ME Bank Vs ING Direct Vs Bankwest - Transaction and Savings Accounts

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  idonotknowwhy on 16/11/2016 - 23:39

  +1

  I had an ME Bank account last year (when they had 5% cashback on paypass) and I currently have an ING Direct account (because until recently they had 2% cashback on paywave).

  • ME Bank's customer support was very good. They have an Australian callcenter with comptetent staff. Never used ING Direct's customer service so can't comment.

  • I wouldn't know about the ME Bank site upgrade as I closed my account, but ING recently upgraded their site too. It's much nicer now, but doesn't support Opera (my main web browser) anymore. It's still got the shitty on-screen keypad to enter a pin to login (I prefer to type a long passphrase with my keyboard) though.

  • Are you sure you can use ~any~ atm with ME Bank? When I used it, it was only a select few (Westpac, Bank Of Melbourne, ME Bank and a few others). ING direct lets you use any atm, even the ripoff pub atms, with an instant rebate for the atm fee.

  • The ING Direct app is awesome. It shows you your balance without logging in, and it's really snappy. It also supports Android Pay, though this doesn't work for me as I rooted my phone.

  I don't know about the other questions.

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  Donaldhump on 17/11/2016 - 00:19

  i have all ME bank, ING, and Ubank with an epic schedule of movements of money to get the bonus interest.

  me bank is the best, just use your card weekly and buy an onion

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  psyren89 on 17/11/2016 - 00:31

  Bankwest's mobile app is awful (the Android version, anyway).
  ING's is pretty good.

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  bargainbeseecher on 17/11/2016 - 01:46

  I have a MeBank Everyday Account linked to a Savings account (a few years ago they gave an interest rate of 3% + additional 2% for 6 months if you opened them together).
  There's better rates elsewhere these days so I'm looking to move on but to answer your questions, in my experience:

  • I haven't used the website since it updated but the app has improved. I was confused using it the first time after it updated but wouldn't be an issue if I hadn't used the app before.
    My only issue with the app is that the transaction history leaves much to be desired compared to my Commbank app.
  • Again, I don't pay too much attention to the website but the app transaction updates <5 minutes.
  • Not sure about cheque deposits, I've never tried with MeBank but I reckon that'd be on the application for their services.
  • I've had to call customer service twice since opening with them. Very friendly and helpful. I could hear a lot of background noise in the rest of the call centre but hey what can you do. Because they're onshore, their hours are refined which can be stressful in an emergency and you have to wait til the next day.

  I will say this! I noticed money I didn't spend disappearing every now and then. Nothing was showing up on the transaction history so I ignored it (dumb thing to do). One day, I transferred $300 between my accounts for a $240 shop and I got declined multiple times. I checked my account and only had $ 25.50 in there. Called the MeBank line up and they said "Whoops, looks like we've over charged you a few times. We'll put the money back in your account within the hour. Sorry about that." Money came back within the time frame but then someone I know who's also with MeBank told me that MeBank are aware of this bug and don't rectify it unless you bring it to their attention.

  Hope this helps :-)

  — BB

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  inherentchoice on 17/11/2016 - 06:08

  I would recommend Macquarie. Check out this deal:

  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/269799

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  daydream on 17/11/2016 - 11:10

  +1

  ME Bank have great rates and an excellent local service centre (best service I've received from a bank).
  I'd prioritise those things over the online/app interfaces (ME Bank have improved since the upgrade but it's a personal preference thing. If it's functional, which it is, then that's the main thing). I'd rather have extra money in the account than a fancier interface.