Fee-Free Transaction Accounts Normal

Fee-free transaction accounts are not exactly new. But previously, they were hedged about with special conditions, restrictions or available only to the select few. Now the banks are chasing more customers by offering a much expanded range of fee-free products.

National Australia Bank set the trend by abolishing fees on their Classic Banking account. Suddenly, NAB had a product that really got the attention of the customers. After all, who could say ”No” to an account that had no fees attached to it and, furthermore, gave you unlimited access to your account via the phone, ATMs, any bank branch and the Internet?

Fee-Free Transaction Accounts That Pay You

But wait, there’s more! ING DIRECT takes fee-free transaction accounts a step further. They have an Everyday account that can actually make you money, provided you take special care with the way you deal with your cash.

You know that irritating 50 cents you get charged every time you use an ATM owned by another bank? ING will now waive that fee if you take $200 or more from any ATM. Even better, if you take out $200 or more in an EFTPOS transaction, ING will actually payyou the 50 cents.

Bankwest also offers fee-free banking through their Zero transaction accounts, but their rules are slightly different.

If you have a Zero account, and you put in a minimum of $2,000 every month (which can include your pay), Bankwest will waive all transaction fees, including transaction fees at ANZ, NAB, Westpac and CBA.

Fee-Free Transaction Accounts That Keep On Giving

Many banks, both regional and national, have plans that will waive all transaction fees if a specified minimum amount is deposited every month.

This opens up a moneymaking opportunity for the canny customer. If you deposit your monthly pay and that is well above the minimum you have to put in, you can simply take all the money above the minimum and place it in a high interest savings account, often online. That way, you get the fee-free transaction account plus a savings account that earns you interest.

Fee-Free Opposition

Credit unions offer the main competition in the field of fee-free transaction accounts. In the past, when credit unions felt they knew you well enough – they called it a certain level of ”banking relationship” – they provided you with fee-free banking. Of course, that usually depended on the number of the credit union products you had or how much money you had deposited with them.