19YO son starting first permanent FT job. Till now he's progressed through the Commbank accounts that began in primary school.
What have Ozbargainers found to be the best rewarded starter bank accounts to have his pay sent to? Thinking monthly or better interest, possibly a reward for no, or limited, withdrawals.
Bankwest Zero for transaction account if not going overseas. No ATM fees at any of the Big 4 banks (CBA, NAB, ANZ, WBC), no fees for run of the mill transactions. Needs $2k deposit a month though.
Then add any interest bearing account with the biggest interest rate. RAMS, ING, UBank, Citibank, etc.
…that is, unless you dont want him to spend any money. Then get him a pensioners passbook account without an EFTpos card… I think the Bendigo Bank still has them.
For starter you generally need:
ING Direct's Orange Everyday would be a good starter account. No monthly fee, 5% on PayWave for the first 6 months, free ATM, VISA debit on the same card etc. You can then link it with ING Direct's Saving Maximiser, or RaboDirect or UBank.
One catch is that you only get free ATM withdrawals for $200 and over..
Which might be too much depending on income?
Pretty sure you can get any amount cash out EFTPOS at no charge though.
I think ING also has a deal where they give a $50 sign up bonus (with $2k deposit????) and I think for $200 or more cashout you get 50c (unless they've changed it)
BankWest Hero - 4% interest on balances up to $5,000 which is pretty generous, free use of any commbank ATM nationwide. Also requires $2000 per month to be deposited into it, however.
NAB Classic Banking is always a good option too, no-frills but no monthly fees either (and no minimum monthly deposit requirements).
Then get a Citibank Plus as well, for use overseas or on foreign-currency online transactions (no currency conversion fee or foreign ATM fee).
Thanks, I've chased down most of your suggestions. Also found two that provide useful comparison charts, but you have to look at the fine print. RAMS has http://www.rams.com.au/savings-accounts/compare-savings-acco…, and UBank has a similar chart at https://www.ubank.com.au/, go to Rates and Compare Savings.
I find that I am ruling out accounts that penalise withdrawals, because there are as-good products without this restriction. CommBank Goal Saver allows one withdrawal/month offering 3.91% ongoing. On the same grounds, I am ruling out products with introductory attractive rates. The most generous of these is the ING Savings Maximiser with 4.35% for 4 months, then 3.25%. Bankwest offers 4.3% for 6 months, then 2.7% with no minimum monthly deposit.
But I find that I keep coming to UBank, an online only offering from NAB. I think depositors rank below the main bank in safety. Their USaver offers 4.26% if it is setup with an "Automatic Savings Plan", which entails an automated direct credit of at least $200/month from a linked account at any bank, which could be the very attractive Citibank Plus account. If he can find $2000 clear a month to save, he can benefit from setting up a USaver Ultra transaction account that provides a fee free UBank Visa debit card with payWave and receive a 4.62% interest rate. This can be setup with a "sweep" arrangement that sweeps all but a stipulated maximum into the USaver account and the other way when a minimum is reached in the transaction account. Withdrawals are allowed.
ING Orange Account.
Citibank Plus.