Best bank account?

markrmau · 1 November 2006

Any opinions on the best bank account to use?

I want to be paid a decent interest rate > $2k - none of this .01% rubbish.

Want to link to broker account - etrade or comsec or other.

Don't want to pay monthly charge, but may have to pay $3-4 to get the interest rate.

Want ATM and preferably cheque book.

Is there anything out there?

HSBC used to be good, but they increased the lower interest rate limit to $5k.

I typically have keep my balance at $2k -5k so with every other cent invested inn market.

Cheers,
Mark.

Space Cadet · 1 November 2006

One option to consider is commsec's Commonwealth Direct Investment Account (CDIA) which can be linked to your commsec or other broker account I suppose.

They have cheque book and ATM access. Monthly fees are ZERO if you choose the maximum 15 electronic transfers option but then any over the counter teller transactions incur a fee. If you do more than 15 electronic tranfers from your CDIA in a month the fees are minimal.

CDIA does have a min. $5k balance to attract interest on the account though, but you can get around this by also opening up an internet only account like ING Direct which has ZERO fees also with no minimum balance and link this account to your CDIA account. ING Direct pay 5.85% pa.

But beware, although most transactions go to/from your ING account to its linked account (CDIA) overnight, they say to allow up to 3 days so be careful with T+3 settlements.

Good luck

markrmau · 1 November 2006

Yes, that delay was something I was trying to get away from.

Best option is account that gives you interest on low balances - $5k at 5% is $250/yr. $6/mnth=$72 / yr. So it more important to get interest - not to minimize fees.

Found that stgeorge has option where if you pay $6/mnth, and have a linked power saver account, you get 5% on any balance, provided your monthly salary goes into freedom account. According to phone operator, transfer between the 2 accs is instant. So you can buy, then transfer the money.

Bit of a pain trying to organise it right, but looks like the best option.

watsonc · 1 November 2006

St. George Directsaver accounts offer 6.15% interest on any sum of money. So you could have $1 in your account, and it would earn the full amount of interest. There are zero fees. I signed up for one today.

I too, have your problem. I only keep about 2-5 thousand dollars in cash(savings) and every other cent goes into the stock market.

Cheers

arlee123 · 1 November 2006

Space Cadet said:
One option to consider is commsec's Commonwealth Direct Investment Account (CDIA) which can be linked to your commsec or other broker account I suppose.

They have cheque book and ATM access. Monthly fees are ZERO if you choose the maximum 15 electronic transfers option but then any over the counter teller transactions incur a fee. If you do more than 15 electronic tranfers from your CDIA in a month the fees are minimal.

CDIA does have a min. $5k balance to attract interest on the account though, but you can get around this by also opening up an internet only account like ING Direct which has ZERO fees also with no minimum balance and link this account to your CDIA account. ING Direct pay 5.85% pa.

But beware, although most transactions go to/from your ING account to its linked account (CDIA) overnight, they say to allow up to 3 days so be careful with T+3 settlements.

Good luck

the 5K that you've mentioned....is that initial deposit ? or is it the minimum amount that you must have in your CDIA account all the time ?

Seaking · 1 November 2006

the 5K that you've mentioned....is that initial deposit ? or is it the minimum amount that you must have in your CDIA account all the time

I use my CDIA a/c for speccy trading and it has been close to zero on many occasions when I am fully committed, so I would say no...

Julia · 1 November 2006

This may not interest too many but for those times when the market is uncertain and you prefer to hold larger amounts in cash, the E-trade online account pays 5.7% for the entire amount in the account when the balance goes over $100,000. Not bad for a cash account.

Julia

Dutchy3 · 1 November 2006

Full one !

markrmau · 2 November 2006

watsonc said:
St. George Directsaver accounts offer 6.15% interest on any sum of money

Thanks for that. Looks like the same deal except the interest rate is higher. Go figure...

watsonc · 5 November 2006

In a Comsec CDIA account, if you drop below $5000, you get no interest on the money! So it simply sits there and inflation erodes it away!

scranch · 6 November 2006

I think the St George direct saver interest of 6.15% only applies to new accounts,and reverts back to the normal rate on 28.2.07.Current rate is 5.8% and you are not allowed to close your present a/c and open a new one to get the higher rate.If interest rates change this week it could be different soon.
By the way I went to St George last week to complain about changes to their accounts and ended up getting a pensioner transaction a/c.The freedom a/c now needs $3000.00 or more to avoid transaction fees and pays .01%.
We changed ours to the pensioner one,I think you only have to be over 60 to get it,not on a pension,may be mistaken as we get allocated pension put in.
No transaction fees and pays 1.25% up to $1999.99 and 3% up to about $35550 then 5% after that.
I thinkCBA has similar with a lower age limit of 55yrs,and minimun balance of about $2000.They only told us about the a/c when I told them we were shifting banks.
Brian

louie · 6 November 2006

Anyone seen Bankwest Business Tele Net saver paying 6.10%, at call, no fees & no minimum balance.

http://www.bankwest.com.au/Business/

Best bank account?

markrmau

Space Cadet

markrmau

watsonc

arlee123

Seaking

Julia

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Dutchy3

markrmau

watsonc

scranch

louie

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