I'm currently a customer of Ezi Banking because of their no account keeping fee policy. Sadly, I got mail today saying that they are shutting this service down :(
What savings/transaction accounts do you guys use? Obviously its not meant to be for earning interest, but I hate the idea of having to pay account keeping fees.
Cool, thanks for that. I've just filled out the application form.
Citibank Plus, No fees, unlimited ATM transactions at any ATM.
Very good account, but there must be an ongoing regular direct salary credit of $3,000 or more in order for the monthly fees to be waived.
Having said that, I think the Citibank Cash Management Account (absolutely no monthly fees, but have limited monthly ATM transactions) and the HSBC Online Savings Account (note, there's no visa debit card for this, but the citibank has) works hand in hand.
Bankwest Zero Transaction
No ATM fees anywhere.
No BPay fees
No over the counter withdrawal fees
No cheque book fees
No Internet fees
No fees at all
Deposit a minimum of $2,000 per month (eg. your salary).
Otherwise it gets converted into a Lite account (fee banking). Still less of a threshold than Citibank.
Hi, I am in the same boat as you GreenLego and upon doing my own research I came upon this website, might be useful to others as well.
http://www.bankers.asn.au/Default.aspx?ArticleID=585
http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/Basic%20Bank%20Ac…
From what I can tell there are better accounts than the HSBC account. I hope this helps somebody.
I reckon if we all stuck together and stopped using bank accounts for a while, as their boots have gotten to big for their feet, maybe we would get some bargaining power back. They have manipulated the whole system so, that it is nearly impossible not to get trapped into having to pay fees and charges in some way. It is a CONSPIRACY.
Good Luck.
Or you can always stash your cash under your pillow. :)
Great resource btw. Just be careful and read the PDS carefully as some banks are notorious at 'hidden' fees (e.g. when you don't meet the minimum deposit amount/month).
I guess I'm really lucky…I'm a student so I get no fees on my bank account AT ALL and none on my credit card (except if I go over the limit or don't pay, obviously)
Haha, yea, we enjoy it while it lasts. XD
How about Bendigo Ultimate transaction account?
It appears to have no monthly fees. Every transaction incurs a fee, but an allowance of $4 is allowed in a month.
hmm hsbc sounds good but u dont get the debit cc with it
Interesting product. I haven't had a chance to read all the fine prints but I guess it would be a good idea to post this and let all the OzBargainists to dissect it.
u also need to create a share trade account in order to benefit from that
any1 know of an account with no fees which also has no minimum deposit requirement or minimum account balance requirements?
Have a look at http://www.barefoot.com.au/savings.html
The site is still in Beta mode but it mentions Citibank's Plus Transaction account as the best 'everyday banking account'.
The only problem with this site is that it really doesn't give any reasons why it selects the account. When you go to other sections like VOIP it recommends Skype and Gizmo as the providers, whereas there is Pennytel and Mynetfone (plus others). They don't seem to be updating the site much. There are better services such as www.cannex.com.au for bank account comparisons and these are updated regularly.
The site has just been updated. See what you think now :)
Interesting site. I still don't like being forced to deposit my wage to save on fees. So i'm sticking with the first suggestion of HSBC.
I also don't like Citibank, because in the past, they lied to me about 'no fees ever' accounts and then after a few months they started to charge a fee.
what did they charge you for?
but yes, ive heard a few bad things about Citibank and ANZ (ever tried calling em? ugh)
HSBC seems the most reputable out of the options, however NAB doesnt seem too bad either.
I joined up with Citibank Ready Credit fee free deal. Then a year later they charged me 'one off maintenance charge' or some made up nonesense of $100. They said because it was a one off charge, it wasn't a 'fee' or some stupid reason. A lot of us complained to the Banking Ombudsman etc, but they couldn't do anything.
interesting, thanks for sharing that.
ill be sure to stay clear of citibank
Has anyone been able to negotiate banks such as commonwealth bank by indicating that they are going to take their business to hsbc or citibank ?
I haven't tried, but I reckon it would be worth giving it a go! What have you got to lose?
Try HSBC - I have found their online savings account the best so far. They give you unlimited atm withdrawals at HSBC atms and 4 or 5 atm withdrawals at ANY atms per month. This is really handy as you don't have to search around for a specific atm and can just use whichever has the shortest queue!! And there is no monthly acccount keeping fees. If you have more than a certain amount in the account, they reward you with higher interest rates as well.