If youre a car buff, you might have personalised licence plates, custom-made seat covers and perhaps you even grew up sleeping in a racing car bed. Did you know you can now get a car-themed credit card from Westpac?

Specialised banking products such as Westpacs Holden MasterCard are a new way that banks are finding to tap into niche markets and make more money from their customers.

The Westpac Holden MasterCard works like a regular credit card, but 10% of what you spend counts towards earning a rebate of up to $3,000 on a new Holden.

Westpacs Holden MasterCard holders are entitled to a bonus 1% rebate for every dollar that is spent on Westpac General Insurance. An extra 2% rebate is applicable for every dollar spent at Holden Retailers, although this does not include purchases of new or used cars.

Working in a similar way to a credit card rewards scheme, the Westpac Holden MasterCard allows card holders to accumulate the rebate for a maximum of five years. To take advantage of the rebate, the card holder must buy a Holden car within five years of beginning to earn the rebate.

The problem with a product such as Westpacs Holden MasterCard is that like a credit card rewards scheme, it encourages card holders to spend up on credit in order to receive the reward, which in this case is a discount on a car.

Just as you should shop around for different types of credit card, you should also shop around for a car with a number of dealers before you make a decision on a make and model. This affiliation between Westpac and Holden works to their advantage by encouraging customers to spend a lot of money with each company, but there is not so much of a benefit to the card holders.

The westpac Holden MasterCard has an annual fee of $55. This fee is waived during the first year, but the fine print states that other fees and charges still apply during this time.

Discounts and offers are available when using the Holden MasterCard at any of the promotional partners, but these discounts merely create an incentive to spend on credit and make Westpac money in the form of fees and interest charges.

Generally, you should avoid using a credit card, from Westpac or any other lender, unless you can afford to pay off the balance in full at the end of every month. A better alternative is a Visa or MasterCard debit card, which can be used in all the same situations as a credit card but allows you to use money that you already have, instead of credit.