What Is a Credit Card? | How Credit Cards Work – Page 3

Credit Cards Guides

Find guides on everything you need to know about credit cards, rewards, frequent flyers and more.

Travel Credit Cards

Frequent Flyer Credit Cards

Credit Card Rewards

Platinum, Black & Gold Credit Cards

Credit Card Basics

What Are Velocity Points & How Do They Work?

Everyday Banking

Visa and Mastercard Debit in Australia: Key Differences

Rewards Credit Cards

Credit Cards with Lounge Access

Credit Card Basics

Low Rate Credit Cards

Credit Card Basics

Balance Transfer Credit Cards

Credit Card Basics

Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

Credit Card Basics

Debit vs Credit Card

Credit Card Basics

How is interest calculated on a credit card?

Why you can trust InfoChoice

InfoChoice follows a strict editorial policy, with guides and news written by qualified professionals, fact-checked and edited by subject matter experts.

Our journalists are RG146 certified, meaning they are equipped to write about complex financial topics for the everyday consumer. InfoChoice has been a go-to source of financial comparison, rate information, calculators, and guides since 1993.

About InfoChoice Editorial Guidelines

Bernadette Lunas

Bernadette Lunas

Finance Journalist

Bernadette is a journalist with years of experience covering topics in macroeconomics, real estate, and lifestyle beats for notable print media organisations. She joined the InfoChoice Group in 2024, bringing her passion for writing stories that help Australians make better decisions about money.

InfoChoice respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, learn and work.

Important Information

InfoChoice.com.au provides general information and comparison services to help you make informed financial decisions. We do not cover every product or provider in the market. Our service is free to you because we receive compensation from product providers for sponsored placements, advertisements, and referrals. Importantly, these commercial relationships do not influence our editorial integrity.

For more detailed information, please refer to our How We Get Paid, Managing Conflicts of Interest, and Editorial Guidelines pages.

Editorial Integrity

At InfoChoice.com.au, we are passionate about helping Australians make informed financial decisions. Our dedicated editorial team works tirelessly to provide you with accurate, relevant, and unbiased information. We pride ourselves on maintaining a strict separation between our editorial and commercial teams, ensuring that the content you read is based purely on merit and not influenced by commercial interests.

Learn more about our commitment to editorial integrity in our Editorial Guidelines.

Advertiser Disclosure

Our service is free for you, thanks to support from our partners through sponsored placements, ads, and referrals. We earn compensation by promoting products, referring you, or when you click on a product link. You might also see ads in emails, sponsored content, or directly on our site.

For more details, see How We Get Paid.

Product Coverage and Sort Order

We strive to cover a broad range of products, providers, and services; however, we do not cover the entire market. Products in our comparison tables are sorted based on various factors, including product features, interest rates, fees, popularity, and commercial arrangements.

Some products will be marked as promoted, featured or sponsored and may appear prominently in the tables regardless of their attributes.

Additionally, certain products may present forms designed to refer you to associated companies (e.g. our mortgage broker partner) who may be able to assist you with products from the brand you selected. We may receive a fee for this referral.

You can customise your search using our sorting and filtering tools to prioritise what matters most to you, although we do not compare all features and some results associated with commercial arrangements may still appear.

For more details, visit How We Get Paid and Managing Conflicts of Interest.

Comparison Rate Warning and Base Criteria

For home loans, the base criteria include a $500,000 loan amount over 30 years. For car loans, the base criteria include a $30,000 loan over 5 years. For personal loans, the base criteria include a $20,000 loan over 5 years. These rates are only examples and may not include all fees and charges.

*The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

Monthly Repayment Figures

Monthly repayment figures are estimates that exclude fees. These estimates are based on the advertised rates for the specified term and loan amount. Actual repayments will depend on your circumstances and interest rate changes.

Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you.

Related Brands

InfoChoice.com.au is proudly part of the InfoChoice Group, which includes Savings.com.au, YourMortgage.com.au, YourInvestmentPropertyMag.com.au, and PerformanceDrive.com.au. The InfoChoice Group is associated with the Firstmac Group.

We may include products and services from loans.com.au, CarLoans.com.au, OnlineAuto.com.au, and YourMortgageBroker Pty Ltd, all associated with the Firstmac Group. Importantly, these brands are treated like any other commercial partner.

Learn more about how we manage conflicts of interest.

General Advice Disclosure

The information provided by InfoChoice.com.au is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. We recommend seeking independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. Before acquiring any financial product, obtain and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Target Market Determination (TMD), and any other offer documents.

Rates and product information should be confirmed with the relevant credit provider. For more information, read InfoChoice.com.au’s Financial Services and Credit Guide (FSCG).