Credit/Debit Card in Australia?

Question

HI! I am a student in Australia, currently with the Commonwealth Bank.

I want to get a debit card to buy stuff online with my own money. How would I go about doing this?

(Thanks)

Answer 1

My boyfriend did exactly the same thing. He went with ANZ, and so did his sister, so I'm assuming that ANZ sounded best for them. You can go online and apply for it, after that your card will be sent out, you call a number to activate it and go in-store to show 100 points of ID. Then you can transfer money from your commonwealth account to your Debit card and buy online.

Answer 2

Firstly you need to decide what you want

A credit card will give you access to the banks money (and you'll be charged interest)

A debit card will give you access to your own money (although this can be linked to an overdraft).

I would check out a credit union. Banks like to charge fees for everything under the sun, because they have to make obscene profits for their shareholders. Credit Union's don't have shareholders, so they have much smaller fees (if any) on things like debit cards.

Banks pretty much suck on everything apart from access to ATM's

Answer 3

Contact Commonwealth Bank has they have their own debit visa or mastercard cards & they can transfer your account to one of these.

Answer 4

Commonwealth Bank don't have debit cards.

You'll have to go to Westpac, NAB, ANZ or St George.

Answer 5

Hi amigo I am also with the commonwealth bank. i been wit them since i came to Australia about 1.6 years ago and i got a credit card after about 5 months. I use the Credit card for everything but i don t go all crazy, i use it as if it was the debit card i pay "IN FULL" online when ever the statement gets put on the online banking.If you pay in full you don t pay interest, you get 55days to be exact. There is only one card that you don't get the 55 days its the "no annual fee card." I got the "low rate" one just in case i but something that i plan to pay off. i think the rate they give you is around 14% which is not that bad. any ways i see this as a good way of building a good credit record so later on in life i can get a good rate if i finance a car or mortgage a house. the better the record the lower the interest rate. oh the limit on my card is $5000 i couldn't believe it lol for my 1st credit card in Australia. Well i hope this helps you out seeing that this bank doesn't offer debit. Ciao Amigo