So have been too much of a status quo guy and never really asked financial questions. But getting to that point.
Have been with CBA nearly all my life, but wanting to know if I should be smarter and move to someone else.
Info of what we have/n't with CBA
Wife has looked at a few others but wanting the wisdom from OZBargain
Macquarie #1
I would suggest keep one bank for depositing cheque and one like ING and MAcquarie for online transfers…..
Why not have all 3?
Macquarie and ING are both worth having imo.
if it's just a cc and account not much difference between the big banks.
I've got a Macquarie Platinum transaction account. It has the no ATM fees like ING, however it doesn't have a minimum deposit. It also has no international transaction fees like 28 degrees. However, it doesn't have branch access or bank@post, so the only way to deposit money is to have another bank account or to go to the Macquarie office, which accepts cash deposits.
Cba is best
Next is NAB or bank of melbourne has better service
No to westpac
ING is best… read other people's comments below
CBA has highest fees, some of the worst rates for savings and home loans.
ING — No Monthly Account Fees, No ATM fees (can use any ATM in Australia for free), offers both Apple & Android Pay, offers one of the best Interest rates for Savings, Great App and many more
ING for highest saving rates. And also Macquarrie for their new "no account fee + no ATM fees" without monthly minimum deposit. My main account is Bank of Melbourne just because their Debit Card design look nice, and they have quite a few bank partners that I can withdraw cash without paying any fees.
Me bank also offer free account fee + free ATM fees (but you need to wait 30 days to get a refund)
Ing all the way.
CBA all my life, then to NAB now ING.
ING for daily transactions and savings. NAB is for backup, and i've closed CBA.
Everyone but Westpac is probably better then CBA that is the worst bank in Australia highest fees, some of the worst rates for savings and home loans.
I agree with most people that say ING, im with Ubank because they are backed by NAB but have fair low home loan rates but there service is average.
If you go with a bank that doesnt have branches you must be a little bit tech savy
I used to used to travel quite a lot so am with Citibank which is best for withdrawals from overseas atms.
Since having a baby and getting married, no more travel so will trawl thru and open another acct. Looking like ING is the go!
Moved away from CBA. ING for most stuff (loan, transaction, offset), Citibank for travel and then a few different credit cards (NAB, ANZ and 28Degrees).
ING for everyday account, no ATM fees
UBank for home loans, apparently the best you can get and possibly the best savings account
Citibank for the Plus account for no fees overseas and one of their annual fee credit cards for free wine in selected restaurants (withdrawing cash overseas with Citibank was a dream)
28degrees or Bankwest for overseas purchases, no fees, make sure to use USD currency and pay using those cards (recently went overseas with 28degrees, was perfect)
In saying that, I'm with CBA, but once I can be bothered moving my home loan to UBank, I'll go with ING/UBank combo.
Isn't state custodian rates better than uBank?
Looks like they are, but when I was doing my research, loans.com.au Essentials Home Loan was the best rate.
I like the fact UBank is part of NAB.
But if we're comparing all 3:
I'm not sure if there's added security if you go with UBank. There's no fees, but you will still be ahead with the 2 above by a few $Ks.
I think, see which one gives you the best rate.
Just curious since a couple people have commented the same thing - why is it any benefit that UBank is part of a big-4?
I like the idea that it's backed by a big bank so it's not vulnerable.
Most are covered by the government guarantee, but getting the money back in timely manner might not be on the cards.
It doesn't matter, more of a peace of mind thing and so happens to be one of the cheapest with a decent functional website/app.
All the CC's from ANZ. Why? Coz Android Pay
The ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures is a pretty great card. And a lot of us would have gotten 60k Velocity points on sign-up.
yes. I got that. I only got 40k points though as at that time the deal was 40k pts only
I'll join the shout out for ANZ.
A year or two back I was on the verge of cancelling my ANZ Visa card(s) because they didn't seem anything special, but just then Apple Pay hit Australia.
Where all the other "Big 4" banks boycotted it, and even tried to form a cartel to force Apple to their terms, ANZ jumped on board Apple Pay. (Way ahead of ING, who I also use, and the others who are slowly coming on board.)
Apple Pay has proved so convenient that it's my go-to payment method now: fingerprint on the phone, wave it near the terminal, done.
Not to mention: the look on a cashier's face when you hold your Apple Watch up and the terminal performs the transaction…
Priceless.
true that haha. I use Android pay which is equally as good. Now I don't keep physical cards. It's all electronic and safer too because you need your thumbprint to transact whereas your wallet can easily be stolen. Even if your phone is stolen, they still need your figerprint to misuse the card
Anything to replace opal card?
@Gaggy:
I don't think there is yet. But I am surprised there isn't one yet. Opal Card has NFC chip built in which is the same as in phone. I see no reason why aren't letting people use phones instead of Opal. I can still scan my card using NFC via the app to check balance etc
NAB are the best.
Any recommendations for banks with best interest rates for savings >100k? Currently with CBA and the rates are shockingly poor.
- Most banks give you less interest after 100k.
- Look for 3.0% + as the savings rate, no fees and no need to grow the balance per month.
- Look for online posts about what they've done in the past. RAMS, for example, had the best savings rate for a few month, then screwed me and reduced it to near CBA-levels (terrible).
Another thing you might like to consider is divesting from fossil fuels (see banks here: https://www.marketforces.org.au/banks/compare).
I use Ubank, due to its swift. As I direct debit all my payments I don't want to keep track of when payments are due.
Basically there are two decent credit cards for OzBargainers (1) 28 Degress and (2) Bankwest Platinum.
To keep things simple, and because 28 degrees don't have savings accounts, I opened a transaction account with BankWest hence am doing my everyday banking with BankWest.
When you finally get a home loan, then stick with Reduce Home Loans. You never really need to login or check or do too much with your home loan account, so it's not a hassle having a separate account for that. Just set it up and forget.
Interesting that Westpac isn't receiving any love. When I was shopping around for business accounts, them and NAB had the best offers (around 2+ years ago). All the personal accounts were much of a muchness, with CBA being on the front with their tech (web banking and apps).
Westpac have always provided me great service and I ended up sticking with them. I do have an ING account and that's also where my savings go.
For overseas I have 28 degrees but recently had to open a Citibank plus as Wi degrees closed a loop hole that allowed to withdraw cash without cash advance.
Also loving Amex for the points and the offers.
I will never make the mistake of using Westpac again. I used it for my side-project/business when I first opened it. Here is a list of complaints:
Edit:
Oh, and one time I went to the bank, they told me to switch to online statements. I agreed and they tried to set it up, then told me I can't do this because it's a business account.
I started using them for a personal concession account about a year ago and so far no dramas. Can't really say anything about their business accounts though as I don't have one with them or any other bank for that matter. I used to have cba as well but their fees were getting annoying.
Interesting, I never, in more than 9 years, had to wait more than 5 minutes in a WA branch. Generally phone service has been very good for me (I don't use it very often). Business banking has also been no dramas.
I agree the online banking experience is not great.
One thing that is completely stupid (not sure how it is in other banks) is that once you close an account there's no way to download your statements (have to pay for them).
Yeah, anecdotal.
I've never had a Hitachi HDD die on me, but a mate of mine will never buy them because he had 2 die a few years ago lol
@idonotknowwhy: I do support people making choices out of their own experiences though so fair enough! :-)
what ever you do please DO NOT I repeat DO NOT use 28 degrees……….they are one that slaps on different fees and really exorbitant interest rates
they are one that slaps on different fees and really exorbitant
They may not be be Pat Malone on that score.
But, the reason OzBargaineers go for 28 degrees is that it is one of the few that doesn't charge international transaction fees. Cards with No Overseas Transaction Fees
Also there is no annual fee.
You can do this with a macquarie bank platinum account. It's a bank account though, not a credit card, so I put paypal in front of mine, for protection.
ING for saving
Citibank plus + bankwest for travel
I been with CBA for a long time, i'm keen on taking my savings to ING or another (non 4 big banks), but i've got a strange concern in being if the bank was to ever flop, do our savings go with it?
What happens in that scenario?
You'll get some back from gov. If worse comes to worse I reckon the problem will be not getting it back so much, but it being worthless due to hyperinflation.
ING endorses the colours and values of OzBargain ☺
Get signup bonus for ING, then refer your wife for another bonus. I use ING for the free service station ATM withdrawals, but otherwise all banks are pretty much the same.
"All banks are pretty much the same"
I disagree with this, but i guess it depends how rich you are (both in terms of time and money).
ING -> Free ATMs saves me both time and money. High savings rate saves me money.
Macquarie -> No international TX fees
American Express (yes, it's a bank) -> Reward points and a streamlined chargeback process (they are the bank, and the credit company, vs Visa/Mastercard having to go back and forth with the Aussie bank)
Bankwest -> 2% cashback on transactions under $99
CBA / other Big4 -> Fees, poor savings rates, limited ATMs cost me time and/or money. They also give you coin counting machines
MEBank -> They used to give me 5% cashback which was awesome. Other than that, the netbank was very primitive, but the phone support was awesome, and had an Australian call center. Past tense because this was 2 years ago.
I like Bankwest personally - as they have branches which are open longer and are normally in more convenient places. I do most of my banking online, but on the rare occasion that I need to go to a branch I don't want to be limited to times between 10:00 and 16:00.