Bankcard Visa Mastercard (3 Viewers)

[LeftrightOut]

Don't most banks have some kind of free ATM/EFTPOS withdrawals- I think St George has either 6 or 12? Can't remember. Bank of Queensland has some other package with unlimited ATM/EFTPOS transactions I think; but the rest of the offer wasn't too exciting.

You will find most banks slug you if you decide to use an atm that is not your own banks atm

But in the scheme of thing, I don't think student accounts are done for the interest- they're used because they offer the fee-free accounts. NAB was telling me that if you use netbanking you can transfer funds from your main account (ie. the one connected to the ATM/EFTPOS card) to this other account whereby you gain interest (5.4% p.a.) calculated daily, paid monthly. Sure it's only what the interest rate is (ie. no risk involved) but it's still better than nothing.

Ahh what a wonderful convenience from NAB I can transfer money to a high interest account and transfer it back before I need it via netbanking but not have one account that gives me 0 fees and high interest plus easy access even if I am not a student. Why would I bother? this is the same as those annoying "don't touch your money all month and get 3% extra on that .5% we give you normally and you can thank us for the privilige" accounts.

*looks at brochure*

Might as well elaborate; for students, account fees are nil, and there's a rebate of upto $12 on any service fees. Service fees like EFTPOS withdrawals are $0.60, same with a ATM withdrawal from NAB, etc.. but a branch withdrawal is $3.00. So in short, you could have 4 branch withdrawals (4 x $3 = $12), or 20 EFTPOS/ATM withdrawals (20 x $0.6 = $12), or a mixture. However, if you use another bank's ATM it's $1.50 and it doesn't count as part of the rebate.

you must have a different concept of tempting to me. Tempting to me is 5 free atm withdrawals every month from ANY ATM no matter what bank, no fees, unlimited eftpos etc etc http://www.hsbc.com.au/personal/accounts/osa.html

The account only needs $2000 to open, once open you can drop below but you only get 4.75% if over 2k, under and it's .5% which probably still looks more attractive in the end than the NAB offer.

 

[Orange Juice]

fuck that hsbc sounds nice... but i think 5 atm withdrawals isnt too much, but itll save me from moving to and from ing...

they have internet banking right? its all free?

 

[seremify007]

You will find most banks slug you if you decide to use an atm that is not your own banks atm

Wait till you see the fees and charges when you do an overseas ATM withdrawal^^

Ahh what a wonderful convenience from NAB I can transfer money to a high interest account and transfer it back before I need it via netbanking but not have one account that gives me 0 fees and high interest plus easy access even if I am not a student. Why would I bother? this is the same as those annoying "don't touch your money all month and get 3% extra on that .5% we give you normally and you can thank us for the privilige" accounts.

Haha that is very true- but then I'm just saying it's an option. For the most of us, we don't intend to be gaining that much interest from our money when we have a limited amount of it.

you must have a different concept of tempting to me. Tempting to me is 5 free atm withdrawals every month from ANY ATM no matter what bank, no fees, unlimited eftpos etc etc http://www.hsbc.com.au/personal/accounts/osa.html

My mistake- I misunderstood that as only from certain ATMs. But still, I think 5 is still way too few. I used my EFTPOS card maybe 20 times a month before (even with the fees at St George after I finished the free withdrawals), but then after getting VISA, I just plonk all my money in there (I'm paranoid I'll lose it if I keep it all in my house) and then use it as much as I need, with only $20 in my wallet.

I guess this thread proves that different people have different requirements/needs when it comes to banking. I want to be able to use my card a lot without having fees, you want to gain interest but still have access to your funds without paying fees.

 

[LeftrightOut]

Wait till you see the fees and charges when you do an overseas ATM withdrawal^^

My Mastercard CC charges a straight 1.5% conversion commission and that's it. My bank ATM withdrawals worked out at I think $4.50 each while overseas which isn't a problem when you pull $500 in one go and space it out over time, you just gotta pace yourself.

My mistake- I misunderstood that as only from certain ATMs. But still, I think 5 is still way too few. I used my EFTPOS card maybe 20 times a month before (even with the fees at St George after I finished the free withdrawals), but then after getting VISA, I just plonk all my money in there (I'm paranoid I'll lose it if I keep it all in my house) and then use it as much as I need, with only $20 in my wallet.

You used to make 20 atm withdrawals a month? I think you need to work out a better way to ration your money I go to the atm maybe once a month for ready cash, everything else is on the CC, I guess I could use the free eftpos everywhere but that gets me no points.

 

[seremify007]

I use it at McDonalds and Gloria Jeans... like when I go for walks to the shops I just carry the VISA card and a phone =]

As for conversion, my St George was like.. flat rate of $4 plus 3% of amount. Talk about a jip eh? I withdrew several $k AUD overseas and when I got back I'm like.. daymm... where'd my money go >_>

 

[seremify007]

Is it any good? The offer seems pretty sweet to me.

 

[mr_brightside]

brightside... cba dont do visa debit... they suck specially with shitty customer service and racism.

ill say. I was there the other day depositing a cheque and on my way out went to the enquires desk. i asked the guy there if they did debit cards. He was like,
"what you mean like a cashcard?"
"no a debit card"
"what do you mean?"

I had to explain to him several times what a debit card was, and that i did not mean a keycard. Finally he was like oh no sorry we dont do those.

NAB was better, I asked the guy and he said no we dont do it but then he recommended St George and credit unions.

 

[Orange Juice]

wow he recommended another bank?

are there any promo deals with hsbc right now? is it worth opening an account with hsbc right now or waiting for one of their promos?

 

[seremify007]

Doesn't the keycard work as a debitcard?

 

[mr_brightside]

Doesn't the keycard work as a debitcard?

No. A keycard is for the use of on ATM and for EFTPOS

A debit card is linked to the VISA network. Plus it has the function of a keycard.

 

[seremify007]

I always thought 'debit card' meant that it's any card which directly takes money out of your account- in the sense, what an EFTPOS card is. That's the definition we learnt back in year7/8 Commerce...

Whereas the VISA one is called "VISA Debit Card" *shrugs*

 

[seremify007]

Btw why is there the 'prestige factor' with the AMEX cards? They seem to be a 'big thing' despite not being very useful >_>

 

[Orange Juice]

also for amex platinum and above some restaurants always reserve tables for em.

damn that NAB visa sounds pretty sweet. how much would you need to earn to get one of them? im guessing they check the past 4 weeks pay slips or something?

 

[LeftrightOut]

No. A keycard is for the use of on ATM and for EFTPOS

A debit card is linked to the VISA network. Plus it has the function of a keycard.

Just because you use certain terminology does not mean the business world uses the same.
A DEBIT card means you use YOUR money.
A CREDIT card means you use the BANKS money.

I would have been confused too and once you hung up I would have had a laugh with the customer service rep in the next booth, it's like people calling up asking for a pentium computer.

Amex is the pits, usually 3 types of people get Amex,
those that think they are getting prestige
those that chase deals
those that don't know any better

I have a friend with a Gold Amex I showed him my pre-approved Platinum Amex letter and tore it up cos it's not worth it. Even the Centurion is not worth it in Australia, the benefits are just not there, now a US Centurion has more benefits so it's understandable but in Australia forget it you are basically getting a Platinum card painted black with very little extra for your yearly fee.

Don't even get me started on that Diners Club rort.

A lot of Businesses won't take Amex and Diners they charge higher merchant fees than Visa/Mastercard.

Give me a Citibank Citigold or HSBC Premier account anyday.

 

[Orange Juice]

i checked NAB, they waive their annual fee for the first year

 

[seremify007]

What's SMS payment security?

For my St George, whenever a transaction > $20 goes through, I get an SMS notification.

 

[LeftrightOut]

For any transaction leaving your accounts from Internet Banking, it sends you a code to your Mobile Phone which you need to type in to authorise the transaction. It means a hacker cant log into your net banking, and send money to his account.

That's great, especially if you're netbanking overseas and aren't using your home SIM or if your mobile is out of batteries or range HSBC give you a cool keychain thing that generates a number you type in before you can log in or transfer.

 

[seremify007]

That sounds damn awesome.

"cool keychain thing" sounds even more awesome.

 

[LeftrightOut]

That sounds damn awesome.

"cool keychain thing" sounds even more awesome.

Cool keychain thing http://om.hsbc.com.au/osd/
and doesn't cost a thing

 

[LeftrightOut]

Nice technology. But it generates a code that isnt issued on the spot by HSBC - meaning that the codes can be compromised.

It's a number generator tied to the device which is associated with each device linked one per customer at any given time.

For someone to compromise it they would have to have your netbank loging, your PIN and the algorithm tied to your security device or access to your security device. Now the next piece is that each device uses a slightly different algorithm which is tied to one customer at a time hence if you try to use your number generator on my account it won't work, you would have to crack the algorithm on mine before it becomes much use and to do that you need access to it, which as soon as I lose my keys I cut off by calling HSBC and having another one re-issued. Now if someone cracks my algorithm while I still have the device they would have to be able to match the timestamp used by both the bank and the device for that transaction timeframe to obtain a number.

I'll leave it at that, feel free to describe how you would compromise it without prolonged physical access to the device which I would stop dead in under half an hour.