Why credit card numbers could soon be a thing of the past
Australia's most affordable electorate for housing, Westpac cuts 1.4% off its package home loan rate, and the recycling scheme set to cost Tassie consumers. Here are five things you may have missed this week.
Goodbye card numbers, hello smiles - Mastercard to introduce biometrics
Mastercard has unveiled its five-year plan to transform payments in Australia.
Manually entering card details and passwords are out, while biometrics are in.
In February 2025, Mastercard announced plans to remove the traditional 16-digit number from the front of physical cards in Australia, securing it within banking apps by the end of the decade.
All newly issued Mastercard cards in Australia will replace one-time passwords with biometric verification such as facial or fingerprint recognition as well as Mastercard Click to Pay, an online check-out system that provides secure access to payment credentials directly from the cardholder's financial institution.
The initiatives aren't just set to make payments quicker.
Mastercard says the changes will enhance card security and help combat the nearly $1 billion lost to card-related fraud annually in Australia.
Australia's most - and least - affordable housing electorates
Housing has become a hot issue in the federal election, and rightly so.
But some electorates are vastly more affordable than others.
CoreLogic says the nation's least affordable electorate is Bradfield, which extends from North Sydney to Hornsby, and has a median home value of $2.2 million.
The electorate of Wentworth (ranked 12th most unaffordable) is home to more expensive suburbs, such as Bellevue Hill and Vaucluse but has a higher proportion of units, which boosts affordability.
At the far end of the scale, the electorate of Solomon, which takes in Darwin, wins out as the most affordable electorate for home buyers.
Solomon doesn't have the lowest median dwelling value - that title goes to the electorate of Parkes in regional NSW.
However, Solomon offers a happy combination of low housing values and high incomes.
Even so, that hasn't seen the electorate enjoy healthy price growth.
Housing values in Solomon are currently 3.8% lower than they were over a decade ago in June 2014.
Westpac lowers variable rates for new customers
Westpac has lowered the variable rate on its Premier Advantage Package home loan by 1.05% for owner occupiers and 1.40% for investors.
The catch is that the rate cut only applies to new customers.
Owner occupiers can now pay 6.24% (down from 7.29%). Investors pay 6.44% (from 7.84%).
The rate cut also applies to Advantage Package loans with St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA - all stablemates of the Westpac Group.
James Hutton, Westpac managing director of mortgages, says, "Our advertised rates are now among the lowest of the major banks.
"We've also introduced new features, including the ability to set up multiple offset accounts, which is helping new and existing customers get ahead on their home loan."
Westpac's Premier Advantage Package comes with an annual fee of $395.
Recycle rewards come to Tasmania - at a cost
From May 1, Tasmanians will be able to access a container deposit scheme that promotes recycling.
The Recycle Rewards scheme will pay 10 cents for each eligible drink container - mainly aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard drink containers, returned to a recycling point.
Refunds can be taken as a voucher to be used at Coles, Woolies or IGA, or as a refund directly into your bank account, or donated to charity or sporting club.
Drink containers make up as much as 45% of Tasmania's litter, and Recycle Rewards hopes to reduce that by half and double recycling rates.
The hiccup in the system is that TASRecycle, which runs the scheme, says beverage companies will pay for the refunds and operating costs with an additional charge of around 22 cents per container - more than double the recycling refund.
It's not hard to guess that in many cases consumers will end up wearing the higher cost, potentially paying an extra 20 cents per drink, only to get half that back if they choose to recycle the container.
Car cover - timing is everything to pocket savings
Australian drivers could be spending hundreds more on car insurance than necessary simply by leaving cover to the last minute.
Compare the Market (CTM) found it's possible to pocket big savings on car insurance by starting a new policy the next day or week, or even three weeks later, rather than on the day a quote is requested.
As a guide to the savings on insurance, quotes to insure a Ford Ranger could reduce by around $184 (10.21%) just by commencing cover three weeks later compared to the same day.
Starting a new car insurance policy three weeks later could shave $336 (9.73%) off the average premium of a Tesla Model Y, or $75 on the premium for a Toyota Corolla Hybrid.
One factor driving the difference in premiums is that insurers may consider there is a greater chance that a vehicle is already damaged if the policy is to commence immediately.
The bottom line is avoid waiting until the last minute if you're taking out a new policy.
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