers purchases, cash advances and balance transfers, so not only is it simple, it could also help you save money day to day on your card use.

How can Community First offer such as low rate on this card? Community First is a mutual organisation, which means it is owned by its members rather than external shareholders. So, instead of looking to improve its bottom line to provide dividends to those shareholders, Community First can reinvest its profits back into the organisation to provide better rates and lower fees to members.

While you may see bigger banks offering their version of a ‘low rate’ card, it’s likely their rate won’t be as low as the one offered on the Community First Low Rate Visa Card. And, happily, its low cost status also extends to the card’s annual fee, which is lovely and low. Sometimes you find low rate cards have slightly higher annual fees, but that’s not the case with this card.

Another appealing feature on the card is its interest free period. While it’s not uncommon to find interest free days on most cards, if you want to save on interest, it’s generally better to choose a card with interest free days offered. How this works is, as long as you pay off your balance by the due date each month, your purchases will benefit from an interest free period of up to 55 days.

What’s not so great...

With its low annual fee and low interest rate, the Community First Low Rate Visa Card is designated a low cost card. While this can be a great option for money savers, the card doesn’t have much in the way of fancy features. If want more features and you don’t mind paying a higher annual fee – and you clear your balance each month to avoid interest – a card with more extras may be better for you.

Why should you choose this card?

If you want a basic card that provides you access to credit while helping you save on interest and annual fees, it could be hard to go past the Community First Low Rate Visa Card. With its super low purchase rate, you could save on interest if you carry a balance each month. And with its fairly lenient eligibility requirements, it could be a good option for cardholders getting started with credit.

The current cashback offer covers the annual fee for over 2 years, making it a good value option for an emergency card or basic credit option.

To be eligible for this card, you must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident over the age of 18. You must have a regular income and have been in your current job longer than six months. You must not have had defaults on any loans, credit cards, interest free finance or store cards in the past five years, and you must not be bankrupt.

As long as you meet these requirements, you could be approved for a credit limit ranging from $500 up to $15,000. You can then use your card to enjoy features such as Visa payWave for a more seamless experience at the checkout, Verified by Visa for safer online transactions, and Visa Zero Liability to reduce your liability if you are the victim of credit card fraud.

Overall Rating

An award-winning card, the Community First Low Rate Visa Card has an incredibly low rate and a low annual fee, with up to 55 days interest free on purchases.

User reviews

Community First Low Rate Visa Card ( based on 1 Creditcard.com.au user review )

69% rating based on 1 review

Rates
Fees
Rewards
Customer Service
Value

Rates and fees

Interest rates



Purchase rate 8.99% p.a.

Cash advance rate 8.99% p.a.

Interest free period on purchases up to 55 days

Balance transfer

Balance transfer rate 0% p.a. for 12 months

Balance transfer revert rate 8.99% p.a.

Balance transfer from personal loan No

Balance transfer fee No fee

Balance transfer limit N/A

Brands you can't balance transfer from Community First

Credit limits

Minimum credit limit $500

Maximum credit limit $15,000

Fees & repayments

Annual fee $50 p.a.

Additional cardholder fee $0 p.a.

Foreign transaction fee 3%

Minimum repayment $20 or 2.5%, whichever is greater (n0w credit card); $20 or 3%, whichever is greater (other credit cards)

Cash advance fee Domestic: $3 (n0w credit card); free (other credit cards); International: $5

Late payment fee $25

Additional features

Complimentary insurance

International Travel Insurance No

Flight Inconvenience Insurance No

Transit Accident Insurance No

Smartphone Screen Insurance No

Purchase Protection Insurance No

Extended Warranty Insurance No

Rental Vehicle Excess In Australia Insurance No

Extras

Eligible with Apple Pay

Overview

Community First Low Rate Visa Card

The Community First Low Rate Visa has a low rate of 8.99% p.a. on purchases and cash advances. Low $50 annual fee and up to 55 days interest-free on purchases.

Key features

  • 8.99% p.a. on purchases and cash advances
  • 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 12 months. No balance transfer fee applies. Rate will revert back to the standard credit card rate
  • Free Additional cardholder plus option for joint account
  • Up to 55 days interest free on purchases
  • Low annual fee of $50

Minimum criteria to apply for this card

  • Be over 18 years old

  • Good Credit and have not applied for multiple credit cards recently

  • Permanent Resident or Australian Citizen

  • You have your personal details ready to complete the online application

Pauline

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 9 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. Pauline is passionate about seeing Aussies win by making their money – and their credit cards – work smarter, harder and bigger

Recently Asked Questions

Something you need to know about this card? Ask our credit card expert a question.

16 questions (showing the latest 10 Q&As)

KELLY

KELLY

20 June 2024
Hi Pauline, I need to pay off a low urgently but have a shortfall of about $8000.00. Could I use a CC with a low charge on cash withdrawals as an option. Would this CC fit the bill. I have a good job full time but have only been in current teaching position for 10 weeks but employed as ateacher in private schools for 42 years. Appreciate any advice. Thanks Kelly
    Pauline - CreditCard.com.au

    Pauline

    25 June 2024
    HI Kelly, interesting question. Technically this could fit the bill, but it could be considered financially risky to cash advance $8,000. You’ll be charged interest and fees straight away. It might be worthwhile chatting to a financial planner to investigate the options available to you.
Dannielle

Dannielle

31 July 2023
Can you do a balance transfer and apply for credit? I have a high interest rate credit card that I want to transfer across but I also wanted a little bit of credit left on the card so I can have a working credit card and transfer my pay across each fortnight.
    Pauline - CreditCard.com.au

    Pauline

    1 August 2023
    Hi Dannielle! Yep, the way it works is that you apply for the credit card and if you're approved you get a credit limit. Then you can apply for a balance transfer (or you may be able to do it during the online application). Having credit left on the card depends on your credit limit and the amount you want to transfer over. For instance, if you have $3000 you want to balance transfer, you'd need to have a credit limit higher than that to use the card for regular spending. Just remember that banks use your repayments in this order: cash advances, purchases and - lastly - your balance transfer. So it's best to prioritise paying your debt off first. I hope that clears things up a bit Dannielle 🙂
Aaron

Aaron

6 June 2023
Aaron here i have a 254 credit score and i want to get my credit back in order i get over $100 each fortnight on dsp pesnion for life i and i have over 100k in the bank can i get a 1k card
    Pauline - CreditCard.com.au

    Pauline

    8 June 2023
    Hi Aaron, thanks for the information. Keeping in mind your credit score is only one part of your entire credit file, you can still check our article for tips on how to build your credit score. You should also get a copy of your credit file (not just score) to see what’s on there. If there’s any defaults of judgements sitting on there, any form of credit is usually out of the question. However, once you have a higher credit score and no negative events on your file, you’ll be more likely to be approved when you apply for credit as long as you meet the credit card’s eligibility criteria. Good luck with it all.
M

M

1 May 2023
1. is there a cash advance limit amount? 2. paying rates bill etc - is this considered a cash advance payment?
    Pauline - CreditCard.com.au

    Pauline

    2 May 2023
    Hi M, Community First haven’t published if there is a cash advance limit applied, you’ll have to confirm over the phone with them. In regards to your council rates, credit providers usually place the “cash advance” interest rate on government and semi-government entities. There are 3rd party apps that can bypass this. One of the more prevalent apps is Sniip. They can also let you earn points on non-traditional payments like council rates.
Brendan

Brendan

21 November 2018
Hey mate how long from start to finish will it take to receive my card? Is this card 2 or 3% minimum repayment? Thanks for your time
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    21 November 2018
    Hi Brendan, I would say 7-14 days is a good amount of time to receive the card. Minimum payment is 3% or $20 whichever is greater. Cheers
Isabel Duff

Isabel Duff

26 October 2018
Will you accept pensioners
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    26 October 2018
    Hi Isabel, Community First do not see the pension as income. Therefore you would need to have income from other sources to apply. I would have a look card like the ANZ low rate. They do see the pension as income. Though approval will depend on a range of factors. If you are putting away money each month this shows the bank you have funds available to pay off the card.
cita

cita

15 May 2018
I just have gotten a credit card from another bank but I want to change it to a much lower rate. Is that mean I have to wait for six months to do it? Thanks.
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    16 May 2018
    Hi Cita, it is possible to apply and be approved for a few credit applications within a short period of time. Though best practice would be to wait 6 months before applying again. Every persons financial situation is unique. Thus if your credit history is excellent and all other indicators are good. Then you should be able to get approved for 2 credit cards in a short time.
robert

robert

1 December 2017
my wife and I have a combined pension of 38k banks keep refusing do they do joint or single applications
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    1 December 2017
    Hi Robert, every time you apply for credit, that application is recorded on your credit file. If you apply for a bunch of credit in a short period of time you can be automatically declined for new applications. I would suggest you wait at least 6 months between apps as a general guide. I would try St George, something like the Vertigo card which you can do a joint application on. Though as suggested, I would wait now if you have done a few apps lately, get a free copy of your credit file. Then if no problems then look to apply in the coming months.
Harry Gonzales

Harry Gonzales

12 June 2017
What the minimum annual salary for this?
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    13 June 2017
    Hi Harry, there is no set minimum income requirement for this card. You need to have good credit, be over 18 and be a permanent resident of Australia to apply.
Cheyanne

Cheyanne

26 February 2017
Hi, just did a search to find where you are located and have realized you're only located in NSW. I live in VIC, can I still apply for this card or is it for people who live in NSW only? Thanks
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    27 February 2017
    Hi Cheyanne, yes you can apply for this card even if you live in VIC. Best of luck with your application.
William kelly

William kelly

20 February 2017
Hi, I've just been looking at getting a community first credit card I'm wondering wether I can transfer my ANZ credit card dept to this card and cancel my ANZ card? Thank you.
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    21 February 2017
    Hi William, it is possible to transfer ANZ debt subject to credit approval. Best of luck with your application.
Marisia Reason

Marisia Reason

10 February 2017
Do you give credit cards to people on the Disabilities Pension
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    10 February 2017
    Hi Marisia, community first do not accept pensioners for their credit card range. Though there are many banks that do e.g. ANZ, St George, NAB and Citi to name a few.
david

david

26 September 2016
do you have to be part of a union or in a government job to get this card? Also can you set a limit on how much of the credit card can be used for cash advances? My current card does this.
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    26 September 2016
    Hi David, no you dont, typically there are daily limits in place for cash advances but if you go over the counter then you should be able to get up to your limit.
Kerry Allday

Kerry Allday

22 June 2016
Wanting to know if im able to apply for this credit card thanking you Kerry Allday
Gabrielle Vasta

Gabrielle Vasta

2 March 2016
Ticking off all ur application criteria so could u send me application for Community First Low Rate Visa thank u Gabrielle Vasta
Gabrielle Vasta

Gabrielle Vasta

26 February 2016
Can I applay for credit card if I don't have a job but have income from savings interest
    Roland B Bleyer - CreditCard.com.au Founder

    Roland

    29 February 2016
    Hi Gabrielle, this varies based on your personal situation but savings or investment income is still income and counts as such. Therefore if you meet the minimum requirements with this and have good credit, then its worth a shot.
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