Saying 'I support animal welfare' is a bit like saying 'I support breathing oxygen'. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone (other than a juvenile sociopath) who wants to see any harm come to an animal.
And yet, every year, hundreds of unwanted pets are dumped or abandoned. It's hard to fathom how our society needs a program like the RSPCA's Adopt-a-Pet, yet we do, and the Bendigo Bank RSPCA Rescue Visa assists their good work.
By using your card, you'll be helping to fund the Adopt-a-Pet program. Bendigo Bank are a bit confused on the details: on their website they say donations are made 'based on a percentage of your spending', yet when I rang Bendigo for more information they insisted it is a flat $3 tax-deductible donation made by Bendigo on your behalf each month.
$3 might not seem like much, but it's $36 per year, per cardholder. If only 10,000 consumers (0.08% of the Australian credit card market) had a Bendigo Bank RSPCA Rescue Visa, Bendigo would donate $360,000 each year.
What makes the Rescue Visa different to other philanthro-cards (such as the
GE Money Eco MasterCard) is that it's a good card in its own right. Even if the card didn't offer charitable donations to a great cause, it would still be considered one of the cheapest cards available.
The purchase rate is 14.05%, which while it isn't the cheapest, is still in the top ten. Bendigo is also offering an introductory rate of 7.45% for six months. The annual fee is $24, which is miles cheaper than any of the other low rate cards.
While the card does offer an interest free period, it is only 40 days which is shorter than the standard 55. It's up to you to judge whether it's a worthwhile trade off for the low annual fee and charity rewards program.
The card also comes in your choice of four designs, each featuring a different animal (I'm a fan of Bunker).
Bottom line: we can't recommend the RSPCA Rescue Visa enough. Not only is the card cheap, it makes charitable donations to a great cause. Everyone wins.
