So a little while ago, I decided I was sick and tired of being charged through the nose for loaning banks my money for a miserly interest rate, and then charged some more every time I withdrew from an atm without their label on it. What to do?
About a year ago, a transaction account with no fees sounded a bit like an urban myth. One that a friend of a friend had read about in a tabloid. Not long after that, something changed, and a few banks began to offer fully online bank accounts.
My first experience with a fee free account was with an HSBC Online Savings Account. The only problem I had here was, living in a regional area there were no local HSBC branches. As such, the account creation process was a protracted and frustratingly error-prone affair. In the end the account was set up, I had a visa debit card, and an interesting little security device that generated random access codes for further online security.
This was all great, but I found that the online interface of HSBC's online banking began to get me down, and there were a few unexplained issues with some of my scheduled transactions which worried me. So I decided to shop around for another.
For a while previously I had maintained a high interest, fee free online savings account with BankWest, the Telenet Saver. This is a terrific account with easy access online and an above average interest rate. You simply link it to your existing transaction account from any institution, and are then free to transfer back and forth. Brilliant to set up a regular savings plan. Then I had a look at other BankWest offerings. This is what I ended up with:
A Bankwest Zero transaction account (you need to credit at least $2K per month) with a Mastercard debit card, with which you can access funds from any atm in the country for free! There are no account keeping fees, and if you like online banking, then this is the one for you. If you link the Telenet saver account I mentioned previously to this one, you get instant transfers between both a high interest and a transaction account, all with no account keeping fees!
This is the best deal I have found so far, and remote account creation was a cinch (for those who don't have a branch nearby).
Currently, the BankWest Telenet Saver is offering a 6.35% p.a. intro interest rate for the first 12 months. This is exceptional in the current economic climate.
If anyone finds out about a better or equally good deal, let me know!
Until next time.
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