Canstar’s Most Satisfied Customers Credit Cards Awards

A credit card is a great financial tool. If used wisely it can help smooth cashflow, and rewards cards can provide great cashbacks, flights and other freebies.

However, some cards do come with high interest rates, and for many the temptation of easy credit can lead to unwelcome debt.

While Canstar’s latest research into the best credit cards reveals most Kiwis (61%) pay their credit card bills in full each month, 41% do not. And, almost one in five cardholders (19%) worry about their credit card debt.

Despite this, just 5% of those in our survey have researched and switched their card to one offering lower interest rates, which means thousands of New Zealanders could be paying too much for their plastic.

If you think your credit card isn’t offering you the best deal, or are just unhappy with the level of service and value offered by your card provider, have you thought about switching to a new card?

If so, we are here to help. For in addition to the Canstar research team’s annual deep dive into the best cards on the market – which crunches the numbers on pricing and features – we also ask thousands of everyday Kiwis to rate their credit cards and providers.

The responses we receive form the basis of our Most Satisfied Customers Awards across regular and rewards credit cards.

Each year, we ask credit card users to rate their satisfaction levels with their card providers across the following categories:

The Co-operative Bank: Winner MSC Credit Cards Award

For this year’s MSC Credit Card Award, we talked to 3034 consumers with credit cards issued by Amex, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Gem Visa, Kiwibank, Q Mastercard, The Co-operative Bank and Westpac.

And the results of our research revealed one clear winner: The Co-operative Bank. The bank earned five top 5-Star rating across the eight categories listed above.

ASB: Winner MSC Rewards Credit Cards Award

How do you like your credit card rewards? Across credit cards, the rewards on offer break down into two categories:

• Cashback – cold hard cash, credited to your credit card account
• Rewards – for example Airpoints, which you can put towards flights and other goodies

While free money is always is nice, Canstar’s latest research into rewards credit cards reveals more Kiwis prefer rewards (40%) to cashback (34%). And, regardless of the freebie on offer, the majority of rewards credit cards users know how to boost their returns. Well over half of those in our research (59%) use their cards for all their day-to-day purchases, to maximise their reward earnings.

For this year’s MSC Rewards Credit Card Award, we talked to 1470 rewards card users and asked about their satisfaction levels with their card providers across the above categories.

Of the six rewards credit card providers in our survey – American Express, ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac – ASB was the clear favourite with Kiwis, earning strong ratings across each of our award categories.

The ASB offers two rewards credit cards:

ASB Visa Rewards

Features:

• Choose between earning True Rewards dollars, or Everyday Rewards points through Woolworths and bp service stations
• Use True Rewards dollars like real dollars at ASB partner stores, transfer to your ASB KiwiSaver, or gift them to charity
• $1 spend = $0.0066 True Reward Dollar
• Up to 55 days interest free

Fees and charges:

ASB Visa Platinum Rewards

Features:

• Choose between earning True Rewards dollars, or Everyday Rewards points through Woolworths and bp service stations
• Use True Rewards dollars like real dollars at ASB partner stores, transfer to your ASB KiwiSaver, or gift them to charity
• $1 spend = $0.010 True Reward Dollar
• Up to 55 days interest free

Fees and charges:

• $80 annual fee
• Joint account fee: $55 p.a (per person)
• Additional card: $30 p.a. (per card)
• Purchase interest rate: 19.95% p.a.
• Balance transfers: 0% p.a. for the first six months
• Cash advance interest rate: 22.95% p.a.

Compare credit cards with Canstar

If you’re looking for a new credit card, then let Canstar be your guide. Perhaps you want one with a low interest rate, or low fees, or want to swap your rewards card from points to cash. Our free credit card comparison tool compares all the major cards in the market and awards the best our prestigious Star Ratings. For more information on credit cards and to compare further, just click on the big button below.

Compare credit cards with Canstar here!

About the author of this page

Bruce Pitchers is Canstar NZ’s Content Manager. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines and newspapers, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery book 5 Minute Murder.