Gazza

Hi all,

Been doing some research on banking in Oz.

1. Can anyone confirm if Citibank and ING offer cash cards which can be used in ATMs for their online savings accounts? or would you only get cash cards for low-interest current accounts?

2. Are there plenty ATMs in Perth that these could be used? ( I notice Citibank has 1 branch in Perth but ING doesn't - but realise I might be able to use other ATMs)

3. Is is free to transfer money from ING / Citibank GBP£ savings accounts in the UK to ING/Citibank AUS$ accounts in Oz?

Cheers,
Gaz

ianj

I have no idea but would imagine all this info is on the respective sites. If not then I am sure they will have a customer support team that you could mail.

Be interesting to know what you come up with.

Herman

We had the ING savings account in Oz and I can confirm that you get no ATM card. Part of the reason why it can offer such good rates is that it has no infrastructure beyond a mainframe computer and a small head office in Sydney. The only functionality the ING account had was that you could transfer money to and from it on-line via an Australian bank account with any Australian other bank. That was about it.

Jaykay

And don't forget the 5.25% interest rate they offer

Regards

bondipom

I use ING Direct and unusually for an Aussie bank they have no fees and a high interest rate. If I need access I only have to wait a working day for the funds to transfer to wastepac. I always keep my expected credit card balance in there and earn money on that as well. I also have a couple of their funds but I am not overly impressed with the performance.

The main difference with the Citibank account is you only get 2 free withdrawals and subsequent withdrawls are charged at $2 a month. There are probably other charges if you use ATMs as well.

The %5.4 interest rate makes it worth while if you have enough cash earning the extra 0.15%.

IMO I like the fee free ING.

stuie72

I can highly recommend the Citibank account. It is setup like a 'normal' account so you get a cash card and you can setup direct debits, etc.

The only downside is that only the first two transactions each month are free but with the likes of Commonwealth charging $5 a month for nothing it is a good deal.

It's also worth noting that you can use any ATM without charge (unless you've already used your free trransactions of course!).