Banks, savings accounts

[tr3nt]

Not a rant. Read on:

I currently have a westpac everyday 'savings' account. I'm looking at possibly opening a secondary savings account, or even going elsewhere entirely for actual savings.

I know with Westpac you can open up a secondary account not for day-to-day use, but im not sure if i'm 100% satisfied with thier options. The NAB have an iSaver account which I have been told about by a work-friend, and it sounds good. Mike (stocky) from here has also told me about an ING account which sounds good also.

The primary role will be to deposit an amount of money fortnightly, and hold onto it, no/minimal fee's, decent interest, and I can't withdraw from an ATM/bankcard, it would need to be withdrawn from an Actual teller, or thru transfer of funds.

Ideas?

[Vee-ard]

easier to keep both accounts with the same bank to avoid transfer fees if you're going to be transferring between the two a lot, (i know I do). If you're not happy with westpac, change the bank you have the main account with.

[tr3nt]

I've been considering that as well. If possible (with minimal/no fees) I want to keep my current westpac account, as it's simply easier with work paying, and any possible direct debits.

[minux]

We use commbank, have term deposits which reap great returns, no account keeping fee's, no charges for finalising unless it is before due date. Best of all it takes 2 seconds to transfer across each month.

I have found its best to stay with your own bank, you get many rewards investing your money through them.

[Ripcell]

you considered ing direct? no fees ever, you cant access your money with a card so you cant spend it impulsivly. you just link it to your account so you use ing's netbank to transfer into and out of your day to day account

[tr3nt]

Fair call.. I'm not looking into a Term Deposit at this stage, as I want to be able to access the money at any given time through either Internet/phone banking or over counter. I guess this will be a personal discipline action, I cannot save money for the life of me. If I have an ATM card, I will be more inclined to 'swipe away' where eftpos is available, and lets face it, its VERY available almost everywhere you go - But having said that, im lazy as well. I won't want to always go into a branch and do over the counter service.

Ripcell - With this account with ING - any fee's for transferring to and from for example: Transferring funds from westpac to ING and visa versa?

[MissUnderstood]

I could give you my account number.. And I'll save it for you

Other than that.. I have no idea because I'm shocking with money too.

[tr3nt]

Lol MissUnderstood. Sure thing :dodgy:

[MissUnderstood]

Haha will pm you with the details :P

Suncorp seemed to have a pretty good set up. I signed up and had my main account and then a 'savings account' joined on that I could access with phone banking and internet banking. From what I remember, the fee's weren't to bad? I don't know about now though.. It's been a few years.

I heard credit unions are supposed to be good too.. But if it's easier to stay with the same bank, give them a call and go through the options. I'm sure they could find something that your happy with.. or just transfer it to me.. Either way

[azkwazere]

Fair call.. I'm not looking into a Term Deposit at this stage, as I want to be able to access the money at any given time through either Internet/phone banking or over counter. I guess this will be a personal discipline action, I cannot save money for the life of me. If I have an ATM card, I will be more inclined to 'swipe away' where eftpos is available, and lets face it, its VERY available almost everywhere you go - But having said that, im lazy as well. I won't want to always go into a branch and do over the counter service.

Ripcell - With this account with ING - any fee's for transferring to and from for example: Transferring funds from westpac to ING and visa versa?

+1 ING... there is a 2 day delay in transfers too so you cand just transfer and spend

good interest...

aZk.

[Tom_1569]

Dont go Bendigo, those scum bags will steal any money you have and then continue to charge you stupid fees without telling you.

[stocky]

as i said go with ING. seems to have all youre after. plus they have billy connolly doing their commercials so thats a win right there

[Troy711]

Don't forget to declare the interest made at tax time

[stocky]

yeah i dont like that part

[Troy711]

A guy at work said his parents (genuinely) forgot to declare 100 bucks interest one year and coped a $700 fine from the ATO

[DavidPartay]

I'll also vouch for ING Direct. I've been with them for about 6 years now. No fees at all, it's great! They've even done promotions where if you sign up they give you like $25

A friend once described the Bendigo bank to me as being the 'green' bank, who'll take your money and screw you over as hard as they can. He brought it up because a mutual friend in his 'green' ignorance refuses to ditch them because they're supposedly tree-huggers... Sigh.

[rch-13z]

Working for a bank I've found that the 2 accts which always pay a decent rate and don't charge any fees is the ING Savings Maximiser and St. George's Directsaver account.

Only fee's you may be charged is like a 20 or 40 cent fee when you request a direct debit from westpac to ing etc etc...

As troy mentioned always best to declare the tax & give the new bank your Tax file number to avoid withholding tax.

Go on the Cannex website for a full run-down....

[tr3nt]

Don't forget to declare the interest made at tax time

Care to elaborate?

[DavidPartay]

When you pay your tax, you're supposed to declare any interest you have earned in bank accounts.

I have a Greater Building Society bank account as my main account, linked to my ING Direct account... No fees ever, because my card is a debit card (like a credit card, but spending my own money) and anything I put on 'credit' carries no fees . I can withdraw money from the 'credit' account at ATMs without incurring fees as well, it's fantastic.

Greater also do a free savings account with a comparable interest rate to ING Direct, but I don't use it myself.

[azkwazere]

Care to elaborate?

you are liable to be taxed on any income you recieve including intereset from bank accounts...

aZk.

[tr3nt]

Ahh.. Interesting.. Cheers guys.. I think I might go the ING route.

[rch-13z]

Just remember man, two days for the funds to hit your westpac acct...

There e-saver seems pretty good... westpac version of ing savings maximiser... Westpac Internet -Westpac eSaver

[Jesterarts]

I've got 2 accounts with ANZ.

My everyday accound into which my salary goes into directly and a online saver account which draws a amount from my salary each pay.

The online saver has an ok interest rate on it and pays out monthly.

I used to have term deposits but I decided it didn't work in my case as I wanted to add more money to it after every pay, which i couldn't do. So that money accumulated in my everyday account and inevitablly was spent instead of saved.

In my case I wasn't after gains from interest, just an account where I could put money into and not be able to blow it on something random.

[NORTI]

Just remember man, two days for the funds to hit your westpac acct...

There e-saver seems pretty good... westpac version of ing savings maximiser... Westpac Internet -Westpac eSaver

Thats what we just did, its an okay interest rate, no fees and linked to the main account, so although it has no direct access via ATM/EFTPOS it can be accessed if needed.