When I retired (2013) I closed my Westpac account and kept my NAB account. I applied to NAB to get a credit card and was refused. I am a self funded retiree and own my own home it was a shock to realise I had become less of a responsible person in the banks eyes.
Currently I have two debit Visa card accounts one I keep for the quarterly super payment and the other with a small balance for daily purchase activities. This is for safety for online purchases. Recently attempting to order an overseas car hire my card was rejected not sure why. I will be spending months in France so I hope my Visa debit will suffice with top ups via my secure laptop banking. I refuse phone banking apps for security risks.
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Hire car companies in many countries wonāt accept a debit card, even those issued by credit card companies such as Visa or MasterCardā¦see my previous post as we have also had issues.
The principal reason we got a credit card was for overseas car hire.
We have found that generally they are accepted widely, anywhere a credit card is accepted. Some countries still donāt widely accept western cards (China is an example) and travelling without being well prepared can cause issues. We had no issues in France. Just be careful using ATMs as many now offer to set the transaction in AUDs - that being if you withdrawal say 100 Euros you will be offered to buy the Euros in AUD. Donāt the exchange rates are terrible and one is better off paying the FEX fees by the bank which issued their debit card.
The downside of travelling with a debit card is the fees and charges can be more than for a low fee credit card. As we managed to get a credit card (other half was still working and I am a secondary card holder to her credit card), we tend to use this now over a debit card. The only time we generally use a debit card is for cash withdrawls as it is cheaper - credit card accrues interest from the day a cash withdrawls made, unlike purchases which can be paid off on issue of statement without accruing interest.
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Without checking the veracity personally this site might be useful to peruse. It is obviously self serving to āsellā but might explain why your debit card was rejected.
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This is important to do with the company the car is directly hired from. Booking platforms like Indigo can make such statements, but one needs to ensure that when they arrive to collect a vehicle the hiring company will accept debit cardsā¦ otherwise oneās holiday could be ruined. I would be getting confirmation (and if there are any special requirements such as needing to take out excess reduction insurance provided by the hire company - see below) from a car hire company before placing a booking through a booking platform (assuming it is the best way to book a car).
Chatting to a neighbour recently, they have had similar experience to our own in car hire company refusing debit card. They managed to persuade the company to hire a car but had to put down a significant cash security deposit, photocopy of passport and take out very expensive excess reduction insurance provided by the car hire company (they wouldnāt accept their international travel insurance). They also now have a credit card for travelling.
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Despite being with ANZ for 27 years & paying Visa A/C in full on time plus thousands in the ANZ bank, I only earn a small amount plus part age pension, so they refused an increased limit. Told me I have not enough earnings to qualify.
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That is helpful. I intend to use the debit card for cash withdrawals and I will apply again (more forcefully) to obtain a credit card. I would like to use the credit card for hotel bookings and deposits but will pay final invoices from the debit card.
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See what the fees and charges are with the debit and credit cards and use this to make decisions in relation to how they are used when travelling. Different cards will have different fees. As indicated above, we use both types of cards for different purposes to minimise fees and charges (namely what it costs us).
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Thanks Jezz. Thatās really useful advice. I have always just used my debit card for everything but in future will use my credit card and and debit card as you have explained.
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Be sure to check the conditions of your actual cards as each card is different, with respect to fees and charges.
My UBank Visa debit has no overseas fees, and really competitive exchange rates. Other Visa debit cards may differ. But the behaviour I described with respect to deposits is the same regardless of the brand of card. I can also use overseas ATMs and only pay the local ATM fee.
My credit card charges overseas transaction fees and also has bad exchange rates, but it is useful within Australia and also for deposits overseas as stated. It is also an emergency card overseas. I never travel with only one card, it may be blocked for any number of reasons.
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Banks are not charities, they look at what people can afford to pay back for anything that they borrow. I am a self funded retiree and have had no trouble getting credit.
Just read the Money magazine and Paul Clitheroe said āMuch to my amusement, I recently got knocked back on a new credit card as my income these days derives more from super and investments, not personal income. The call centres have a cookie-cutter approach, but I made a pest of myself until I got to someone with authority who chatted to our accountant. All sorted and new card issued.ā I can relate to this - new credit card denied by Amex because I did not have $100K from salary / wages! However, I did not bother to pursue it further (as PC did). The credit card providers do not seem to want retirees who can afford the monthly payments, and have assets and other (non salary / wages) income ā¦
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So after reading about the need to have a credit card when travelling, as visa debits are sometimes rejected, I applied online to NAB. I am a self funded retiree and due to the reduction of the regular annual income amount during Covid I have merrily topped up my bank account with other drawdowns as needed. This year this has included for some new medical expenses, travel, new flooring for 3 bedrooms and a full house paint.
The online application was rejected.
I called to clarify why.
The Alice in wonderland conversation went something like this.
Me: I did not see where the balance of my super fund could be added as an asset do you know if it is calculated from the quarterly superannuation drawdown because that is only half of what is normally paid due to the government changes and I have taken out further funds for one off expenses.
He: We can only consider the regular quarterly payment as your income.
Me: Well then I would like to remove all the non regular items from my application as they were not funded by the quarterly amount they were funded by separate withdrawals that will be showing up on my account.
He: Those are expenses so our policy is to only look at your income and your expenditures because we cannot count any separate deposits.
Me: The logic defies me. I can prove deposits made to my NAB account to cover extraordinary expenses but these will be ignored and only regular income payments count. I do not accept this.
He: I will pass this on to our team who will look into it individually the online application is the first pass. I will include your concerns and send of a feedback form.
So the denial of credit card based on regular income is a bit of a loaded gun. I would suggest only include actual regular expenses and leave out any self funded withdrawal payments. 
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Yes, has happened to me : one bank offered a Debit card; tried a number of options to get a 2nd credit card for ājust-in-caseā events (after my original one, which I still have was cancelled by the Bank - apparently it was used overseas though I was not!). Finally got a Coles card ā even THAT was not easy!! We are retired and I provided details of fundsā¦ Itās a few years ago now, though.
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I suspect self-funded retirees are financially savvy and pay back all credit before bank interest hits so we are not a good cash cow for the banks. 
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Agree with this. Banks only want people with high risks.
The national pastime. Blame the banks for this situation.
Why not blame the Government and the NCCP legislation from 2009 that imposes responsible lending requirements on lenders?
And a credit card is after all instant lending, at very high interest rates.
The previous Gov was planning to water down or even repeal the NCCP, but, well, we know what happened there last May.
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It is easy to blame the card issuing institutions for their strict over zealous and inflexible approach to āresponsible lendingā.
When a retired person (a mate) with $millions in super, a few rental properties in his portfolio, and a 6-figure dividend stream struggles to get a card it is not about responsible lending, it is about the issuers process and procedure. He did not travel in his working life so felt no need for one. Now he wants to travel he understands why he needs one. He is still working on it ā¦
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The latest from Choice. Yesterday.
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I suspect that is a part of CCs being denied to those who do not need to actually borrow money, but just need a way of doing transactions with a card.
There is an irony that banks and others are pushing for a cashless society while simultaneously making it difficult to impossible for all of society to do so, not that I am a supporter of a cashless society, from another topic
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