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Westpac $5 Charge?

Westpac $5 Charge?

Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:03 pm
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Question Westpac $5 Charge?

Seeing as Westpac themselves can't give me a straight answer I thought that I'd ask the good people of BE!

I have opened a Westpac account consisting of the main Westpac One account and also the Westpac Maxi Direct (savings) account.

I need to transfer some money in to it within 30 days and we'd prefer to just put all of our money in to the Maxi Direct savings account until we get there, but what I want to know is, you get charged $5 per month unless you have at least $2500 in the One account, so if we only transfer our money to the Maxi Direct account will we be charged the $5 fee and therefore would we be overdrawn on the One account and therefore have to pay a further charge?

All Westpac have said is that I probably shouldn't be charged the $5 until we get there but IF we are charged and IF we do get penalised then I should just contact them and they will rectify the amount! It doesn't sound like the person knew what they were talking about with all those IF this and IF that etc!

If we can help it we would rather just pay the money in to one of the accounts (Maxi Direct) to save on transfer fee's and having to send at least 2 lots over.

Does anyone have any experience on this as to whether you were charged the $5 and therefore were overdrawn before you activated the account in Oz?

Thanks.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:14 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

I don't have any experience of this, but is there a way to transfer all your money in to the savings account and then ask westpac to put $100 in to the current account so that you won't go overdrawn if there are any unexpected charges?
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:18 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by esperanza
I don't have any experience of this, but is there a way to transfer all your money in to the savings account and then ask westpac to put $100 in to the current account so that you won't go overdrawn if there are any unexpected charges?
Tbh I dont think that you can transfer money between your accounts until you have activated them in Oz, but its worth asking them I suppose.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:34 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Hi,

This is my understanding as I have both these accounts. With the Westpac One account you get an everyday day account and a savings account. The Maxi Direct is an additional savings account. The savings account within the Westpac One gives a higher interest (6.05%) rate than the Maxi. However I believe this is capped on savings upto $250,000. Also I believe you are required to make a deposit into the account each month to get the interest, which is also paid monthly in arrears. You are right in saying if you have $2500 or more in either of the Westpac One accounts then the monthly $5 fee is waived.

As I say this is my understanding of it, the Westpac website will give you the answers.

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Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:38 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

I have an account with the Commonwealth bank and very recently phoned them from here( UK ) to activate my card and setup another service. did actually open the account while i was on Aus right enough. Just thought that if the account needs activating then its possible to do it by phone






Originally Posted by wafc
Tbh I dont think that you can transfer money between your accounts until you have activated them in Oz, but its worth asking them I suppose.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 5:55 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by Bosshogg
Hi,

This is my understanding as I have both these accounts. With the Westpac One account you get an everyday day account and a savings account. The Maxi Direct is an additional savings account. The savings account within the Westpac One gives a higher interest (6.05%) rate than the Maxi. However I believe this is capped on savings upto $250,000. Also I believe you are required to make a deposit into the account each month to get the interest, which is also paid monthly in arrears. You are right in saying if you have $2500 or more in either of the Westpac One accounts then the monthly $5 fee is waived.

As I say this is my understanding of it, the Westpac website will give you the answers.

Regards
Bosshogg
Hi, Thanks for that, I'm aware of most of that as I researched the website etc prior to opening the accounts. With the Westpac One account, you chose whether to have the standard savings account or the Maxi Direct account, I have chosen the Maxi Direct account, so I have that one and the main One Account, you dont then have a further savings account as you suggest. You do get a slightly higher rate of interest if you use the original savings account but as you say, that only happens if you make one deposit into the account each month and also no withdrawls! which therefore makes the Maxi Direct the better savings account in my opinion as you can make unlimited withdrawls or deposits without being penalised on the interest.

But all that isn't my point, I still dont know whether I will be charged the $5 on the main One account if I dont put any funds in there before I have activated it in Oz and whether that will make us overdrawn.

I'm also pretty certain that we can't activiate the accounts by phone until we get there.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:18 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by wafc
Seeing as Westpac themselves can't give me a straight answer I thought that I'd ask the good people of BE!

I have opened a Westpac account consisting of the main Westpac One account and also the Westpac Maxi Direct (savings) account.

I need to transfer some money in to it within 30 days and we'd prefer to just put all of our money in to the Maxi Direct savings account until we get there, but what I want to know is, you get charged $5 per month unless you have at least $2500 in the One account, so if we only transfer our money to the Maxi Direct account will we be charged the $5 fee and therefore would we be overdrawn on the One account and therefore have to pay a further charge?

All Westpac have said is that I probably shouldn't be charged the $5 until we get there but IF we are charged and IF we do get penalised then I should just contact them and they will rectify the amount! It doesn't sound like the person knew what they were talking about with all those IF this and IF that etc!

If we can help it we would rather just pay the money in to one of the accounts (Maxi Direct) to save on transfer fee's and having to send at least 2 lots over.

Does anyone have any experience on this as to whether you were charged the $5 and therefore were overdrawn before you activated the account in Oz?

Thanks.
Set the same two accounts up for my daughter and yes you can transfer between them outside the country - I regular transferred into the MaxiDirect and then across to the current account to pay her school fees.
Never had below $2500 in either so cant comment on the $5 fee although it was made clear to me that if the balance did drop below the charge would be incurred. My advice would be to ensure you sent across enough to cover the $5 charge and be prepared to swallow it - its a common fee across most banks - you have a good chance (dont get me wrong) of getting them to reverse it, just dont loose your bottle over $5.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:28 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by thebears
Set the same two accounts up for my daughter and yes you can transfer between them outside the country - I regular transferred into the MaxiDirect and then across to the current account to pay her school fees.
Never had below $2500 in either so cant comment on the $5 fee although it was made clear to me that if the balance did drop below the charge would be incurred. My advice would be to ensure you sent across enough to cover the $5 charge and be prepared to swallow it - its a common fee across most banks - you have a good chance (dont get me wrong) of getting them to reverse it, just dont loose your bottle over $5.
Hi, thanks for your reply.

The $5 charge doesn't bother me one bit but being charged for being overdrawn does. According to Westpac I cannot transfer money between the 2 accounts until I have activated them, this is directly from their email to me which enclosed all of my account details etc:

"Please note: As you have not yet been 100 Points Identified you will only be able to view your accounts. Once you have completed the identification process you will be able to transfer, withdraw, pay bills etc using Internet Banking. "

They also said: "It is very important to deposit funds directly into the account of your choosing. It is not possible for Migrant Banking to transfer funds on your behalf between your accounts."

But if what you say is correct and you can transfer money between accounts prior to being 100 points Identified then that will solve the problem.

Last edited by wafc; Nov 9th 2006 at 6:32 pm.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:33 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by wafc
Hi, Thanks for that, I'm aware of most of that as I researched the website etc prior to opening the accounts. With the Westpac One account, you chose whether to have the standard savings account or the Maxi Direct account, I have chosen the Maxi Direct account, so I have that one and the main One Account, you dont then have a further savings account as you suggest. You do get a slightly higher rate of interest if you use the original savings account but as you say, that only happens if you make one deposit into the account each month and also no withdrawls! which therefore makes the Maxi Direct the better savings account in my opinion as you can make unlimited withdrawls or deposits without being penalised on the interest.

But all that isn't my point, I still dont know whether I will be charged the $5 on the main One account if I dont put any funds in there before I have activated it in Oz and whether that will make us overdrawn.

I'm also pretty certain that we can't activiate the accounts by phone until we get there.
Bit confused when you say you had to choose between savings account as I have both the savings account within the Westpac One and the Maxi!!?
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:37 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by Bosshogg
Bit confused when you say you had to choose between savings account as I have both the savings account within the Westpac One and the Maxi!!?
Maybe you can have all three if you request it but if you go to the Wetspac website and download the app form you will see that you choose between the normal savings account or the Maxi Direct.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:39 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by wafc
Hi, thanks for your reply.

The $5 charge doesn't bother me one bit but being charged for being overdrawn does. According to Westpac I cannot transfer money between the 2 accounts until I have activated them, this is directly from their email to me which enclosed all of my account details etc:

"Please note: As you have not yet been 100 Points Identified you will only be able to view your accounts. Once you have completed the identification process you will be able to transfer, withdraw, pay bills etc using Internet Banking. "

They also said: "It is very important to deposit funds directly into the account of your choosing. It is not possible for Migrant Banking to transfer funds on your behalf between your accounts."

But if what you say is correct and you can transfer money between accounts prior to being 100 points Identified then that will solve the problem.
The possible difference is I already hold other westpac accounts - I set the ones for my daughter up while in UK (over the phone to him).

I think what they are then saying is that the savings accounts does not become operational until you arrive ie cant charge you a fee for an account not being used.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:43 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by thebears
The possible difference is I already hold other westpac accounts - I set the ones for my daughter up while in UK (over the phone to him).

I think what they are then saying is that the savings accounts does not become operational until you arrive ie cant charge you a fee for an account not being used.
Yeah possibly, although the $5 fee isn't applicable for the savings account, its the main One account which its charged upon, but maybe what you say applies to both, i.e. that they wont charge you for an account not being used.

I'm basically just wanting to make one transfer (if possible) of our money into the Maxi Direct account, and I just need to know whether or not we'll go overdrawn because there won't be any funds in the main One account (if I can transfer money between the accounts online before I get there, that will solve it all though).

Failing all that we'll just have to make 2 transfers, one with a bit of cash into the One account to stop it going overdrawn and another transfer with the rest of our cash into the Maxi Direct account.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:46 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by wafc
Maybe you can have all three if you request it but if you go to the Wetspac website and download the app form you will see that you choose between the normal savings account or the Maxi Direct.
I did open my account whilst out there on our validation trip, so that could be why. As for the $5 fee I would do as "thebears" suggest and deposit a small amount in there to keep it ticking over. That's what I did.
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Old Nov 9th 2006, 6:52 pm
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Originally Posted by Bosshogg
I did open my account whilst out there on our validation trip, so that could be why. As for the $5 fee I would do as "thebears" suggest and deposit a small amount in there to keep it ticking over. That's what I did.
Yeah I would imagine thats why you've got the extra savings account.

I'll probably just have to do 2 transfers to make sure that I have some money in the main One account.
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Old Nov 10th 2006, 4:15 am
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Default Re: Westpac $5 Charge?

Hello!

Westpac Fees explained:

If your average account balance is over $2500 in the main ( ie transaction account) account no fee will be charged.

If you deposit all your funds into the savings accounts but the balance on your main account remains at zero you will be charged the $5 fee.
Your account will go into debit by $5 but you will not be charged an extra fee for having gone into debit.

If you wish to avoid fees I suggest you deposit $2500 into your main account and then deposit the remainder into your high interest savings account.

For more information on the Westpac One Package visit the website:

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/p...rseas+accounts

Cheers
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