Australian Banks

If you are relocating down under, you will want to know more about Australian banks and what to expect from them. Where to park your money? What fees do they charge? Where to get more information?

These questions are very specific and there is no right answer - everything depends on your circumstances.

Then what will you find in this article?

Here's what it is all about:

a couple of words about the 4 major banks in Australia,
some fees that you need to be aware of,
a list of comparison sites where you can find specific information, so that you can make an informed decision.

The Majors

The four major Australian banks are, in alphabetical order:

ANZ,
Commonwealth,
NAB,
Westpac.

The Commonwealth bank is probably the largest one (by the number of their customers) and has the most ATMs. But the other three are not too far behind.

There is also St George, BankWest, Bank of Queensland, Citibank, ING, Suncorp and others.

If you are a St George customer you can use both its ATMs and those of Westpac.

If you are a BankWest customer, look for Commonwealth bank ATMs and grab your cash there.

Australian banks are very solid institutions. They have weathered the global financial crisis extremely well. And they are very profitable. Which means your money should be safe with them. But it also means you may pay various fees for trusting them with your money. It just helps them be more profitable.

The Fees

Let's see which are some of these fees?

Here we go:

monthly account fees for transaction accounts,
annual fees for credit cards or loans,
transaction fees for withdrawing cash at ATMs or for purchasing goods by EFTPOS (via your card at the checkout),
balance enquiry fees,
fees for withdrawing cash at a branch,
account overdrawn penalties,
cheque dishonour penalties...

The list can go on and on, as there are so many products available and each of them has different features.

You can find accounts that have some of the fees waived, but they come with conditions attached, such as:

you may need to maintain a certain monthly balance in the account,
you may need to a deposit your salary or some other amount every month,
access to a limited number of free ATM or EFTPOS transactions.

It is really worth clarifying how you are going to spend your money and what transactions you would do before opening an account.

If you are in the know, you can minimise your financial costs and keep your cash in your pocket rather than hand it to banks.

Comparison Websites

So where can you get more information about these products?

Obviously on each bank's website, but it can be quite time consuming and difficult to compare apples to apples. A better option is to visit comparison sites that offer great information about Australian banks and their products.

Other websites are: www.infochoice.com.au, mozo.com.au, www.ratecity.com.au.

They also provide information and education on money matters. And because we are talking banks and money, check these other interesting pages: