The Bendigo Red Credit Card has some large shoes to fill as the sibling to the
Bendigo Basic Black - and it fails. Miserably. It's the La Toya Jackson to the Bendigo Black's Michael, and while it may not matter if you're black or white, you definitely don't want to be Red.
It seems Bendigo have put all their eggs in the rewards basket. They've gambled that consumers will tolerate a high interest rate, a below-average interest free period and the absence of any normal mid-range features for the sake of Bendigo Rewards.
Unfortunately, Bendigo Rewards is awful.
The earn rate seems impressive enough. You'll accumulate one point per dollar spent and can earn up to an addition six bonus points at partner retailers, including Air New Zealand, Best Western and Stamford Hotels & Resorts. You'll also earn one point per dollar balance transferred (although we couldn't find any further information on this elusive balance transfer offer).
However, while the redemption options are broad, the value is terrible. A $100 department store voucher requires 36,667 points. Without bonus points (and the list of bonus point partners isn't long), you'll need to spend $705 a week for a year.
The value doesn't improve for other redemption categories. A $100 accommodation voucher requires 36,667 points and the FlightPoints scheme also requires 36,667 points for a $100 discount. In fact, $100 worth of anything requires 36,667 points.
As a comparison, check out our
rewards program table. For example, American Express' Membership Rewards only requires 13,500 points for a $100 department store voucher. Virgin Blue Velocity rewards only requires 6,900 points for a $100 flight, or you could get $100 cash back for 12,980 points on the ANZ Rewards Visa.
As mentioned at the beginning, the remaining card features are underwhelming. The purchase rate is 18.55%, which is high for the included features. Like the Bendigo Basic Black, the cash rate is the same as the purchase rate. While this was impressive for the Black, which had a purchase rate of 10.75%, it's less impressive on this card.
The interest free period is 44 days, which is low.
On the bright side, the annual fee is quite low ($45), although in the face of the other features (or lack-therefore), it still seems too steep.
Bottom line: Why bother? The only thing this card offers over the Basic Black is a rewards program which no-one in their right mind would want. It's staggering to comprehend how a bank can produce such a good (Black) and such as bad (Red) card.
