When a Platinum credit card trumps a Black card

While Black-level credit cards generally represent a bank’s best plastic, Platinum credit cards can sometimes be a good alternative – offering many of the same benefits as a Black card, but at a lower ongoing cost.

Whether you’re aiming for points, perks or both from your shiny plastic, here are a few things to consider when shopping for your next credit card.

1. Annual fees are usually lower on Platinum credit cards

Most points-earning credit cards attract annual fees, but what you’ll pay for a Platinum card is almost always less than for a higher-tier Black card.

For example, after year one, ANZ charges $425/year for its popular Frequent Flyer Black Visa, but only $295 for its Frequent Flyer Platinum Visa.

Similarly, Westpac charges $395/year for its Altitude Black Mastercard – and while that’s currently reduced to $250 for new customers and is also being lowered to $250 for existing customers from April, the cost is still higher than the bank’s Altitude Platinum Visa at $150.

The key difference between these Platinum and Black credit cards (and most others) is how many points can be earned: ANZ offers one Qantas Point per $1 spent up to $7,500 per month on the Frequent Flyer Black Visa, but a reduced 0.75 Qantas Points per $1 spent up to $3,000/month on the Frequent Flyer Platinum Visa, for instance.

Both these cards provide 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 on any additional monthly spend – but for example, if you only put $2,500/month on your plastic anyway, you’d get 2,500 Qantas Points via the ANZ Black Visa or 1,875 Qantas Points via the Platinum Visa: and at the end of the year, the difference isn’t even enough points to book one short economy flight: yet you’ll have saved $130 in cash.

2. Minimum credit limits, income requirements are lower on Platinum cards

Credit cards usually come with a minimum credit limit attached, and general speaking, the shinier the card, the higher the minimum limit.

Take St. George’s Amplify Rewards credit cards, for example – on its Black-tier Amplify Signature Visa, you’d need to qualify for a minimum credit limit of $15,000: yet for the Amplify Platinum Visa, the minimum limit is a much lower $6,000.

With lower limits come lower income requirements, too: ANZ only gives out its Rewards Black Visa (with a $15,000 minimum limit) to those earning $75,000+ per year, but to qualify for the $6,000 minimum limit on the bank’s comparable Rewards Platinum Visa, an income of $35,000/year is sufficient.

This means you don’t need to be on a high salary to earn a respectable number of frequent flyer points from your credit card spend, so just because you may not qualify for a Black card doesn’t mean you can’t put a Platinum card to good use.

Having a lower minimum credit limit can also come in handy when applying for other types of credit, such as a car loan or a home loan, where lenders often view your total credit card limits as potential debt, affecting your borrowing power. The more you can lower your limit without cancelling the card, the more flexible you can be in these circumstances (but speak to your bank).

3. Not all banks issue Black credit cards

Some banks don’t go higher than Platinum in the credit card stakes, which can work to your advantage, because you’re getting the bank’s best offer on points and perks, but without the higher fees or qualification requirements.

HSBC’s Platinum Qantas Visa is a good example of this, offering an earn rate of one Qantas Point per $1 spent on everyday purchases up to $2,500 per month, and then 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar spent thereafter up to a total of 7,500 Qantas Points per month.

For cardholders spending $2,500 or less per month – particularly savvy shoppers using this card as a ‘backup’ to a higher-earning American Express card in places where AMEX isn’t accepted – the number of points you’d earn trumps most Platinum cards and is on-par with many Black cards from other banks, but with an affordable $199 annual fee.

Being a Platinum card, HSBC’s Qantas plastic also comes with a minimum limit of $6,000 (less than half of most Black cards), and a minimum income requirement of $40,000/year.

While HSBC does have a separate 'Premier' credit card, it's only open to HSBC Premier banking customers who have six figures of loans or investments with the bank, making its Platinum credit card the highest-level card you can outright apply for, and not a bad choice for smaller spenders.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.