Bankwest emailed and just updated my debit card to platinum for free. Assume it applies to all.
Pair it with the Bankwest Zero and your debit and credit cards will essentially be fee free for international use.
No need to go with two different banks. Time to ditch Citibank.
HSBC have debit card too without international transaction fees. You also get 2% for all paywave transactions
Isn't that dependent on a 2k deposit for 3 months in a row or did that get scrapped?
You need to deposit 2k every calendar month. I always do it on the 1st from my anz account and instantly transfer it back. Works a treat!
This is the answer!
Had another look, paywave transactions under 100 only. Can't convince my retinopathy to do 3-6 taps every month so I guess I'll stick with Cro Jade for a bit longer.
Still, I signed up for one so I'll have the Hiver Card, HSBC and Cro card for maximum ozbness.
@Synticulous: I did it at my dentist haha. Split into 3 transactions. I pretended i had 3 diff cards LOL
@Synticulous: The real allure is being able to offset the pesky card surcharge fees that shops and restaurants charge - you pay less than if you paid with cash and you don't need to fumble round with physical currency (who knows how that money has been handled before it came into your possession).
HSBC’s service and app is also markedly worse than Bankwest’s. HSBC also doesn’t support outbound fast payments which is frankly a joke in 2022.
Yeh the app and website is probably the worst I've seen in banking. But it works. However, when I send money to my ANZ account it's instant both ways. I always use my ANZ for all transactions as they're the quickest to/from most banks for me!
I have to wait overnight to send money from HSBC, but none of the banks I transferred to were ANZ so they might be an exception.
I wanted to like HSBC but between their terrible app, slow outbound payments and the fact that they still haven’t credited me the bonus $100 three months after meeting the criteria, I can’t recommend them to anyone.
@VantageXL: Fair enough. I have the hsbc platinum free for life card and this debit card for points/rebates. I still have citibank debit and 28 degrees card too for travelling, but haven't used them since pre covid. I'm still confused if hsbc is better/same as the citibank card and if 28 degrees is still the card to go with to travel! Will research later
I believe the HSBC doesn't have international "online" transactions within Australia without a foreign exchange fee, whereas this Bankwest one does. I received the email and Bankwest states:
Benefits of a Platinum Debit Mastercard®
A Platinum Debit Mastercard is just like a standard debit card that is linked to your everyday account, only better. There are no extra fees or hidden costs, just a whole lot of benefits including:No foreign exchange fees when spending overseas
No ATM fees charged by Bankwest when withdrawing money abroad*
No foreign transaction fees when shopping online with overseas retailers **
I recently had to give up my Bankwest Zero Platinum credit card which had no online foreign exchange fees (was great for India YouTube, Argentina NBA LP, and Turkey Netflix etc.), and was researching into my existing debit cards I have to take it's place.
It seemed HSBC doesn't have fee free whilst within Australia, and the "without international transaction fees" is for when you're abroad?
I miss the old 28deg/Coles price protection cover. it was the best thing ever.
The 28 degrees insurance is still running for existing customers if you had opted in and have a card? Or did you close it?
I closed my 28deg in 2019 unfortunately:'(
Ah that sucks!
damn, was it only for existing customers, I was redoing my loan and my bank asked me to close any cards i dont use often, I had the bankwest and ING so i closed 28 deg, i had the price protection cover, never used it but i didnt realise it was only for existing customers. I always thought i could go back and get the card if i wanted later….
I had 28 degrees but never opted in. Missed Coles too. Someone needs to make a new one…
Wife has Coles, I have 28 Degrees now Latitude Platinum. Never seen need for "price protection". Another bonus of BW is Qantas points vs no points w Latitude and no 95c payment admin fee. I use the Latitude only for international transactions and when Amex isn't accepted locally so will pivot to Bankwest from Latitude.
Lots of simple ways to get much more than the ~1% value in QFF points back.
Buy phone/computer/TV/tablet/PC part, claim 20-50% off the price off 12 months later.
Buy a product at any time of the year and claim later to get a discount back during an inevitable christmas, boxing day, easter, EOFY, black friday or whatever sale
Buy product from local or preferred retailer, claim price protection vs cheaper but worse seller
@eecan: advanced stack:
buy on ebay, claim ebay price protection so you get difference + 5% extra of difference back in the form of a non-stackable voucher, then lodge price protection :)
what was this benefit I didnt really purchase much on the card mostly just holidays hotels etc.
The underwriter was the same but the offers were slightly different.
28D was claiming back price drops from any retailer for 6 or 12 months
Coles was claiming back price drops from the same retailer you bought from for 24 months
I initially had the 28D one but then switched to Coles (which I still have)
Basically anything I think will drop in price over time (such as electronics) I purchase on the Coles card - I've claimed about $6k over the last few years, and $2k in the last 12 months (so I have hit my yearly cap as of today)
Any cards still offer this price protection or I am too late to this?
@eecan: Ive held the 28 degrees card for 10 years+ at this stage, does that mean I would still have it?
@Clementt: this one has Price Guarantee/protection —
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/1298325/redir
and
https://mozo.com.au/credit-cards/information/bankwest/Breeze…
https://www.ratecity.com.au/credit-cards/bankwest/more-plati…
Seems like Commbank is desperate for new customers.
Fee free internationals has been around with Citi, Up, uBank, etc for a long long time.
I think with interest rates going up they're more interested in deposits.
Just bear in mind that if you don't regularly use this card and also reserve it for overseas transactions then Bankwest will cancel the card with no warning. You won't even get a notice that you should use it, they literally send you a letter after they've closed your account.
Why do people use Bankwest or Citibank for no international transaction fee when there are better options out there?
What are the other options available?
@askbargain: gotta also make sure the rate they convert at is good too, not just any additional fee.
@placard: When there are no fees involved. Then rates are converted by the network (Visa/Master card) using their own exchange rates. Mastercard rates are a tad better than Visa.
@askbargain: By "no fees", I mean no fees at all (transacting, annual, Bpay etc)
I can't see any credit card on that list which is better than the BW Plat Zero for international transactions with no fees.
What are the "better options" you're talking about? Genuinely curious as I'll dump my BW Plat Zero if there is something better.
@Pandaroo: Lattitude aka 28 Degrees which has been the OzBargain favourite card for international transactions I believe.
@GreenRomeo: That has a fee for paying via Bpay though, so I would say it is worse than the BW offering.
(unless you have the grandfathered price protection which is why it used to be a favourite.)
@GreenRomeo: Big disadvantage over Bankwest zero is it doesn't have the free travel insurance. Bankwest is also nice because it has no international charges on buying the flights to activate the insurance.
Citi used to be part of the Citi's Global Transfer, it was great for small amounts since it has no fees and instant as well. You also had fee free access to Citi's ATM globally.
ING has free ATM and refunded ATM fee's. There are plenty of free ATM worldwide now, so you can use Macquarie (doesn't block your card like Citibank and you have to go to an ATM to "reactivate" it) If you travel occasionally, it's not hard to do the criteria the month before.
@askbargain: With the exception of ING and it's hoops, most others still have an ATM operators fee, they just don't charge a fee themselves
@askbargain: There are many countries where it is very difficult to find a free ATM, e.g. Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa.
Like? Citibank is great, only ever use it every few years when I go overseas. No fees at all.
ING (refund international ATM fees), HSBC (2% cashback), Macquarie ('concierge', rewards, interest on transaction account) as your traditional banks.
Up (simplest bank), Revolut (hold currencies like Citibank without the crappy rates) and others as your neo-banks.
@askbargain: I've never paid ATM fees internationally when I've travelled, I'm guessing there are some countries where it's common but not anywhere I've been (probably 20 countries).
2% cashback is nice but not going to make a huge difference since I only use it for travelling (and pay everything on a rewards CC in Australia).
Interest makes little difference since I only put money in it when travelling.
So for me those options aren't really much better, not better enough to bother opening a new account and closing citi.
@CheapBrah: Agreed, the main benefit is free international ATM withdrawals which Citi provides, plus it has other conveniences of its own. Those others aren't better for my usage either as they wouldn't provide any real benefit for my usage (and some like the neobanks that I've looked at are less desirable as have limitations/constraints of their own).
Basically, it depends which benefis are really beneficial, and how you use them.
@CheapBrah: ING is the best one especially with those countries that try to rip-off tourist on ATM fee,
name and shame Thailand ($8/ATM withdrawal) and Fiji ($10-$15/ATM withdrawal).
You don't get the benefit until the next month after you fulfill the requirement with ING so make sure you prep your ING card the month before your travel.
You can also use ING card to pay when you are oversea as well since there is no fx fee and this will count towards the 5 transactions for the benefit for the next month in case you travelled for 2+ months.
I can speak for credit cards, but not debit cards:
Tell me about another credit card with no fees (transaction or annual) that sits alongside a deposit taking institution that is FCS approved.
Whilst it's not strictly necessary, it's very useful to have a transaction account alongside a credit card, so you can automatically pay it off / hold excess repayments, withdraw (to your account) cash from the card at will.
Bankfirst requires you to have a loan with them.
CBA requires $2500 monthly spend.
ING requires deposit + 5 tx.
If you don't need a linked bank account, the only other option with no conditions is 28 degrees.
What if you have money in there
Then you leave it in there and earn interest?
These cards won’t earn you interest tho. So will they close it if you money sitting in there but don’t use the card for a while?
There use to be a $4k/mo deposit requirement with a ~3 month grace period (ie deposit $4k in a month every 3 months)
Isn't ING better ableit more hassle. They absorb the atm fee for the foreign atm.
ING requires a lot of things before they give you anything back
The 5 transactions a month is actually pretty easy for me. I deposit $10 x 5 via the card to my lotto account and it counts.
They absorb the atm fee on the foreign atm if I'm not mistaken
ING do the same, just bear in mind that if you don't regularly use your ING Orange Everyday card then ING will cancel the card with no warning. You won't even get a notice that you should use it, you may only find out when you next try to use the card.
I've had the platinum zero for over a decade, use it probably at a stretch twice a year on overseas vacations. Have had no notices from BW, maybe I met the minimum criteria…
Yeah, I got done by this one as well.
Insurance and extended warranty removed though
I love the spin:
"we’ve also listened to our customers by removing some lesser used features. This includes removing the Extended Warranty and Purchase Security insurances"
I'm sure heaps of customers rang up asking for the feature to be removed. /s
Yeah, loved that one… I felt really listened to by them removing benefits and providing something that's essentially standard these days.
That damned insurance and extended warranty was really annoying me, was thinking of switching banks if they didn't remove it!
Excellent, another card gets fee free international transaction. Glad to see this trend, just hope Amex can do it similar to the US version.
After cancelling my 28 degrees card during COVID peak, I’d use Bundll for all international transactions, and just repay it with other MC/visa.
Go for the Qantas Transaction account to get 5000 bonus points.
https://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/bank-and-save/lp/qantas
Yup, what I got. Now I will pivot from Latitude to BankWest for foreign transactions as a result.
Just beware Bankwest do not use mastercard forex anymore，their current forex rate is much worse.
Yeah, I'm going to do a side by side with Latitude to compare
So whilst having no additional foreign conversion fee, the rate it converts to AUD may be worse than 28 degrees or Citibank debit?
Hi Kaochu, interested where you got details on this, as hadn't noticed with transactions on Zero CC. Aligned exactly with M/C FX rate 2 weeks ago. Do you have a link?
I personally purchased air tickets around 2k using the zero platinum card. When the transaction cleared I noticed I was charged roughly $50 more than I expected because I checked the Mastercard forex rate before I made the purchased. Then I doubled checked the Mastercard rate on both transaction day and clearance day, neither of that matched the AUD Bankwest charged me. Online chat the rep told me they use their own indicative forex rate instead of Mastercard rate now.
Ok thanks, good to know. I'll keep an eye on it for future transactions. Always found it great that M/C FX always ran approx 2 days behind actual FX market. Was a bit crystal ball to either wait a day or 2 for a better rate or purchase immediately if the FX was dropping. Could make a difference on large purchases.
If this is the case and them using a far worse forex fee, then this deal is meaningless.
Plenty of cards around with no international transaction fee that uses Visa/Master Card forex rates.
Wow I thought I was the only one that experienced this with Bankwest Platinum before I closed it. I remember when I first got this and citibank plus debit years ago I was getting 1c USD or less difference compared with XE, and then my last purchase with my bankwest card late last year I think it was like almost 4c USD off, which is about as bad as the big 4 except without the other fees.
Yeah definitely shouldn't compare to XE it is always more attractive. Use https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert… for comparison.
@StrategicMess: Well that's not really the point cos when I first got those cards and did my first international online purchases or withdrawals from an ATM in Japan etc I was surprised at how close it was even to something like XE. Didn't really bother checking the mastercard rate until much later. That last USD purchase with the bankwest card before I closed it was in comparison with rate on mastercard's website.
So seems if transaction is in USD (which mine was) then matches M/C FX rate, if other currency more complicated xxx —> USD —> AUD
Platinum Zero CC -section 20, pg16
https://www.bankwest.com.au/content/dam/bankwest/documents/l…
Mastercard® foreign currency transactions are converted from
foreign currency into United States dollars and then converted
into Australian dollars by Mastercard International Incorporated
at a wholesale exchange rate selected by Mastercard
International Incorporated on the processing date, which may
differ from the rate applicable to the date the transaction
occurred and that applicable to the date the transaction was
posted.
I just looked up 28degrees and its the same with them too
Page 10, conditions of use: https://assets.latitudefinancial.com/legals/conditions-of-us…
A purchase and a cash advance and any other
charge incurred in a currency other than United States
dollars will be converted into a United States dollar
equivalent as at the date it is processed by Mastercard
International Incorporated. Those United States dollar
equivalents and any purchase, cash advance or other
charge incurred in United States dollars will be
converted to an Australian dollar equivalent at our
discretion by:
(a) Mastercard International Incorporated as at
the date of processing in the United States; or
(b) us as at the date of processing in Australia.
I just bought some stuff on eBay in GBP, and BW converted at 0.57 GBP to 1 AUD (which is the Google mid rate today). eBay was proposing to convert at 0.55, so BW is still ahead…
How does this compare to ING? ING already gives free atm withdrawal (after jumping through hoops) - and can get 5 atm rebates for atm’s that have independent fees (eg, nightclub ATMs)
ING is great if you meet the monthly 1k deposit and 5 transaction requirement, otherwise you're paying fees.
Citi is good for their fee-free foreign currency account too, which includes fee-free bank transfers, ATM transactions etc. in the major foreign currencies.
Is there any alternative to Citi for foreign currency accounts?
HSBC, Revolut.
HSBC charges for international bank transfers (incoming and outgoing) in foreign currency (eg transfer USD) right?
It used to be a % of the transfer amount I think.
Or have things changed and this is now free?
Revolut is not a bank. If I want to receive USD and keep it so I can convert when the exchange rate is good, I wouldn’t use Revolut.
Then you wouldn't use Bankwest either so…
@novicenow: Citibank is probably the only bank right now you can deposit international checks with no fees.
Citi cards apparently work in Google Pay after the NAB acquisition