CadburysFingers

OK, I have searched the forum, and cant seem to find a definitive bank thread, despite the fact it is probably one of the things that people need to know the most, especially as our banks over here range from free with no fees, to very expensive, and charge you for quite literally everything.

Consequently could we possibly all add a very brief potted bio of our bank, then it should make it very easy for new migrants to find this thread, and see what all their options are in one go.

I'll start
We are with the Commonwealth. they have been good so far, havent let us down on anything at all, but unfortunately the charges are too high, so we are looking to sort a new bank account in the very near future, possibly in a couple of hours after reading more contributions to this thread.

Welshie

I'm with ANZ...for five bucks a month I have unlimited ATM transactions, but they've waived that fee now because I'm a student. I have no probs whatsoever with them.

ABCDiamond

What each bank account will cost you, will depend on a lot on how you use it....

I like HSBC, but if my transaction use was different, I would look at the ANZ Access Advantage account instead.

Here are some examples I looked at in June 2005

Based on:
12 - EFTPOS transactions per month
5 - ATM transactions per month
$2,500 ave balance

HSBC Online saver - they pay you $9.90 pm
ANZ Access Advantage - charge you $5.00 pm
ANZ Acess Select - charge you $5.50 pm
CBA Streamline account charge you $5.98 pm
Westpac One - charge you $5.00 pm
National Smart Access- charge you $5.00 pm

or

Based on
12 - EFTPOS per month
5 - ATM per month
$500 ave balance

HSBC Online saver - they pay you $0.21 pm
ANZ Access Advantage - charge you $5.00 pm
ANZ Acess Select - charge you $5.50 pm
CBA Streamline account charge you $6.00 pm
Westpac One - charge you $5.00 pm
National Smart Access - charge you $5.00 pm


OR

Based on
20 - EFTPOS per month
10 - ATM per month
$2,500 ave balance

HSBC Online saver - charge you $0.10 pm
ANZ Access Advantage - charge you $5.00 pm
ANZ Acess Select - charge you $12.00 pm
CBA Streamline account charge you $12.48 pm
Westpac One - charge you $5.00 pm
National Smart Access - charge you $5.00 pm

OR

Based on
20 - EFTPOS per month
10 - ATM per month
$500 ave balance

HSBC Online saver - charge you $8.02 pm
ANZ Access Advantage - charge you $5.00 pm
ANZ Acess Select - charge you $12.00 pm
CBA Streamline account charge you $12.50 pm
Westpac One - charge you $5.00 pm
National Smart Access - charge you $5.00 pm

All figures quoted are net of any interest received

Ceri

You'll find that most of the major banks do have "cheque and savings" accounts which are free of charges if you have over a certain amount of money in your account.
If you have below a certain amount you are then whacked with fees and charges

I hold a few cheque and savings accounts with various banks

For example
Westpac does has a fee free cheque account and unlimited ATM withdrawals etc etc- The account that I hold ( and have held for years with them) you have to have over $10,000 in your account for it to be fee free , below that you will get charged with all the various fees.

Bank of Queensland is another one . One of their ,saving accounts - you have to keep over $5000 in your account for it to be fee free. Interest is 5% at the moment ( again it depends on how much money you have in your account regarding interest ), also unlimited ATM withdrawals blah and blah. Without running through all the accounts banks these two are just some of the examples which are fee free , unlimited ATM withdrawals and EFTPOS

Most banks have different schemes - some of their accounts have fees , others do not have fees as long as you keep a certain XXXXX amount in your account.

You really need to sit down with a staff member in the banks and discuss which account suits you. Most of the banks that I have banked with and bank with do have cheque and savings accounts which are fee free and unlimited ATM withdrawals etc etc depending on the amount of money in your account.

Go into the banks and discuss it with the bank manager .
shop around if are you are considering banking a hefty amount - each bank does have various schemes, in other words money talks with these sharks of banks

cheers

sandradee

We too are with the Commonwealth, their charges do seem a little excessive, I could really do with an account that pays interest and has unlimited EFTPOS transactions per month.

Rachel1978

We are with St. George, very helpful and efficient, no charges, but on the downside not as many branches and some other banks. Heard good things also about Bendigo Bank.

Bert'n'Stella

We have the ANZ $5 a month account, but use ING online linked to this account for savings. ING is even better here in Oz cause your money transfers in one day, not 3 like in the UK. So you move your money (either way) before 4pm I think and you have it your other account the next day.

Amazulu

HSBC

binbird

Well done for setting up such a helpful thread.

We are with Commonwealth (as it was easy to set up from the UK) but we are just looking into moving to a bank that works better for us.

Binbird

peppi

HSBC I find the best as they dont charge you on your online saving account no limit on eftpos transactions,but you will get charged for with drawing money from the wall at other peoples ATMs as usual. Bear in mind in the perth region they only have 2 branches and I think only that many holes in the wall to draw from...BUT you can get cashout free from any postoffice and theres loads of them everywhere/...

I also have a Commonwealth account which is the house account and found that I was incurring rather allot of charges as I was only allowed 15 transactions/eftpos a month before being charged for each one,and that includes any online transactions ect ect...so I have got a commonwealth credit card,do all the monthly transactions on that,and pay it all off at the end of the month thus incurring no interest charge,and I think I get charged something like $30 a year for having the card,cheaper than the eftpos charges on the main account over 12 months by far. It is handy to have thou as there are plenty of holes in the wall for this bank if I need cash...

Nicstids

We're with HSBC and are very pleased with it so far, certainly as far as the charges (or lack of) are concerned and also the interest paid on the Online Savings A/c. We were used to Internet Banking in the UK and are happy to do our banking online here. They're not quite as efficient as First Direct though - take a couple of days to reply to messages whereas FD would take a couple of hours!

The only problem we've had is buying expensive items. There's a $5000 a day limit on internet transfers and a $20,000 a day on transfers done over the telephone. We bought a car for $21,000 and ended up putting the balance of $1,000 on our English credit card. We had to pay $25 for the $20k transfer arranged over the phone.

We're hoping to buy a house shortly using funds in the account and have been told that we need to write in to give authority which is a bit of a pain when there are no branches round here.

Once those major expenses are sorted though I'm sure we'll be fine on a day to day basis.

MrsDagboy

Commonwealth & in a word - hopeless! And it's nothing to do with fees as we dont get charged any.

Don't know why we are even still with them except for the fact that we are always too busy to find another bank & both go in & setup another 4 or 5 accounts & a credit card (which is how many we run currently).

ABCDiamond

You can use your HSBC card in other Banks ATM's up to FIVE times per month with no charge and of course at any post office unlimited times.


I used some of my HSBC funds to buy a house, and, if I recall correctly, the written authority was accepted in the form of a Fax or letter.

Amazulu

The only issue I have with HSBC is that if you have anything complicated to do, you have to go to a branch & as there isn't many of those it can be a real pain in the ass. I've just been in to HSBC Perth to transfer the money for our house purchase to the settlement agent. As customers only go into the branch to do complicated things (everyday stuff is done on the internet), the queue was long & slow. I was in there for over half an hour. Not happy.

webgum

we are with the National. $5 per month with unlimited ATM transactions (at National ATMS tho', you get charged through the nose $1.70 per transaction at any other bank) and unlimited EFPOS and cheques. I use their online banking facility, and although it's a bit archaic, that also brings down fees in relation to moving money around.

What gets me is the need to go into the branch if something needs changing or adding to the account. Now, that is backward. Of course, that could just be that I'm a relatively new account holder. But for example. To set up internet banking, you first need to set up telephone banking, and to do that you need to go the branch. AAAAAARRGh. Actually, the manager's a real sweetie (we're on first name terms), but really. My branch in the UK was near where I grew up, and I probably hadn't stepped through the door for 20 years!