Zero rate intro deals explode

Concerns about rising household debt levels have not caused any qualms in the marketing departments of the country's credit card issuers. The latest Cannex credit card report, released yesterday, shows that the number of cards with zero per cent introductory rate offers has more than tripled in the past six months.

Cannex said 14 cards offered no-interest deals on balance transfers. The big change is in the number of cards offering zero interest on purchases for an introductory period - up from 20 to 70 over the past six months.

The introductory period lasts from three to six months. Most issuers offer six months.

Cannex financial analyst Lauren Newlands said the cards with the cheap balance transfer and intro offers also tended to be the ones with higher ongoing rates.

Banks that offer zero interest intro periods are ANZ, BankWest and Westpac. Credit unions make up the balance of the Cannex list.

In the meantime, some card issuers have made big increases to their credit card rates. According to figures published by Infochoice on Friday St George Bank put up the cash advance rate on its Vertigo card from 18.99 to 19.99 per cent - a full one percentage point move.

St George also put up the purchase rate and the cash advance rate on its Visa BusinessVantage card by one percentage point, from 15.65 to 16.65 per cent.

Westpac put up rates on a number of cards by 39 or 40 basis points. The purchase rate on its Low Rate card went up 51 basis points from 12.24 to 12.75 per cent.