With all the fuss about interest rates and how much banks make per year, I was astounded to find there is a cancellation fee of $20 for Home/Contents insurance with CommInsure. Having only signed up some 6 months ago, I was not told about this fee. I found a cheaper quote from another insurance provider and took the offer.
It’s interesting how Commonwealth Bank deals with customers who no longer want their products. I have so far saved about $45 per month on insurance products with AAMI when compared to CommInsure.
Considering how much money these bank executives make, to charge a cancellation fee for insurance products is deplorable to say the least.
The other day I accidentally transferred funds (a substantial amount) into the credit card rather than into the net bank saver account. If you don’t have a net bank saver, then you should seriously consider it. Term deposits have become obsolete for the avid saver. Just go to any bank’s website, and find out about net bank saver.
Anyway, back to my story. I did not owe anything on my credit card, so the balance was in credit by X amount after the transfer. I rang up customer service at CommBank, and the guy said he will put in a request for the funds to be transferred back into my savings, although it will take a few days (after the weekend had passed). If I was willing to wait, then no cash advance fee or interest will be charged. I.e: If I had transferred the funds back into my savings, then they are obliged to charge me fees for it. Even though it’s my own money! Yes, stupid I know!
I put down the phone, but forgot to ask if I was allowed to continue using my CC as I had about several hundred dollars worth of expenses coming up over the next week or so. So I rang again, almost immediately, to be answered by another lady. She advised me that not many people (even at Commbank customer service) know, but I can transfer the funds back as long as I keep the amount in credit, rather than debit. For example: If I wrongly deposited $1000, then I should transfer $995 bucks or something less than $1000, so that no fees are charged. That’s exactly what I did.
Tonight as I logged onto to pay off my weekend splurge, I noticed I had been charged a cash advance fee. Perhaps I should have taken the safer option by waiting like the “other guy” said. I don’t intend to fight this, just can’t be bothered. It’s too difficult, and not worth my time.
Next time I will be extra careful before transferring money on the net. I trust you will too!
Following on from my previous post, which touched on travel insurance – I found a pretty easy way of getting travel insurance (as well as other types) without having to pay exuberant amounts. I signed up for a Gold Credit Card with Commonwealth. Since I already had my no frills card with them, the sign up process was very easy. Even without this, signing up a very easy and you can do it online.
I rocked up to the Bourke St branch, and asked to be upgraded to a Gold Card (sounds cool, too bad its not made of gold). Here are the questions I asked (they are specific):
If you upgrade today, when will points start accruing (Once the card is activated).
How long does it take for the card to arrive in the mail (7-10 days, but mine arrived in 4 business days)
Is there an additional charge for an extra card linked (No).
Is travel insurance free with it (Yes, but read the additional brochure)
What if the extra card holder and I travel to separate destinations (they will say you need to call Zurich, but I told them to call for me).
When is the insurance valid from (From when you activate it).
Even before he asked: “No I don’t want to increase my limit”. Increasing your limit affects your borrowing capacity for homes/cars and other loans, so watch out.
Remember the name of the guy who told you the answers too. You will be surprised how many times the staff within the same institution have differing understandings of their own products.
It was just a matter of signing a form, and it was done. If you do not have a CC with Commbank, that’s ok. I would advise you stick to the bank you are with, and hassle them for all the features.
The costs There is an annual fee, but here’s the way I calculated. Travel insurance to Central America for 3 months was about $450 bucks by HBA. So paying $114 per year for a Gold Card is not bad. Furthermore, since I travel a bit, it should come in handy (with insurance, points etc). Also note that any products you buy with your card is covered with insurance, there are more details on the website which can easily be read at your leisure time.
If you apply for a home loan with Commbank, they give you a Gold Card for free. Other banks should have similar schemes. To find out more about CC’s, go to: Money Manager.
The ease. I do my banking all on the internet, and very rarely go a branch. The efficiency was amazing. I got my card on the 4th business day of applying, activated it, used it about 10 minutes later, and logged onto NetBank to pay off what I used and it had already updated to: “CreditCardName Gold”. Crazy!!!
Why can’t it be this good when things go wrong!
The service. Every time I have signed up for something at Commbank, they have been very helpful. Makes sense, more business for them. I haven’t had many things go wrong with them, but when it has, it hasn’t been so bad to get the situation corrected. Read my mishap with Commbank here.
Suggestions. I don’t really have any specific suggestions for them, but I would like to make a huge suggestion to all the banks out there. There are so many home loan options, especially for people with homes already. With rising house prices, and young couples wanting to get into the market, I do not see a home loan for such customers.
Surely one of the banks can come up with a solution for this, namely: A combined house/car loans, or house/car/furniture loan where you can borrow a total amount, and allocate percentages to use for a card or furniture, and the rest for the house. This would make it so much easier for people wanting to start a new life. With all the products out there, I am surprised no one has thought of it yet.
Yes, yes I know I know – its difficult because of appreciating assets, versus depreciating assets (i.e.: car/furniture), but surely all the financial think tanks and know hows can work it out so it appeals to everyone (customers and banks).
Rating – 10/10 (can’t complain about the service I received, and the efficiency of the whole thing) Let me assure you, if a bank comes up with a starter home loan package for young couples designed to get them into the housing market, they would be my first choice and also the first choice for a lot of other customers out there.
I am a regular user of Commonwealth Bank’s NetBank. Although it doesn’t look as pretty as Westpac’s interface, its very fast and efficient. I rarely go into a bank these days, until the other day when I went in to the branch at Brandon Park to ask about my credit card available funds.
I have a credit card which has no awards points, and no interest free period. I have purposely signed up for such a card because there are no yearly fees, and it forces me to pay it off regularly. In fact I rarely have any funds due on my credit card at any time, as I use it and pay it off instantly.
Such was the case on Monday 14th (see pic) when I used it to make a purchase worth $550, and paid it off within minutes using Netbank. Usually, the available funds updates instantly and this time it didn’t. I gave it 24 hours, and it still had not. I rang up Commbank, and they said it can take a few days. Still no signs of updating. You see I pay interest on any remaining sums on my credit card, so I was important it updated quickly rather than in “few days” or even “weeks”. Anyhow, I went to the Brandon Park branch, and apparently I had been double charged on my credit card. This is a rare error, because 1) I received an invoice for the amount, 2) the online statement only shows 1 charge being made, 3) Commbank records (in their database) only shows 1 charge being made. Where did the other charge come from? I don’t know, and Commbank were not able to explain it either.
I had my CC reversed back to its full limit instantly after the error was found. This is so weird. Never have I had a problem with Netbank, and hopefully its a once off. So if your statement online doesn’t update instantly, question it quickly – to ensure everything no errors have occurred.
I have been a Commonwealth Bank customer for a while now, and recently I walked into the La Trobe branch to ask them a few questions about one of their financial products. For privacy reasons, I cannot mention the type of financial service I enquired about. I did sign up to it though on the spot though.
The thing is, I did my sums before approaching the bank staff. Their website is quite informative, and if there is ever a time to read fine print – it’s when you sign up to financial products.
One way to test whether the person whom you are liaising with knows their stuff is to question them on the fine print. When I sign up to any product, I go straight to the fine print – the Conditions Apply, or Important Information section. If I am not sure, then I go to the business and ask the staff there what it means. Basically, if they do not know – or need to ask their boss, you know where they stand with their product.
Putting this principle into practice today, the bank staff was able to have a quick read of the fine print and explain to me clearly what it meant. Now, I also read it before I went there, and what she told me was exactly how I interpreted it.
Two things came out of this: 1) My interpretation was correct, 2) The bank’s interpretation was correct. Therefore if things do go wrong on that fine print, I have a leg to stand on. Many times I note people do not read things before signing up to contracts etc, and this is a huge risk especially in today’s volatile financial markets. You could lose a lot of money. So read everything, and it WILL take you a while – but better to do so, than to lose hard earned money on a whim.
Following on from 
I have been a 