What fees can I expect to pay?
If you want to use a debit card, it is likely you'll have to pay fees of some sort to your financial insititution.
These fees are generally for the account linked to the debit card rather than the debit card itself so you could argue that with many banks, there isn't actually a fee for having a debit card. So often they may be similar to fees charged by the banks for a typical every day account. As with all financial products it's important to take fees into account when choosing as a few dollars a month can make a significant difference to your choice of debit card - after all why pay something when you don't have to. Thankfully in recent years competition has pushed down bank fees and debit card fees considerably so you can still get a fully featured debit card product without having to pay through the nose.
It's not all bad news though - in general the debit card accounts that charge higher fees tend to have more features (such as entertainment packages, card customisation etc) so if you do make use of these features, it can represent good value. Most debit card providers will also waive their fees subject to the user making regular deposits or keeping a minimum amount in their account. So by paying one's wages straight into the linked account you could never have to worry about bank fees again.
At the time of writing, standard Australian debit card fees for mainstream and 'fully-featured' products range from $3/month (with the St George Express Freedom Debit Card) to $18/month (for the ANZ Access Extras Card). Certain providers will waive fees for pensioners, share-traders, share holders, students and more so please browse through our debit cards comparison table to help you make a decision!
