No Fee Bank Account with Card for Travel

angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 14:22

I'm going to the South Pacific Islands and this time would like to have a physical bank card with me, so I don't need to walk around with wads of cash. Wanting to open both a VISA and Mastercard accounts if possible.

I'm looking for an account that has no international fees and can withdraw cash if needed. Needs to be simple to use.

I have looked at the threads on OB. I still can't get my head around which to choose. I think I have narrowed it down to Macquarie, ING, UpBank & UBank.

I am a traditional banker, so the thought of not having a branch worries me which is odd because I can't remember the time I walked into a branch.

Please help me decide. I am really confused.

Financial Debit Card

Comments

  • CodeXD on 30/03/2025 - 14:24
    +6

    I'm looking for an account that has no international fees and can withdraw cash if needed. Needs to be simple to use.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…

    • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 14:30
      -3

      Thank you.

      This was one of the pages I looked at before. I still need some help.

      • askbargain on 30/03/2025 - 14:42
        +6

        Pick any. It’s not naming your first born.

        • djones145 on 30/03/2025 - 16:32
          +1

          i just name my kids after ozbargain nicknames

        • Dr Phil on 31/03/2025 - 09:24
          +3

          OP has already narrowed it down to 3 or 4.

          TRANSACTION ACCOUNT DEBIT CARDS WITH NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES
          My pick is the Macquarie transaction account (Mastercard) because its the only one that pays interest (2.5%) and has some nice complementary insurances included.
          You can also open a Macquarie Savings account which pays the highest interest (4.75% ongoing) without any conditions attached and move money into the Transaction account as needed.

          Can do this with uBank too, but uBank Spend account (Visa) doesnt pay any interest.

          Same with Bankwest Easy Transaction account which also provides a Platinum Mastercard Debit card

          But pointless opening 2 transaction accounts just to have both a Mastercard and Visa debit card so also consider……

          NO-ANNUAL FEE CREDIT CARDS WITH NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES
          Bankwest Zero Platinum Mastercard
          Bendigo Bank Ready Credit Card (includes complimentary travel insurnance)

          • angywoo on 01/04/2025 - 02:56

            @Dr Phil: I am really grateful for the time it would have taken you to type this out. It was really helpful. If only you knew.

            Before posting, I kept reading and rereading so many different posts even ones dating back a number of years and going back the spreadsheet. I just kept getting more and more confused. Prior to my injury, making such a choice would never have been an issue.

            I ended up opening a Macquarie account.

            Thank you again.

            • Mugsy on 01/04/2025 - 13:00

              @angywoo: I think the reason for your confusion is that your read back a number of years.

              Transaction accounts change over time. Just in the past few years, some significant changes include Citibank exiting Australia with NAB buying up their local business and moving everyone off the popular Citibank Plus accounts. Also, ING no longer rebate overseas cash withdrawals.

              Advice over the past 6 months probably wouldn't have introduced anything that may have confused.

              What you need is an understanding of how bank accounts typically work for their perks (i.e. in your case are there hoops to jump through for the benefit of no international transaction fees) and what activities can cause you to be slugged a fee (e.g. a no international transaction fee debit card won't necessarily help you avoid a fee from a foreign country's ATM operator). It becomes a lot easier to understand.

              As someone who's spent the past 2yrs+ providing assistance to his parents on debit cards for their overseas travel throughout Asia, you'll find the the Macquarie debit card to be good for 99.9% of the time. Where another option from another bank/network came in handy… parents encountered one or two vendors who didn't support Mastercard which is where the VISA debit card they had came in handy. Also one ATM wouldn't want to work with their Macquarie debit cards (yep, both Dad's and Mum's and also their back up Mac debit cards)… again, the back up VISA debit card saved the day.

              Also, each banking app has its pros and cons. Some are better than others for the purpose of overseas travel too.

      • capslock on 30/03/2025 - 14:42
        +1

        Just pick one. It's no different to choosing what to wear or what to eat.

      • boomramada on 30/03/2025 - 14:50

        I can come to your place and go through the list with you, but I change $200/hr plus call out fee.

        • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 14:55
          -7

          you lost me at call out fee

          • t25 on 30/03/2025 - 16:18

            @angywoo: The price you have to pay for convenience.

            • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 16:23
              -5

              @t25: how is it considered convenient when you have to come to my place?

              • t25 on 30/03/2025 - 17:33
                +3

                @angywoo: You wanted someone to breastfeed you the information instead of reading the page yourself. That's the convenience.

                • angywoo on 01/04/2025 - 02:48
                  +1

                  @t25: Mate? Lets hope that none of your family members need to rely on you for help in the future, let alone ones with severe cognitive injuries. I suppose anyone can hide behind a keyboard and be an absolute knob jockey. Anyway thank you for your feedback.

                  • boomramada on 01/04/2025 - 10:04
                    -1

                    @angywoo: How much help do you need, or have you just been disrespectful to all the people who contribute on that Wiki page? It has all the relevant info to make a decision.

                    • angywoo on 01/04/2025 - 11:01

                      @boomramada: Disrespectful? In what way? For wanting extra help?

                      Yes, the wiki has relevant information. Unfortunately, there was too much for me.

                      I guess with without walking in my shoes you will never understand what I encounter on a daily basis.

  • Xyzzy on 30/03/2025 - 15:31

    Go with HSBC's Everyday Global for the added bonus of 2% cash back on eligible contactless purchases under $100. It's VISA.
    If you also want a MasterCard as backup: Macquarie.

    • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 16:24

      THANK YOU!!!

      I will have a look. I never considered them before.

    • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 16:36
      -1

      It says no EFTPOS. Don't I need that to shop?

      • WookieMonster on 30/03/2025 - 23:01
        +5

        The wiki entry for Macquarie says No eftpos, not No EFTPOS.

        • eftpos refers to the Australian payment network.

        • EFTPOS refers to Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale, which is the concept of paying at a payment terminal using a debit/credit/prepaid card. EFTPOS applies to multiple card networks, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos.

        Macquarie removed the ability to use the eftpos network on their debit cards a few years ago, which means you currently can only use the Mastercard network to make payments. That does not matter for your use case, as the eftpos network only works in Australia.

        • Neoika on 31/03/2025 - 00:28
          +1

          MQ may have to re-introduce it in future as my renewed Virgin Money debit card has been added eftpos.

          • WookieMonster on 31/03/2025 - 00:30

            @Neoika: Yeah, agreed. I suspect the Reserve Bank of Australia is going to force Macquarie to do this as part of their crusade to mandate Least-Cost Routing / Merchant Choice Routing across Australia.

            • haemolysis on 31/03/2025 - 11:59

              @WookieMonster: I don't think that is likely. LCR means least cost of the available networks on the card, they can't mandate to use a network that is not actually on the card at all.

        • angywoo on 01/04/2025 - 02:57

          I wasn't aware there was a two types. Thanks for explaining.

    • timhn on 01/04/2025 - 07:52
      +1

      HSBC's Everyday Global for the added bonus of 2% cash back

      Only applicable for purchases on Australia.

  • 6079 Smith on 30/03/2025 - 16:19

    Macquarie for the 2.5% interest on transactions account and 5% on savings

    • Ade99 on 31/03/2025 - 08:03
      -1

      Rates are lower now….$4.75% savings acct

  • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 16:25
    -1

    THANK YOU!!!

    I have been leaning towards them.

    Do you know if they still have branches?

    • askbargain on 30/03/2025 - 17:23

      Do you have google maps?

      • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 17:57

        yes I do but I have heard that they have changed.

  • McMaferMur on 30/03/2025 - 17:47
    +1

    Discussed million times.

    • angywoo on 30/03/2025 - 18:01

      and ever changing.

  • itoyjobed on 30/03/2025 - 20:16
    +1

    During my last visit to Thailand, I carried the following:
    Up bank debit card
    Wise card
    Bendigo credit card

    I tried buying products from 7-11 to compare the cost
    Hands down, Wise was the best out of the 3.
    I tried withdrawing cash from 2 atms using Wise& Up bank and both were charging some amount for withdrawl.

    So, my strategy was to use Wise card as much as possible and then cash (as I exchanged AUD to THB)>

    • Ade99 on 31/03/2025 - 08:00
      +1

      Did a Wise / Macquarie compo and Wise was also a better rate / lower overall fees.

  • Brucet on 30/03/2025 - 21:14

    I am using Revolut card for oversea trip.

  • 82norm on 31/03/2025 - 07:48

    Up card, from Bendigo bank

  • Ade99 on 31/03/2025 - 07:58

    Wise, Basic Revolut, UP, UBank, Bendigo Bank, HSBC. …… Low fees and mid rate exchange rates?, do you want to forward buy FX when at a good rate? Have a Crypto account? Have an account in a another currency €, £, NZ$?, how many ATM transactions do you need to make? …… no one size fits all……Look at the reviews and take a jump and if it dos not work for you, change……

  • woolton on 31/03/2025 - 08:09

    If over 55, suncorp debit visa card, no fees and no overseas transaction fee

    • Mugsy on 01/04/2025 - 00:08

      No need to be over 55, anyone can open the Everyday Options transaction account which has those benefits.

  • kevmev12 on 31/03/2025 - 12:20

    Whenever the Macquarie debit card is mentioned, I feel like I need to let people know - they send their debit card to you already activated. So you want to make sure your post box is well secured.

    I am a Macquarie customer, and I applied for a joint account with them about 4 years ago, and when they sent us our cards, my wife got hers, but I didn't. When I checked our online banking, my card was used to purchase multiple $200 gift cards from Coles and Woolies. I rang Macquarie to dispute those transactions and after about 10 days I did get my money back; and their customer service was helpful and it was a painless process.

    I ordered a new card to replace my damaged card about 2 weeks ago, they are still sending cards to customers pre-activated. It is astonishing to me that a bank will send pre-activated debit cards over the mail in this day and age.

    • shmoney on 31/03/2025 - 14:34
      +1

      that's false, I recently opened a second account with them and had to activate my card

  • Love a bargain on 31/03/2025 - 14:31

    You said you're going to some south pacific islands. With that particular trip in mind, it might be worth checking out which banks operate there and whether any of them are affiliates of any Australia banks on the list in terms of ATM fee waiver.

    • JimB on 31/03/2025 - 14:36

      What you save on ATM fee waiver, you'll pay much more one the currency conversation fee.

      • Love a bargain on 31/03/2025 - 14:45

        Depends what account you have and whether you wanna take out a small amount each time (which sounds like what OP wanna do or a large withdrawal). Bearing in mind local ATM fees in the Pacific can be quite high.

        P.S. I was able to get no ATM fees & no currency conversion/ foreign transaction fees in Fiji. However, I believe the product I used might be closed to new customers at the moment but there might be some other out there that provides the same benefits.

        • JimB on 31/03/2025 - 14:47

          What bank was this?

          The only large bank card I have with no currency conversion fee is NAB (converted from Citibank card)

          • Love a bargain on 31/03/2025 - 15:43

            @JimB: Literally all the cards on this list, and the one below it, have no foreign currency fees: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…

            The 2 options that I have used for absolutely fee free O/S ATM withdrawals are:
            HSBC - where HSBC ATMs are available (exclusions applied)
            Westpac travel money card - where ATMs on the Global ATM Alliance network (which include overseas Westpac ATM) is available

            While their exchange rates might not be the best (but still much better than what you can get from any money exchange), the lack of fees is more than enough to make up for it. Being able to withdrawal multiple small amounts at the same cost to a big withdrawal means I don't have to stress about ending up with too much/ not enough foreign cash - which is priceless.

  • timhn on 31/03/2025 - 20:38

    I think I have narrowed it down to Macquarie, ING, UpBank & UBank.

    Open all of them and test to see which one suit you best. They’re free to get so why not try them all.

    the thought of not having a branch worries me

    Well, we’re heading that way soon anyway. If I need to go to branch then I need take a day off and drive at least 10-15 min since all physical banks near by are all closed down.

  • Mugsy on 01/04/2025 - 00:41

    Between here and Whirlpool, this question's asked every second day.

    OP, just pick any two from the list… one VISA and one Mastercard.

    Or just open up one of every product. As timhn said, they're fee free to use.

    • angywoo on 01/04/2025 - 02:58

      Thank you I have sorted it now.

    • neonlight on 11/04/2025 - 09:41

      Does it not affect your credit rating when you open so many accounts just for travel?

      • surfingedge on 11/04/2025 - 11:30

        If they are credit cards yes, but what's the point of having a good credit rating if you don't want to open any credit accounts?

      • Mugsy on 11/04/2025 - 13:24

        As surfingedge said, if credit cards then yes. But we're talking about debit cards… you can open as many as you like. I have debit cards with at least half a dozen banks for different benefits such as cashbacks, rebated ATM withdrawals, no international transaction fees and complimentary insurances.

  • neonlight on 11/04/2025 - 09:34

    So for going to Japan or China. I currently have BankWest mastercard platinum (no overseas fees got home loan with them) and Macquarie bank transaction card

    Do I still need Wise?

    I missed the old days 28 degrees with top up and withdraw no charge. That was the best

    • Mugsy on 11/04/2025 - 13:31
      +1

      No, you don't need Wise. Unless you wish to speculate with buying currencies before your trip, WISE's fee structure is something you don't want to bother yourself with remember when fees kick in.

      I would open up a VISA debit card with no international transaction fees… sometimes, Mastercard isn't accepted at vendors or some ATMs may have issues with the MC network.

      ME Bank, uBank or Suncorp are good candidates for VISA debit cards IMHO (Suncorp has an authenticator app to avoid SMS OTPs, ME Bank's app has face unlock… good for avoiding entering pin in public if you have an iffy fingerprint scanner, and ubank has the means to enter your trip details without having to resort to chat but their reliance on passkeys can be annoying and resetting your password requires the debit card number… so someone who steals that and has obtained access to your emails can reset the password which I find a security issue).

    • timhn on 11/04/2025 - 15:01
      +1

      I missed the old days 28 degrees with top up and withdraw no charge. That was the best

      Withdraw cash from ATM? You can get the same from one of many debit accounts in Australia now - as mentioned by Mugsy. No ATM and no fx fees.

      • neonlight on 11/04/2025 - 17:54

        Nice so just refer to the wiki page as I guess

        • Mugsy on 12/04/2025 - 08:39

          Yeah, the wiki page is a good place to start.

          Also take a read of this post on Whirlpool:

          https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/974pw5wp?p=52#r1022

          The poster did a good job of breaking down the different types of fees one can encounter when using an ATM overseas. Some of those fees are from your bank and some from the ATM operator. Also note that you can't open up a NAB Classic debit card with no international fees… those of us who have it were holders of Citibank Plus accounts which NAB transitioned over to their system as a modified NAB Classic account with the benefit of no international transaction fees.

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