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.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

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.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

FEATURES SUMMARY

• Monthly Fee: Dependant on account chosen (maximum $5)
• Free account access:
  • Eftpos
  • Phone/Internet banking
  • St George, Westpac and Bank SA branded ATM’S

• Extras:
  • Apply online
  • St George Secure
  • Fee-waive option
  • Visa Entertainment
  • Australia Post Bank@Post service

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.

See all our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category