Bank West has not yet provided information as to whether they will charge a ‘disloyalty fee’. Their website indicates it is under review.
Bank West customers can use any Bank West or Commonwealth Bank ATM to avoid a direct charge for the transaction. Bank West offers accounts that are fee free or for electronic transactions using Bank West or CBA facilities.
We are working to get information on Bank West’s direct charge fee for non-Bank West customers using their ATMs, but Bank West has been unwilling to provide information to date.
Last Updated: 2nd March 2009
BankWest Zero Transaction account - best transaction account ever.
This account doesn’t charge any transaction or ongoing account keeping fees, and direct charging fees applied by foreign (i.e. non CBA or BankWest) ATMs are rebated.
It doesn’t pay any interest and requires a minimum $2000 per month in deposits, but it’s still pretty good.
Good pick-up Isaac. Certainly an option for many full time (and even part time) workers to avoid the all fees for using an ATM or other electronic banking.
Isaac, do you evidence of the direct charged ATM fee rebate? I can’t seem to find this mentioned on their website.
I have a similar account with NAB, which was great until direct charging was introduced, as they don’t provide a rebate on the direct charged fees.
Hi Clinton,
I looked into this after Isaac brought it to our attention and it is true. The Bank West ‘Zero’ Account has no fees for ANY ATM in Australia, including foreign ATMs, according to the product schedule. This is different to the Bank West ‘Hero’ account which you will pay for foreign ATM transactions according to its product schedule.
Not such a shabby product, but as a Bank West customer with accounts other than the ‘Zero’ you also have access to the Commonwealth Bank ATM network free of direct charged fees.
Hi
Yess, very true. I’ve got a Citibank plus account which never had any fees to use other ATMs until this month when Direct Charging rule came into effect - now only CItibank & Westpac ATMs can be used without incurring any fee.
Couple of weeks ago, I opened a Bankwest Zero account and 2 days ago I had made my first foreign ATM withdrawal. Later that evening I logged into Bankwest to check balance and what a surprise - there was my withdrawn amount and another line stating Bankwest had paid the $2 ATM owner’s fee and it was not debited to my account!
I’ll wait till end of month to find if there’re any other fees debited to my account. But it genuinely seems to be a very good fee free account with Mastercard Debit card.
Great find - thanks! BankWest should probably get their press releases in order though, as they say that you may still get charged a direct charge fee by the ATM owner at : http://www.bankwest.com.au/Media_Centre/Media_Releases/Media_Releases_2009/No_charge_for_Bankwest_customers_when_they_use_Foreign_ATMs/index.aspx
One of the differences I see between BankWest’s Zero account and my NAB Gold Account however is that with NAB Gold, all foreign (ie international) ATM transactions are also totally free (ie no per transaction nor percentage of withdrawal fee) whereas BankWest charge a ridiculous $5 per transaction plus 2.5% of the withdrawal amount.
For many people this is probably fine, but I do a lot (about 50% of my month) of international travel and so this would hit me quite hard. An exception case I know, but worth considering.
I emailed BankWest about this and got the following response:
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Thank you for your message.
As per the Zero Transaction Product Disclosure Statement, Zero Transaction account holders will not incur any ATM fees when using another bank’s or independent operator’s ATM. However, the cardholder will need to accept the Direct Charge which will be displayed on the ATMscreen at the time of transaction. Once the cardholder has agreed to “accept” this fee, the Direct Charge will be processed and the fee will be paid by Bankwest. This fee will not be debited from the Zero Transaction account but will be displayed on the account holder’s statement with a corresponding line for the Bankwest waiver. We have also listed a link below to our website that has further information regarding the ATM Fee Reform that you may wish to review. http://www.bankwest.com.au/Media_Centre/Media_Releases_2009/Information_on_ATM_Fee_Reform/index.aspx
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This is all good news, I don’t know why they wouldn’t be pushing this more. Perhaps because it costs them money. I hope it lasts!