Renato1
Established Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2015
- Posts
- 1,730
I finally got my Velocity Platinum Card last week, and spent the required $1500 in two days, including $500 for overseas accomodation (and have paid it all off). But it was a frustrating exercise.
The good point first.
Unlike other banks' on-line application forms, NAB's did have a section for after-tax income - though I'm not sure how much good it did. In the other banks' forms, one has to put all income into the gross income section, which effectively understates one's income if one is getting tax-free income, as retirees often do.
The bad points.
Firstly, the people who kept ringing me from overseas didn't seem to understand what Allocated Pensions were. And even though they had screen shots of my accounts showing how much money was in each and how much money each was to pay into the bank account in my name, and they also had a screen shot of the bank account receiving those money amounts - for some strange reason they still didn't seem sure I owned the money in the Allocated Pensions nor of the income that those pensions paid me.
Secondly, the people who kept ringing me kept changing. So when one said to me one day that he accepted two screen shots of Allocated Pensions that I'd sent him, but just needed another one, the next person who rang me two days later after I had provided what was requested, wouldn't accept what the first person had accepted. So I again patiently explained everything to her, and when that wasn't accepted, I got quite stern and started talking about incompetence and wanted to speak to her supervisor. Anyhow, I told her to go back and study properly everything I'd previously sent in and consult with her supervisor before ringing me back, and my approval came through 20 minutes later by SMS.
Thirdly, I provided seven months of records of bank statements showing rental income being deposited every month, and told them what the rent was. But they only accepted the last two months of rental income - which were much lower than in the previous periods, because money was taken out to replace a water heater that had died.
Fourthly, when I was working I had no problem applying for cards and getting decent or half decent credit limits. Now that I'm retired, in pre-tax terms I get somewhat less income. But in after-tax terms, my income is only marginally less than what I got when I was working (thanks to generous tax concessions). Take out the work expenses of train fares, buying lunch and buying cappuccinos, and I think I'm actually ahead now. Yet somehow - all NAB could give me was a measely $7000 credit limit.
I suspect that retirees are treated differently from those still in the work force.
Which is a shame as the Velocity Platinum card is otherwise pretty darn good - giving me 1.5 points per dollar on many purchases where the Platinum Edge card only gives half a point or one point per dollar. And the free travel insurance is very good value as well.
Have any other retirees come across issues like this?
Regards,
Renato
The good point first.
Unlike other banks' on-line application forms, NAB's did have a section for after-tax income - though I'm not sure how much good it did. In the other banks' forms, one has to put all income into the gross income section, which effectively understates one's income if one is getting tax-free income, as retirees often do.
The bad points.
Firstly, the people who kept ringing me from overseas didn't seem to understand what Allocated Pensions were. And even though they had screen shots of my accounts showing how much money was in each and how much money each was to pay into the bank account in my name, and they also had a screen shot of the bank account receiving those money amounts - for some strange reason they still didn't seem sure I owned the money in the Allocated Pensions nor of the income that those pensions paid me.
Secondly, the people who kept ringing me kept changing. So when one said to me one day that he accepted two screen shots of Allocated Pensions that I'd sent him, but just needed another one, the next person who rang me two days later after I had provided what was requested, wouldn't accept what the first person had accepted. So I again patiently explained everything to her, and when that wasn't accepted, I got quite stern and started talking about incompetence and wanted to speak to her supervisor. Anyhow, I told her to go back and study properly everything I'd previously sent in and consult with her supervisor before ringing me back, and my approval came through 20 minutes later by SMS.
Thirdly, I provided seven months of records of bank statements showing rental income being deposited every month, and told them what the rent was. But they only accepted the last two months of rental income - which were much lower than in the previous periods, because money was taken out to replace a water heater that had died.
Fourthly, when I was working I had no problem applying for cards and getting decent or half decent credit limits. Now that I'm retired, in pre-tax terms I get somewhat less income. But in after-tax terms, my income is only marginally less than what I got when I was working (thanks to generous tax concessions). Take out the work expenses of train fares, buying lunch and buying cappuccinos, and I think I'm actually ahead now. Yet somehow - all NAB could give me was a measely $7000 credit limit.
I suspect that retirees are treated differently from those still in the work force.
Which is a shame as the Velocity Platinum card is otherwise pretty darn good - giving me 1.5 points per dollar on many purchases where the Platinum Edge card only gives half a point or one point per dollar. And the free travel insurance is very good value as well.
Have any other retirees come across issues like this?
Regards,
Renato
