Slay Credit Card Bills With St George Visa Debit Cards

Do you dread getting your credit card bill each month? Maybe you've made a couple of impulse buys, then paid for some concert tickets and then you used credit for a few days before your next pay landed in your account and now it has all added up to a hefty bill.

There is a way to avoid that sinking feeling every month. The answer is a Visa debit card, such as the one offered by St George Bank.

Using a St George Visa debit card means that you are using your own money instead of credit, so you won't get a bill at the end of the month. You can only spend the money that you have in your account, so you will be forced to adopt a tougher approach to your spending.

So how is a St George Visa debit card different to your current ATM card? It's not that different at all in terms of the way you access your money. The main difference is that as it is a Visa product, you can access the worldwide Visa network. This means you can access your own money not only from overseas, but also when making purchases or payments online or over the phone.

A St George Visa debit card can be used anywhere that credit cards are accepted. The one exception to this is retailers who don't have electronic facilities and require a manual imprint of your card, but the number of retailers who have this facility is extremely low and this method of payment is likely to be phased out in coming years.

St George make Visa debit cards available with two of their products, the Complete Freedom and Express Freedom accounts.

The Complete Freedom account attracts a monthly fee of $7 and allows unlimited transactions for direct debits, phone and internet banking, cheques, St George Bank branches and ATMs.

Express Freedom has a monthly maintenance fee of $5, with similar features to the Complete Freedom but with pay as you go branch and cheque services.

Credit cards can be useful for emergencies but most of the time they cause more of a financial hindrance than help. By using St George Visa debit cards, you can regain control of your finances and say goodbye to credit card debt.