Student bank accounts (1 Viewer)

[Guernica]

What bank offers the best deal regarding student accounts?

I also wanted to get a credit card in case I have to spend money I don't have (in an emergency situation). Are there student credit cards anywhere with lower fee rates?

Thanks.

 

[seremify007]

Not sure about student accounts.. I heard NAB is quite good but can't confirm if they still have the offers of no-fees for students.

As for credit card, I personally use Virgin credit card. Zero membership/annual fees and an interest-free period (ie. you can use it like a 30-day charge card).

 

[BlackDragon]

I seem to remember that my brother had a special student account at Westpac. Though i couldn't tell you much more than that. So yeah, westpac

 

[Guernica]

Alright cool, thanks guys. I've heard before that Westpac is fairly good with student accounts, so I might go there.

And Virgin for my credit card is looking good. No fees works for me - thanks!

Edit: Ok, excuse me for being incredibly stupid, but I want to understand it all before I apply for anything. On the Virgin Credit Card site (http://virginmoney.com.au/credit_card/), it says:

# Pay 0% interest for six months when you transfer the balance of your existing card to us (that's if you're a new Virgin Credit Card customer).
# No annual fee to pay... ever.
# a low 12.99% p.a. ongoing interest rate.
# Up to 55 interest free days on purchases.
# Speak to humans not machines, 24/7.
# And instead of strange points schemes, you get instant access to Mates Rates™ instant rewards - no fees, no waiting, just brilliant deals on stuff you actually want.

I understand point 2, 4, 5 and 6. But what is point 1 and 3 about?


Edit again: For my first year of uni, my income is coming entirely from my parents. So how do I prove this income? Do I just need a letter from them, or is that not enough? I don't have a job - I had to quit because I'm moving 10 hours away for uni.

 

[Affinity]

I am sure that ANZ and Comm doesn't charge fees on a student bank account (account keeping/withdrawal/eftpos) and pretty certain that NAB and westpac does the same.

As with credit card.. get one with no fees since you are not planning to use that so often.

Oh by the way.. banks are very sly and they require you to go back to them every year with your student card.. else they'll start charging you

 

[seremify007]

Alright cool, thanks guys. I've heard before that Westpac is fairly good with student accounts, so I might go there.

And Virgin for my credit card is looking good. No fees works for me - thanks!

Edit: Ok, excuse me for being incredibly stupid, but I want to understand it all before I apply for anything. On the Virgin Credit Card site (http://virginmoney.com.au/credit_card/), it says:

# Pay 0% interest for six months when you transfer the balance of your existing card to us (that's if you're a new Virgin Credit Card customer).
# No annual fee to pay... ever.
# a low 12.99% p.a. ongoing interest rate.
# Up to 55 interest free days on purchases.
# Speak to humans not machines, 24/7.
# And instead of strange points schemes, you get instant access to Mates Rates™ instant rewards - no fees, no waiting, just brilliant deals on stuff you actually want.

I understand point 2, 4, 5 and 6. But what is point 1 and 3 about?


Edit again: For my first year of uni, my income is coming entirely from my parents. So how do I prove this income? Do I just need a letter from them, or is that not enough? I don't have a job - I had to quit because I'm moving 10 hours away for uni.

Point 1 is for people who transfer credit card balances from another account I believe. I don't know much about it as I haven't done it but in short, if you owe AMEX $100, you can "transfer" it to Virgin where they'll pay the $100 you owe to AMEX, and instead you'll now owe it to Virgin. Essentially, you'll get 6 months interest free on that amount; but there are probably strings attached to it in the fine print.

Point 3 is related to how much interest you have to pay on money outstanding/owed to Virgin. If you see point 4, then that means that for 55 days you get no interest (ie. you just pay back what you used it for); but after that, you'll be charged the 12.99% p.a. (yearly).

Also as for income... I think you should use bank statements as proof and if possible, get a letter as well to show that they plan to continue supporting you for years to come.

 

[iambored]

Virgin don't like to give credit cards to students
You can probably find one of the bigger banks that has credit cards with no fees for students

 

[Guernica]

Also as for income... I think you should use bank statements as proof and if possible, get a letter as well to show that they plan to continue supporting you for years to come.

Thanks for the reply. The thing is.. I don't have a bank account at the moment. I closed my current account because it's with a local bank that doesn't have branches outside of the area. So showing a recently opened bank account isn't much security.
I guess I'll just wait a bit until I get a credit card. I should be able to survive without.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

 

[seremify007]

Hmm.... good point. Virgin probably would only give it out if you had a stable income. Maybe get your rents to sign up and let you be.. another card holder? *shrugs* I personally like the idea of a credit card as emergency in case you run out of cash and need to pay.

 

[silly_sailor]

yep i recommend westpac

theres no fees and no minimum amount of money u have to have in the account before they charge u

had no problems with them so far so yeah

 

[yosemite sam]

westpac classic account is awesome...no fees, no minimum balance and they let you have a savings account attached to it so that you can put money away from your normal account, but still have access to it if you want to spend it. their internet banking and direct deposit stuff is super easy to use as well.

 

[klh]

sgb i had, basically a visa debit card but no monthly fees [called freedom student] and 10 transactions. now im with anz, as im not gonna be a student no more, but its 2 bucks a month, free interent transactions and 6 free electronic ones.

if you dont use credit cards often, maybe an overdraft facility in an accounts maybe be a good option..its like credit, but you apply to hte bank asking for more money than you have...though im not ot sureabout hte qualifying criteria...

yeah virgin asks if yo ueanr more than 15k a year ot give it you, i just had a look....

 

[jooobl]

virgin creditcards are awesome
no fees, unless your late making a payment, so pay the money you spend on it back and never pay fees.

win.

 

[ianc]

I have a westpac one account - it has a savings account with like 5% interest linked to it.

There is also a mastercard debit card which is very handy (can use online). No account keeping fees because i'm a student and eftpos is free, but non-westpac atm's cost $2 every time you use them.

 

[Excalibur_]

The comm bank also has a credit card that usually has a $49 annual fee, but the fee is waived if you're a student.

It's got an awards program too! (Plus the obligatory 'no fee' and 55 days)

 

[iamsickofyear12]

I have a commonwealth bank account and I pay no fees of any kind because I am a student. They also have a student credit card. I guess it is meant to be easier for a student to get one than a regular credit card. Other banks would probably have a similar deal.

Last time I looked at Virigin you needed to make a minimum $30,000 to apply for one. I think they lowered it to $15,000 now so maybe I can actually get 1.

 

[rozymisty]

I have quite a few accounts.

I used to be with Suncorp when I first got an job, but with their student account, you only get limited transactions, so I ended up paying a lot of fees.

Then I heard about ANZ, and you get unlimited everything, and the $5 monthly fee to get that unlimited stuff is waived.

Last year, Westpac were doing a thing at uni, and they said they have a special student visa card. YOu get the first annual fee waived, but have to pay it the following years. Just like most other credit cards. THe difference between the student and ordinary one is that you pay more interest I think, and they will take into account the youth allowance. SO if you are earning like $7000 a year, and getting living away from home, you will qualify for it. But you can only get $300, 400 or 500 on it and cant increase the limit beyond that.

Then NAB had that promotion for the velocity points thing, and so I signed up, dont know how they approved it but they did, and Ive got $600 limit.

Then I recently got a Bank of QLD account for my scholarship. Coz the ANZ at the moment goes for my centrelink and schlarship, and its confusing having 2 lots of money in one account. Westpac is for my work income

And I do have a savings acount attached to the Westpac one which is good, but i have no money in it at the moment. I also have a ING Direct savings account.

And both my cards are maxed out. It seems that NAB are less generous in not giving so many fees, coz the westpac card, ive got like a lot of missed payments and over limit etc....NAB, i just have mised payment.

Stupid idea to get a credit card.

Thankfully I am graduating at the end of the year, and i plan to get rid of the Westpac accounts, get rid of the ANZ and BOQ one (not much use if im living in melb!), keep the NAB one for like booking flights, and the velocity points, and get one of those ANZ cards where you can get a pic put on it....