Category Archives: Finance

The real cost of interest-free shopping.

Posted on March 6, 2012 by OzDJ| 4 Comments

Yesterday, a brochure arrived from David Jones spruiking their latest sale deals and interest-free pricing offer. We’re in the market for a new refrigerator, so I decided to have a look at how they measured-up against local online seller, Appliances Online.

As with any finance offer, it’s worth checking the fine print for details. I think the two big items to be aware of with David Jones’ interest free period (IFP) consumer credit are:

the David Jones “Price Promise” does not apply, and financed amount is normal selling price less any advertised discount
each new three year IFP contract is subject to a $35.00 establishment fee and $2.95 loan service fee per month

So, how do David Jones and Appliances Online stack up on the Electrolux EHE5107SA ?

Looks like we’ll be going back to Appliances Online again. I can’t justify an extra 12% for the American Express finance and the “fun” of sitting in the shop for 30 minutes (or more) to apply for it. Appliance Online’s free delivery, free connection and free removal of old the old fridge rounds-out a very compelling value proposition.

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Posted in Consumer, Finance, Renovations

Tagged Appliances Online, consumer, consumer credit, David Jones, interest free period, shopping

Unboxing and installing the iCarte 420A for CommBank Kaching

Posted on December 19, 2011 by OzDJ| 21 Comments

Here it is – the highly-anticipated iCarte 420A case (note: link points to the 420 model, not 420A) for Commonwealth Bank of Australia Kaching iPhone application.

This add-on accessory, ordered in-app (billed via BPay) and delivered directly to the account owner, allows CBA NetBank customers to perform MasterCard PayPass transactions wherever this (increasingly popular) payment method is offered by merchants.

The slick retail packaging, quality out-of-box experience (OOBE), and simple installation screams Apple/iDevice. Indeed, the box would look quite at home on the shelf at the Apple Store here in Sydney CBD.

Questions? Please feel free to ask in the comments section, below.

DISCLOSURE: I am a CBA employee. Any of my thoughts and observations shared here are my personal opinions and not necessarily representative of my employer. The case shown in these images was supplied to me at no charge for use during the pilot/testing phase of the Kaching application development.

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Posted in Finance, Gadgets, Social Media, Technology

Tagged 420A, CommBank, Commonwealth Bank, iCarte, iCarte 420A, Kaching, mobile app

Commonwealth Bank Travel Money Card.

Posted on May 5, 2011 by OzDJ| 4 Comments

Another item ticked-off our holiday planning to-do list. I stopped by a CBA branch earlier today and picked up a Travel Money Card. The Aussie dollar still looked pretty competitive on the retail rate card today, so I loaded up the TMC with USD2000 and CAD1500. Yippee!

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Posted in Finance, USACAN11

Tagged CAD, CBA, Commonwealth Bank, exchange rate, Travel Money Card, USD

Getting cashed-up.

Posted on April 21, 2011 by OzDJ| Leave a comment

Though our USA-Canada trip is still some time away, I got inspired to buy some US currency today when the AUD hit yet another record high against the USD.

Shortly after I got to work, I made the decision to bite the bullet and start my travel currency shopping. At that time, the CommBank daily retail carded rate was $1.0299. However, with the current volatility of markets, it had jumped to $1.0334 by the time I finally got to the branch at lunchtime. Win! Open-mouthed smile

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Posted in Finance, Travel, USA, USACAN11

Tagged AUD, currency, exchange rate, forex, USD

Australian RETAIL carded foreign exchange rates.

Posted on October 18, 2010 by OzDJ| 6 Comments

This crappy old dollar coin was the only one I could find on my desk. It is now worth almost USD9.82... or maybe not.

It’s been an interesting time for the Aussie Dollar. And there endeth my understatement of the year.

As the Aussie ‘Peso’ (AUD) cracked parity with the US Dollar (USD) a few days ago, news outlets and punters alike whipped up (and were swept-up in) mass currency-fueled hysteria. It was now the US Peso and the AUD was “King of the World” (errr… kind of). As the news raced around on Saturday morning, many folks had visions of overseas holidays and of foreign exchange boards lit up with the magical numbers AUD1.0000 = USD1.0000.

Of course, the latter didn’t happen – for a few reasons.

Firstly, the foreign exchange rates quoted in the media, and on sites like XE, are generally live mid-market rates based on interbank transactions and settlements. Put simply, the mid-market rate is bang-smack in the middle of the current wholesale buy and sell prices.

Secondly, the AUD was at USD1.00003 for approximately 46 seconds before it softened back to the USD0.99 mark. Heh.

Finally, and most critically, currency retailers – like banks and specialty foreign exchange outlets – will add their margin to the price they charge you. This, unfortunately, leads to tears as consumers rock up to their currency retailer expecting to see the numbers which they’ve just heard or seen Kochie and Ross talking about. It’s the RETAIL RATE that is going to determine, in part, how much partying you’ll be doing overseas or how many pairs of shoes you buy on eBay from foreign vendors.

So – here we are – with a list of the RETAIL carded rates, as offered by a number of the larger Australian foreign exchange dealers with retail services. Hopefully, this might help a few people as they shop around. Please leave a comment if any of the links no longer work (last checked 18 October 2010) and/or if you have additional sources to add to this list. Thank you.