Latitude Gem Visa Questions & Answers (page 3 of 3)

When I didnt use my GEM visa for a year as I had paid off the last instalments (as in zero balance), I was only charged annual fee for the following year. You will need to pay the annual fee otherwise they charge you late fee on top of annual fee.

Gina thanks for your reply,how do I pay the annual fee and Is it by direct debit or bpay? Even though I haven’t activated my gem Visa card.

Yes you can.

You can, but you have 6 months to pay them back in without accruing 25% interest.

Once you pay monthly premium then you can continue to make purchases as ur credit limit increases with each payment

Go to a store that offers gem visa and talk to a sales staff. They will contact the company, just make sure that you have all the relevant documents uploaded and verify with Gem visa before you go.

You will need to go the payment counter that processes interest-free payments (not the regular payment queue line). I had the same experience in that the card I carried was expired. I just gave them my GEM account number (not the card number, the account number in your GEM statement) and also proof of identity with photo and name (e.g. driver’s license)

95c charge for every payment you make
Paper statement fee $2.50 per statement You can avoid this fee by opting to receive your statement online. Simply login to the Online Service Centre and register for online statements.
Payment handling fee $2.50 (in person)
$0.95 (online) You can avoid this fee by making your payments via mail, direct debit or via the Online Service Centre. It could be some of these fees.

I am not an expert but definitely use Gem and GE Money, though agree that the annual fee should be waived as a bonus for people paying on time and not delinquent. Anyway, how it works here in NZ and I am guessing it is the same in Au, is they compute a certain percentage of all of your purchase on the card or pay a certain fixed amount as per your policy whichever is higher and that becomes your monthly repayment. Monthly repayment is just an amount satisfying your obligation to pay your debts as per GEMs policy but does not necessarily equate to paying the amount required to pay your item in full at the end of the interest free period and I think this is where people are getting confused and this is how they also make their profit as you get charged for interest for any outstanding balance left after the free interest period. To avoid interest, you need to do your own maths to pay extra over your monthly repayment. Let's take an example of 60 month interest free which is 5 years to pay for an item costing $3000. Assuming you don't have any other purchase on the card but this. If you do the maths, for 5 years, you have to be paying at least $50. Your monthly repayments could just be $40, so if you don't pay the extra or difference, you will end up paying the interest after the 5 year interest free period because you know that you should be paying atleast $50. In my case, I pay extra and make it 60 or whatever i can afford to pay, let say 100 bucks a month, so that will make it paid off in 2.5 years. However, this doesn't become 100% true due to the annual fee, because a portion or all of it may go to your annual fee when it is due, so to be consistent pay extra for the annual fee just so that it doesnt screw up the maths you just did to pay it off. I am surprised GEM isn't that great in Au, I always use it here in NZ and so far so good.

The interest free period I think stays the same regardless if you pay it sooner or not, I have done this and it is still on my list of interest free items but showing as 0 balance as i already paid it off. What i dont know is if they have policies around paying it too soon could incur a penalty, maybe something u need to ask them. I hope not, they should be grateful but I know with loan/ mortgages from the bank for your home as an example, if you pay over your prescribed amount without telling the bank prior, they penalize you and i forgot the term they call it which is annoying.

No. Don't do this to yourself. The above sounds like they work for Gem because there's no way anyone who actually had an account with Gem would write that. Go to your bank - a much better and safer option.

In my experience in AU, interest free period doesn’t change even if you paid it off earlier than your set periods. As JoeNZ said, it just reflects 0.00 if you paid earlier. i don’t believe I was charged for making payments earlier. Although i did incur fees (.95c or 99c per month) and I would suggest for 50 months, you will also need to pay the $99 annual fee as well. I’m not sure the suggestion to go to bank is a better option as their rates are often higher with upfront fees deducted from the loan amount you need. As long as you are disciplined enough to pay your monthly dues then it should be ok with GEM. It should be used with understanding of obligations as with any credit card service.

I am sorry this is something I wouldn't be able to give you a definite answer. However my guess is as long as you don't have large debts, your expenditure is lesser than your income and you haven't got a poor credit history your stream of income shouldn't be impacting on your credit card application. We have originally applied for this card through a store (Freedom) for purchasing furniture and it didn't take long to receive the credit card. Not sure if that really makes a difference, still...

Bare in mind that this isn't a bank, it is a finance company, and therefore it doesn't follow the rules and have the lame reputation as an actual bank.
Yes this is easy credit, but read the fine print, as you'll have to pay according to how long the original loan is for, and there are hidden fees and charges if you want to pay early or later.
Just save yourself any potential problems and look at the big banks like Commonwealth, ANZ, Bendigo Bank, Westpac, etc. They have good reputations and are the way to go.

I would never get anything with this credit company again!!!!

Maree - all credit providers with a credit license in Australia are regulated by ASIC and by law follow the same rules with lending. Doesn't matter if your a literal bank that take deposits or just provide credit. Not sure what other finance company rules your applying too?

Mckel15 - these interest free payment plans are a great way for you to take goods home now and pay it back over a course of time. I've got one of these cards myself and by following some simple steps you can ensure you don't end up being a users with negative reviews and complaints.

All you need to do is divide the outstanding interest free payment amount with the remainder of your interest free term and pay that amount every month on time, to avoid paying any interest. e.g PC cost $1200. On 6 months interest free, ensure you pay a minimum of $200 a month.
If you can afford to pay more per month, even better, as it means you wont need to full 6 months. Highly recomended this if you can afford to do so.
Once your ready to close the account, just call up and ask for a payout figure on the day you wish to finalise the card. If you ever encounter a problem and can't resolve it with them, don't forget just like a bank, you can also lodge a complaint against them with the Financial Ombudsman who will ensure the issue gets resolved. Never had to get to this point and hope you wont have to either.

Simple enough if you know how to budget. For those who are not so dicipline, I wouldn't recommend this typre of card.

Goodluck :)

154799 is the biller code I use. you can verify this with Gem visa or if you paying through your bank they can provide this to you if you search the biller code.