Cash Folks: What Bank Options Do We Have???

ratoloko on 15/05/2025 - 11:53

I have been a CommBank customer for 11 years now, unfortunately, here in Australia 11 years means nothing, it does not give you any credibility or anything. This is in general really, even electricity bills you will pay more than new customers, go figure.

For saving, I have ING which I am very happy with the maximiser, use the debit card 5x and deposit $1k monthly at 5.40% p.a.
Normal saving is good also, CommBank doesn't give you sh1t.

What I like about ING is that the customer service is Australia based and the rare times I had to call them, it was pretty fast.
There is only ONE atm at CBD, that is all, I am using them for retirement purposes so that is not an issue.

So, I have CommBank to receive salary and CommSec ( I cannot think of a better option for CommSec to be honest, I have 2-4 days to transfer money allowing me to buy stock as I please without having to wait for the money to be there first. I am open for recommendation but it must be CHEST registered. ).

I have been using cash for some time now, the other day I had $600 in coins, but CommBank is going pretty hard against cash, ATM "out of service", folks receiving e-mail to explain why they have too much cash withdraw, etc.
Hopefully, they will never find out I cashed out to buy metal which you can legally do up to $5k without records, I mean, I started but sort of abandoned that for now.

I only have a debit card used for online shopping largely at Amazon because bulk stuff is far cheaper than the big supermarkets and some bills. Cash for everything else.

The options we have:

  • CommBank: ATM being closed, impossible to call them with over 1h waiting on the phone which is my biggest issue, etc. UP digital bank has the same phone issue and why I left it over ING, you just cannot get in touch with them and the messaging is always offline.

  • WestPac: They have terrible infrastructure. I work in IT and they have had some big security issues that was not even open to the public, people talk within the IT world. I wanna stay the hell away from this bank.

  • NAB: Based on peoples experience, it is as bad as it gets, but again, I have CommBank and although it is bad, I have not had any major issue yet. Knocked the wood!!!

  • ANZ is another as bad as it gets

What options do we have left???
Pick the least worst bank and hope for the best???

I really wanna leave CommBank, if my account gets compromised, there is no way to get help unless I go to the agency which they will ask you to call the support. Plus the crackdown on cash.

I am not any millionaire, just a normal person trying to don't get caught in this crossed fire.

Thank you very much

Financial Bank Account Savings Account

Comments

  • boomramada on 15/05/2025 - 12:00
    +4

    unfortunately, here in Australia 11 years means nothing

    That goes with any bank, so pick a bank that suits you based on your circumstances and needs.

    • ratoloko on 16/05/2025 - 10:53

      This is so weird because where I am from, 11y account gives you access to so many "special services", the older the account the more special.

      Here is the opposite, some folks have had their account for 20-30y and get f over by the banks. Go figure.

      • tenpercent on 16/05/2025 - 11:12

        There's not enough competition in the banking sector in Australia for them to need to do this. The culture has also declined in recent decades.

  • burningrage on 15/05/2025 - 12:06

    This is just me but I am finding Westpac is probably the most "Cash-friendly" bank at the moment simply because it has one of the biggest network of ATMs (AtmX, Big4, Precinct, BankSA, StGeorge, etc). When I want notes split down to cash, I can find Westpac ATM to do it despite being a BoM customer and likewise, if I want to deposit my cash, I can do it either Westpac or BoM.

    So yes, to me, they have my business despite what you called "big security issues". I am aware they have recently withdrawn their Cashless Withdrawal facility while NAB and CBA still kept theirs which suggests an unresolved security issue.

    • ratoloko on 16/05/2025 - 10:39

      To the best of my knowledge, you pay fees using ATM if not the bank's.
      Having the biggest ATM network is good but you still pay fees which the last time I used years ago, I think I paid $2.50 or something like that to cashout from a non CBA ATM.

      I used cashless withdraw once and personally, I hate depending on phone for everything.
      Sure, it is cool to have it in case you forgot your wallet or something but it is not a must have thing for me.

      All banks have system problems from time to time but WestPac had the worse, for 4 days or more, people were unable to access their money due to a system issue.

      • burningrage on 16/05/2025 - 11:00
        +1

        I am not sure if this is the case with big 4 banks but with BoM, withdrawing money via ATM across AtmX, Precinct, NAB, CBA, ANZ, Westpac, BankSA, and StGeorge network are free.

    • Clickbait on 15/05/2025 - 14:49
      +1

      OP is looking for practical advice

      • Protractor on 16/05/2025 - 11:05

        They came to the right validation workshop for that

  • Xyzzy on 15/05/2025 - 12:50

    Any if the mutual banks/credit unions have a branch near you?

    • ratoloko on 16/05/2025 - 10:31

      I am close to CBD right now but moving away from it, so whatever bank I go with, must have ATM "everywhere"

      • tenpercent on 16/05/2025 - 11:20
        +1

        must have ATM "everywhere"

        That limits you. You're left with the big 4 or some of their subsidiaries eg. St George, Bank of Melbourne.

        One option might be to use a mutual bank or credit union for most of your electronic banking needs and transfer to Westpac (for example) to withdraw cash, or deposit cash into your Westpac and then transfer it across to your mutual / credit union account.

        If you have an account with any of the Big 4 banks you can withdraw from any other Big 4 ATM fee free. Westpac and some affiliated banks have even more fee free options too, as mentioned.

  • surfingedge on 15/05/2025 - 13:01

    Why do you have $600 in coins? If you use cash for every transaction, just pay exact cents with silver and up to $30 or so with gold, all the coins will be gone very quickly. Shops are happy when people give them coins (at least, if they like cash) as they always need more. If you go to a shop with a self checkout, just pour in all the 5c and 10c.

    Where have you heard of people being asked to explain why they withdraw cash? You are not withdrawing tens of thousands every week right?

    If you are still worried about this, open accounts with all of the big4 and use them for cash withdrawals only. So I mean if you need to withdraw $2000 in a month just do $500 from each account, they don't share info and each bank will only see $500 withdrawal. Send the money from your main bank just before you visit an ATM, your main bank won't know that you are taking it as cash.

    I have accounts with all of the big4 and never had any problems - I don't do anything with those accounts except osko and using the debit card. They may all be "bad" but for such simple things if something goes wrong, you are just very unlucky. If you never have much money in them then there is no big loss if they get compromised, you can afford to wait until you have time to sort it out.

    • Josh Tang 2047 on 15/05/2025 - 13:11

      Same, I use my coins as soon as I get them, but I do know other work colleagues that just use a note and then put the coins into their pocket which results in them accumulating large amounts of coins.

      My guess is they need to do some counting, then bag them up using the cheap supermarket freezer bags. You will end up wasting 1 cent each time though, but hey it's better than worrying about where to find someone to exchange your coins or having the machine incorrectly count and steal some of your coins.

      There might be a free way to get those coin bags from your local bank too, but I do not know of the exact process to request it and if it is only available to business customers. If I recall, some banks only give you a paper thing to roll up the coins.

      • surfingedge on 15/05/2025 - 13:56

        I have not done it for a while, but before covid you could go to any ANZ and just ask for the red coin bags, no charge. In 2018 only 6 ANZ branches in the whole country had coin counting machines so there were often customers bagging coins.

        In the past few years basically every ANZ branch has got a coin machine and they have replaced their counters with an "enquiries" desk. But if they have a business counter there will still be a coin weighing scale in the back, I don't know if they still keep empty bags in stock though. I like these new machines because other people don't know how to use them and they always leave some coins behind in the tray - found over A$10 and NZ$5 in the past year :)

        I went to an NAB branch in Perth with some bagged coins and they didn't even have a scale, she agreed to count some $1 and 50c by hand but she couldn't be bothered to do the 10c so she refused them. Left my card in Sydney so I couldn't use the machine.

        I haven't heard of a bank in Australia making customers roll up coins - that happens in US, Canada and Switzerland though. In Switzerland they now have tubes which tell you the length required, which makes it very easy.

        • Protractor on 16/05/2025 - 11:16

          Next time count it first, and when you get to the bank pour the coins on the floor on the tellers side.

          It's clear all these services are being eroded so (long term /big picture) they can get rid of the human employees. No wonder BTC is being embraced by financial solutions.It has the potential to wreck the capitalist model. A little bit of global mayhem to refresh the soul.Also the perfect cover for global criminality. The rise in oligarchs and their (and the richest fx on earth) love of BTC is no coincidence

    • ratoloko on 16/05/2025 - 10:30

      If you use cash, some places just give you a ton of coins back.
      Some coins I had for like 5y before I went cash only mode, I was surprised at CBA depositing all of that.

      It is a pain to carry a lot of coins around haha

      I have had no issues yet, I have cashed out $500, $1k and even $2k without issues.

      I am surprised you asked me where I saw it, this is all over the news: https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/commonwealth-bank-customer…

      • surfingedge on 16/05/2025 - 10:45

        Yeah I just saw the story, someone posted it on here too https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/905951

        Of course it's a pain to carry lots of coins but why can't you just spend them at the next shop.

        The max coins you will ever get in change is $4.95 unless they run out of $5 notes. When you have coins that can make up $4.95, there is no way that your next transaction will leave you with more coins (unless a shop has run out of 10c or $1).

  • Gratt on 15/05/2025 - 15:11

    For your coins take them with you to Coles or Woolworths and feed them in the self service machines. Heritage bank has a coin counting ATM at our Local Branch in Loganholme Qld. https://www.heritage.com.au/help-and-guidance/faqs/general/w…

  • Benoffie on 15/05/2025 - 21:11

    Never had an issue with NAB. They still have free coin deposit options too (yes, I too regularly haul a stash in).

  • ratoloko on 16/05/2025 - 10:40

    Which bank provides AU based customer service or the fact that you don't have to wait for over 1h on the phone waiting for help???

  • Protractor on 16/05/2025 - 11:07

    Start tipping.Don't be a TA

    • tenpercent on 16/05/2025 - 11:22

      Look who's importing American culture.

      • Protractor on 16/05/2025 - 13:37
        -2

        Look who can't (won't) get the joke and over whose head irony gets a nose bleed from lofty heights. I know my scalp is your life endeavour, but hey, it's kinda creepy.

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