BankSmart - Debit Cards

Debit Cards

There are two types of Debit Cards available in Australia:

The first type (offered by the major banks) works via a direct link to your account.
You can either access money in your bank account via the bank's ATM network and receive cash directly;
or you can make over the counter purchases with the debit card wherever EFTPOS is available.
The other type of debit card is offered by Visa through various banks (listed below).
The Visa debit card can be used as above but it gives you even greater access to your own money by allowing you to use it wherever credit cards are accepted (that is, the retailer does not need to have an EFTPOS hookup).

Visa Debit Cards

Visa debit cards are good for:
- paying bills over the phone
- extended overseas travel where making monthly credit card payments are a problem
- people who cannot have a credit card but want the convenience of a card which acts like one.
The following banks offer Visa debit cards to customers. You need to have an account with the bank. The number of transactions for credit card type usage is unlimited. You can also use the card for ATM and EFTPOS transactions. The table below gives you an idea of the number of free withdrawals.

Bank	Monthly account fees	Visa card transactions	ATM/EFTPOS withdrawals (monthly)
Adelaide Bank	$4	free	6 free then $1
Colonial State Bank	$4 or free if monthly balance is more than $500	first 4 free then 50c	4 ATM, 4 EFTPOS, 4 Phone then 450c
Endeavour Credit Union	$2 or free if monthly balance is more than $500	free	8 ATM then $1.50 20 EFTPOS then 75c
Suncorp~Metway Bank Direct Access Account	none	free	First 12 ATM/EFTPOS free then 50c over the counter $2.50
St. George Bank Day to Day Account "Multi-Access Card"	$5 or free if monthly balance is more than $500	free	The first 8 ATM, in branch, EFTPOS and personal cheque withdrawals are free otherwise in bank withdrawals cost $2.00 and electronic/personal cheque withdrawals are 50c. ATM withdrawals from St. George Bank, Advance Bank and Bank of South Australia are unlimited.
St. George Bank Select Deluxe Account "Multi-Access Card"	$6.50*	free	The first 20 in branch, EFTPOS and personal cheque withdrawals are free otherwise in bank withdrawals cost $2.00 and electronic/personal cheque withdrawals are 50c. ATM withdrawals from St. George Bank, Advance Bank and Bank of South Australia are unlimited.

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