8.90% (variable)
Interest Rate (p.a.)
9.18%
Comparison Rate (p.a.)
❗ $5,000 $2000 (updated in September)
Min Loan Amount
Pay off your loan early
Make additional repayments or pay off your loan early, with no fee
Seems like a good way to earn 150,000 points.
I've never had a personal loan, but seem like i'll be applying for one today!
Doesn't seem to be min loan for the points right?
you have to apply for min5k Loan.
That’s going to kill your credit score!!
Wait seriously? You currently have 57k worth of credit limit in credit cards?
Yeah wtf, why not just close some lmao
Yep all cards are open.
Kogan- purely for free shipping
Westpac and citi; recent points
Nab/anz- need to close one
Credit score is in the maximum tier.
No 28 degrees?!
Also interested to know how much this would affect my credit score as I also have many cards..
sign up to one of those free credit score websites, they're fairly accurate
@jonnoyeo: Yeah, i'm signed up to getcreditscore and it keeps me updated each month. Still around ~900 but was just wondering how much a personal loan hits the score vs a credit card. I'll likely apply for this next month when I close up 2 of my existing cards.
@frogduck: Yeah so you're in the highest tier….a single once off application i doubt will make a significant impact.
Just an FYI, i'm also ~900 with all of those cards open. Applied last night for the personal loan, and was approved this morning.
@jonnoyeo: Cool thanks for the insights. I'm pretty new to the card churning/points collecting thing, so this is valuable info!
Only kills your credit score if you apply for a lot of cards in a short period of time. My credit score is only average because that's what I do. But if you keep it to just a handful a year, then that's ok.
Yes to this. Is $1300 worth it to make it harder to get a competitive loan in the future? An extra 1% on a loan of $500,000 is going to more than erase your gains. I don't know but I imagine a personal loan looks worse than other things on your credit score.
Why would a bank chuck another 1% interest on your home loan? Don’t those with an average and above credit rating just get the advertised rates?
@drillvoice Your assumption is actually not an uncommon misunderstanding. Having a personal loan in and of itself doesn't drop your credit score, unless you're applying for 3-4 within a short period of time for example. And most people are planning to close with within months of opening, on a $5k limit which is peanuts. If you fail servicing due to a $5k loan product, I would say that you're way overstretched to begin with, and in the minority. And btw, a low credit score doesn't impact whether you get a loan or the rate. I've got a terrible score from churning through 30+ cards in the last 4 years, but I've got one of the lowest rate in the market currently, and can borrow at least another $800k right now if I want, even if I take out another $5k personal loan.
Your is a common misconception that I see which is often repeated, but isn't true.
Take out the minimum 5k loan and pay back in full once you receive the points?
monthly interest works out to be A$37.08 if borrowing 5k based on the current variable rate.
The facility seems to act like a line of credit, in that you don't even have to draw on it.
Or worst case, apply for $5K, pay back $4999 and leave $1 in there till you receive the points.
'Pay off your loan early
Make additional repayments or pay off your loan early, with no fee'
To be eligible to receive 150,000 Velocity Frequent Flyer Points, you must apply for this offer for a Citi Personal Loan Plus account by 30 September 2022 and activate within 90 days of approval. We will request your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership number from you via email within 6 weeks from the date your account is activated.
The Velocity Frequent Flyer Points will be credited to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account within 90 days from the date we receive your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership number provided your Citi Personal Loan Plus account is open and in good standing and your loan has not been repaid in full.
Guarantee they dont email you and you have to go chase after them for the points.
@latenight: Why do you say that? I’m very keen to take up this deal (for the points only, don’t actually need the loan), but would hate for it to be more trouble than it’s worth
@SirFrankGrimes: there are a few hoops to get these points. Someone needs to signup for this deal and share their experience from start to end.
who is going to take one for the team?
@maverick1: What are the potential hoops?
I thought it was simple as this:
Sign up
Get approved
Keep loan active until points arrive.
Close loan
That’s it!!
@TomGum: To be eligible to receive 150,000 VFF -
* We will request your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership number from you via email within 6 weeks from the date your account is activated
* The Velocity Frequent Flyer Points will be credited to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account within 90 days from the date we receive your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership number provided your Citi Personal Loan Plus account is open and in good standing and your loan has not been repaid in full.
* Ongoing interest cost till the points come through. One way to play around that would be to have min outstanding loan?
@maverick1: It seems like SUCH a clunky system for them to request your Velocity card number within 6 weeks, rather than just add it on sign up.
@nightelves: Haha. Someone below has already taken this offer before shared their experience.
I might apply soon though!
@maverick1: The points alone is worth return biz class with Singapore Airlines to South East Asia. No brainer.
@nightelves: Sorry I am new to points game, but how do you use velocity points for international travel? When I check my velocity app for booking a flight, it just show me options for domestic travel within Australia only. Thanks in advance.
I thought it was $5000 x 8.9% = $445 + $199 = $644 total cost.
But it's a variable rate?
That’s only if you don’t pay back the majority of it immediately
You just leave $1 for the interest.
$199 establishment fee
Good pickup
The $200 fee kills any chance of this being a bargain.
More bloatvertising for ozbargain.
I wouldn’t say it’s a deal breaker, 150k points are worth way more than $199.
don't forget there is ongoing interest cost of 8.9% pa (variable). RBA is likely to raise rates again next month.
As OP mentioned you can play around with the drawn amount, borrow 5k and say payback 4900 or 4999 and just pay min interest till the points come through.
Each to their own, but it isn’t totally bad.
Their are other better ways of earning points, but for those that need 150k in points:
they are only costing $199,
a bit of time to organise
a credit score hit (some won’t or don’t need to care.
That’s nearly return to Singapore in business class.
If you're in a financial difficulty, please don't take out a personal loan, instead consider an interest-free loan provided by community organisation Good Sheppard
Good advice for those with Heath Care and/or Pensioner Cards only.
be aware Citi is now owned by Nab in australia
What to be careful about ??
Nab is more responsible than Citi IMO.
I just hope they bloody bring Google Pay in action Quite sick of having to carry CC
Face it, this isn't a bad deal if like said above, you pay off $4999 without incurring any interest, keep the loan open for three months and get the points.
Similar to a credit card churn but with lower interest, and a reasonable annual fee cost. Many credit cards have higher or similar annual fee costs for less points.
Wonder if this is worse to credit rating
free rating is a relatively new concept is it not?
did it originate in the USA?
What’s the points worth?
$1,500-$1,800
yeah wow thanks
depends how you use them, buy gift card or upgrading a flight to business class etc
Actually it's worth around $700-$800+.
For examples:
- Apple $250 GC for 47,000 points = $798.
- Bunnings $100 GC for 21,800 points = $688.
You can check out the Velocity store here https://shop.velocityfrequentflyer.com/
That if u use it for the gift card. The better value is to use them for flights
Correct - if you see value in business/first class flights, inherently that's what these points deals are meant/most value for. If you're churning for cash, sell them on the secondary market.
I just want to show the minimum value of around $700-$800 rather than the $1,500 - $1,800 value posted.
@His_Holiness: I don't doubt you but that comes with a risk of being scammed and your stated amount is the upper limit. I actually want to get this deal so I pretty much prefer to exchange the points for $1,500-$1,800 instead. The worst case scenario would be a quick exchange for GCs.
Signed up but it didn’t ask for my velocity account number??
As per comments above:
Thanks for that. Now just need to wait for approval.
Is the $199 pro-rataed, if you close the loan earlier?
No, it’s a one-off, non-refundable establishment fee
citi can pro-rata if you request. I closed a cc recently and they refunded me some
Got this email too and was very tempted.
I got this offer a couple of months ago as I have a Citi credit card.
I’ve signed up for a $5k loan and been approved. Funds were never sent to my bank and have to live chat them twice before it was sent. I’ve copped the $199 fee. The velocity number request email did come within 30 days. I’ve paid $4600 off the loan. My monthly repayments are now $5, with $2 interest. I’ll pay it off and shut it down when I get the points, then I’ll probably sign up for another and do it again. 150k points for $205 is a steal
Is this right?
Sign up
Get approved
Follow up funding
Get paid $5000
Send back $4600
Only pay $5 plus $2 interest monthly
Follow up to provide them with Velocity number
Wait for points
Pay back remaining and close
Couldn't you pay back $4,999 to pay less interest?
You probably could repay a higher amount. But not sure what the minimum repayment amount would be like and ensure you dont pay it off within 90 days
@USER DC: My bad. Its actually this.
The Velocity Frequent Flyer Points will be credited to your Velocity Frequent Flyer account within 90 days from the date we receive your Velocity Frequent Flyer membership number provided your Citi Personal Loan Plus account is open and in good standing and your loan has not been repaid in full.
Hi ssjmark,
Just wondering how you sent back the $4600? Did you wait for the first statement? I just called and they said the first statement won't be generated until 3-4 weeks later.
Thanks!
Was the monthly repayment adjusted automatically after you pay $4600 in advance?
Great question. I’d like to know this too
Yes it was. I tested the waters with a $500 payment, and a day or two after it was received the instalment amount automatically readjusted. Then I kept sending more payment before getting to the arbitrary total figure of $4600, and thought that will do
Thanks for the helpful reply. I’m gonna pull the trigger. Can’t pass up 150,000 points for ~$200
Many thanks for sharing this very helpful experience
thx for the exp! very useful information
why not pay $4900 or $4999? Is the max allowed repayment $4600? or you just decided to stop at $4600?
nvm. paying off $4999 would make monthly repayment so low so probably so won't be able to keep account open without having to fully pay it off. I'll probably pay $4800 or $4900 and pay for few months.
Can you please explain why paying off $4999 wouldn't be a good idea? Is it because there's a min repayment amount each month and if you paid too much in the first month the account might close?
@Banana: not that it wouldn't be a good idea. i haven't done the math when i wrote that comment.
Assuming you have $1 loan at 9% interest, monthly repayment would be 9c. So actually this would be a good idea. Taking 6 weeks for them to receive FF number and 90 days to give you the FF points (assume 6 months) then total interest + principal would be something like $1.03.
So total 199+1.03=200.03 for 150k points seems good.
@twistedbow: Fantastic! I have gone ahead to apply since I couldn't find anything on min repayment amount. Thanks for doing the maths for me, it looks like a pretty good deal.
@Banana: same, applied just now. Site clearly shows that we can repay any amount and close the loan any time without any fee.
Early pay out fee
$0, meaning you can pay out the loan early without a penalty
Additional repayments fee
$0
@Banana: Just don’t want to fly too close to the sun to save a few dollars. Don’t want to raise any red flags. Is there some Citi system that will cause the instalment plan to collapse if the monthly payments are less than $1? Not sure. Worst case scenario is you try to be too clever and you pay the $199 and don’t get the points
@scheminsteven: Yea i forgot about minimum payment like credit cards. Each month you have to pay either $30 or interest+1% of closing balance, whichever is greater. So I'd say leave about $300~400 balance unpaid and pay the monthly minimum until you get the points.
So if you get $5000 loan then the opening balance would be $5199 ($199 one off fee). I'd recommend leaving $300~400 balance and only pay the monthly minimum until you receive points. It can take up to 5 months to get your VFF points which would be minimum $150 ($30x5) but add a little buffer to prevent over paying and closing the loan.
Good for buying a car? I missed the toyota 1% finance long time ago
Cars are very expensive at the moment, so probably not.
Never applied for a loan nor have I ever applied for any credit cards. Are there any unforeseen risks that might happen or negative consequences that could come out of this in the future or is it as simple as @ssjmark's comment.
I feel this deal is too good not to pass up on.
Yes the risk is that you miss all the good deal…
exactly. You've got to be in it to win it
how much would personal loan affect my credit score?
Like after cancel the loan, will the bank (for home loan, CC application and etc) consider that I am under poor financial position when they saw this record?
Doesn't affect that much as long as you're always meeting the repayment.
Lots of people, even Private Banking customers, have personal loans and overdraft. That in itself doesn't indicate poor financial position at all. It's your spending habit that will do so. Failure to pay on time, frequently drawing to the limit etc are indicators. Merely having an OD does zip.
thx for the advice!
as others said, as long as you never miss a payment and don't go around applying 50 CCs/loans in a month then you are fine. From bank's point of view, someone who never had a debt isn't really their ideal customer. Ideal customer for bank is someone who takes out loan/CC and pays interest and never miss a payment.
Do not apply unless you have received the offer via email. Citi confirmed to my partner that this is targeted and you are only eligible if you were invited via email.
This is publicly available link with no mention of points.
https://www1.citibank.com.au/personal-loans/personal-loan-pl…
Hmm… The offer is showing on the homepage of Citi's website. I'm not logged in and also opened the homepage in incognito mode and it's still showing up. Maybe the staff member got it wrong?
Yeah, the link from Op is public too. No need to login. I actually got the other offer that much worse for 100k flybuys points (similar condition) and saw the link to Velocity one, which is this offer
Borrow up to $75,000. Loan amounts range from $5,000 to $75,000.
Guess have to borrow 5k to be eligible for 150k points?
Op pls put in the relevant details -
Interest Rate (p.a.) -
8.90% (variable)