FEATURES SUMMARY

With the introduction of the debit MasterCard in Australia just a few years ago (2005), there are only three credit card providers in Australia that offer a debit card through MasterCard’s credit facilities. Westpac just happens to be one of them.

For a standard debit card, the Westpac Debit MasterCard has a trifecta of security measures in place in order to protect its cardholder’s from credit fraud and theft. For starters, when you use your debit card you’ll have the option of signing the receipt or using a PIN for your purchase.

Secondly, Westpac uses the Falcon system which detects unusual purchase activity on your card. So if you’ve made some purchases outside of the usual purchases you make, you’ll get a call from Westpac just to check that it’s you using your card and not someone who shouldn’t be.

Last but not least, the Westpac debit card is covered by MasterCard’s Zero Liability policy. So if someone has been racking up purchases on your debit card, you won’t be liable for them.

There are 7 different everyday banking accounts and six different loan accounts that you can link a Westpac debit card to, and your monthly fee will only be that of the account that you choose to link it to (minimum $0, maximum $10). With so many account options with a variety of features available, Westpac has most definitely catered for the needs of a wide range of people.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

The Bendigo Blue Visa debit card is one of only a few cards with credit card capabilities on offer from Bendigo Bank. It is a very basic card with only the bare minimum in terms of features.

This debit card can be used at over 840,000 ATMs across the world, so you can use the cash in your Bendigo account without any hassle anywhere you go. With a cheap monthly fee of just $3, you can link your Bendigo Visa debit to any everyday banking account at Bendigo, including your deposit account and any mortgage or personal loan accounts you might have.

Additional cards are available free of charge if you want to share this account with a friend or family member. However, with multiple cards in use it is much harder to keep track of your debit card balance, and if you have an overdraft on your account then this could be a recipe for disaster as it will be much easier to go into debt.

Interest on an overdraft debt will accumulate much faster than it would on a normal credit card because you won’t get any interest-free days in which to pay it off. While Bendigo is overall a good bank, the Blue debit card lacks in many areas, things that most banks provide in a debit card.

This includes minimum security measures put in place to protect cardholders (only those put in place by Visa are effective on the debit card), so it doesn’t really measure up to the majority of debit cards available from other banks.

Overall, despite this card being cheaper than the majority of debit cards on the market, it seems like if you get this debit card then you are most definitely only getting what you pay for.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

Like the Bendigo Blue debit card, the Bank of Queensland Visa debit card is quite basic, but it does offer a couple of things that the Bendigo card does not.

There are seven different accounts on offer from Bank of Queensland to which you can link your Bank of Queensland Visa debit card. The monthly fee for this debit card is $1, which is a little unusual as the majority of Australian banks give debit cards out for free.

In addition to this is the monthly account fee, which varies depending on what kind of account you have and how much money you have in your account. These fees are all set out in Bank of Queensland’s personal banking guide to fees and charges which can be found on the bank’s website.

The monthly account fee can however be waived if you are a full-time student at a University, TAFE, Secondary School, if you’re under 18, if you have a Bank of Queensland home loan, or (depending on what kind of bank account you get) if you have over a certain amount of money in your account.

Unlike most other debit card providers you cannot apply for Bank of Queensland’s Visa debit card online which puts this card on the back foot in terms of convenience for its customers. Instead you have to go into a branch to set it up.

Transactions on this card at Bank of Queensland ATM’s are unlimited, but it’s not on any other banks ATM networks so you will get charged fees if you use the Visa debit card at other banks ATMs. The same goes for using Australia Post banking facilities, although the Australia Post Bank@Post service is a bonus as it increases the number of facilities there are for cardholders to carryout banking activities that they can’t do at ATM’s.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

Citibank’s debit cards are pretty well hidden on the bank’s website so is a little harder to find than most. But when you do find it you’ll see that you can apply for a Citibank Visa debit card through a Citibank Plus Transaction account.

The fee for this account and debit card is $5 per month.

This is yet another fence sitter in Australia’s debit card range – not quite expensive, but it’s definitely not free either! But there is some good news… If you arrange to have your regular salary of $3000 or more (per month) credited directly to your Citibank Plus Transaction account, that $5 fee will be waived, and you’ll be $5 richer!

With free internet and phone banking, as well as a monthly statement, you’ll have no problem keeping track of your purchases made online, over the phone, and in retail outlets anywhere in the world.

So not only is it convenient but it’s cheap too, with no ATM fees at Citibank, Westpac, St.George and BankSA ATMs around Australia. Although it is important to note that this excludes St George ATM’s at BP station outlets.

With this bank debit card you’ll also be able to link up to three other high interest savings accounts free of charge. So when you want to use money from these savings accounts to make a purchase online or over the phone, simply transfer the funds from your high interest savings account to your Transaction account you’ll be away laughing.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

Suncorp is another Australian bank that offers no fees for their debit cards, and absolutely no fees for transactions. All you have to do is make sure that you remember to press credit when making purchases.

This debit card also has an aesthetically pleasing feature called Suncorp Bank Card Skins. When you apply for your Suncorp Visa debit card you can choose an image of your own or from the Suncorp image gallery to have on the front of your card.

This feature is a smart move on Suncorp’s behalf, because with so many cards on offer from a number of banks, features such as this can really sway someone’s debit card choice. And while it does cost $15 it is an optional extra, if you don’t want it you don’t have to have it.

A Suncorp Visa debit card offers it’s cardholders a savings account that yields high interest, but its also available on the Everyday Options, Everyday Basics, Cash Management and 55 plus accounts so the choice is there if you need it.

Unfortunately you do have to take the good with the bad, so there are a few downsides to this card. The first is that it does allow you to go into overdraft rather than just declining your purchase, at which point you will get stung not only with fees but interest as well.

The second is that Suncorp is not linked with any other ATM networks so you will have to pay fees at all other bank’s ATMs.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

St George Bank offers a Visa debit card available on a number of accounts. These include the Express Freedom, Complete Freedom, Complete Freedom Student and also the Retirement Access Plus accounts.

The fees at St George for a Visa Debit card are a little more ambiguous than some other banks because the monthly fee amount depends on what type of bank account you have your Visa debit card linked to. Though whichever one you choose, it won’t be too much of a strain on your wallet as the most expensive monthly fee for all the accounts available is $5.

However, if you are a student or an apprentice this monthly fee will be waived when you have the Visa debit card linked with a St George Complete Freedom Student account.

Banking with St George gives you access to not only St George ATMs, but also Westpac and Bank SA branded ATMs free of charge (with mini transaction history available on St George ATMs). Australia Post offers banking services for St George banking customers as well.

You’ll also get access to Visa Entertainment offers which give you exclusive access to various benefits such as priority seating and ticketing for events, and discounts on accommodation. Thanks to this bucket-load of great features, the St George Visa Debit card is the second place getter in the Editor’s Choice – Debit Cards category.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

NAB has three different debit cards available for their customers, with just one being tailored to the needs of students, and that is the NAB Classic Banking Visa.

There are a number of benefits for a student using the NAB Classic Banking debit card, starting with the monthly fee. For most people this debit card has a monthly fee of $5, but for full time students that are 18 years or older, this fee is waived every month.

So you’ll get unlimited free access to your cash through Eftpos, ATM’s, phone and internet banking and of course branch transactions. You’ll also get the choice of 4 card colours, full access to Visa Entertainment’s exclusive offers and 90 day Purchase Protection insurance.

So if you’ve just bought a new laptop for school using your NAB debit card and it’s lost, stolen or accidentally broken, NAB’s got you covered. You’ll get it replaced or fixed free of charge.

And don’t worry if you’re a bit too strapped for cash to open the account just yet, there’s no minimum opening balance. So you can open your account with as little as $1 and deposit your funds later.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

Commonwealth is one of only a few Australian banks to offer debit cards through the MasterCard facility. The debit card is available in two Commonwealth bank accounts – the Smart Access account and the Complete Access account, and can be used in conjunction with Commonwealth bank’s Student Options.

The Smart Access account fee is $4 per month, which gives you unlimited access to electronic transactions through Commonwealth bank. The Complete access account offers a wee bit more, with unlimited branch withdrawals, teller-assisted cheques and phone banking, plus unlimited electronic Commonwealth electronic transfers for a monthly fee of $6.

There are a wide variety of ways in which the monthly fee for the Commonwealth Debit MasterCard can be waived, including (but not limited to) being a Commonwealth bank home loan customer, receiving an Australian War Veterans or Aged pension, or if you are a full time student.

No matter which account you choose, you’ll gain automatic access to MasterCard Applause. With this service up your sleeve, live events, concerts, ticket-pre-sales, discounts, and special events are all at your disposal so you’ll never miss out.

With secure chip technology for your protection, and access to Australia’s largest banking network, Commonwealth’s Debit MasterCard is a secure, convenient and straightforward alternative to credit cards.

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FEATURES SUMMARY

Want a debit card with no fees? Well then you’ve come to the right place.

With no fees attached the Bankwest MasterCard debit card, it is one of a select few front-runners in the Australian debit card market, and is the 3rd place holder of all the cards vying for the title of Editor’s Choice in the Debit card category..

To get a Bankwest MasterCard you must first open a Bankwest account. Your debit card can be linked to any Bankwest transaction account, so you’ve got the freedom of choice teamed up with the freedom to purchase, without the monthly bill!

This card is perfect for students when teamed up with Bankwest’s Student account. All your electronic banking transactions are free and your account is so easy to manage with 24/7 online banking.

In addition to $0 in fees, another massive draw card for this debit card is that its provider, Bankwest, is now part of Australia’s biggest ATM network. This means that it can be used at a number of Australian bank’s ATM’s free of charge. These banks include Bankwest, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, NAB, Westpac and St George.

Being part of the MasterCard network, all Bankwest debit card holders have access to MasterCard’s applause service which gives exclusive entertainment benefits including one off events created especially for MasterCard debit card holders.

Unfortunately for fans of Bankwest, you can’t apply for this card online so you’ll have to make a trip to the bank to get yourself one.

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