The banking industry believes that banking should be affordable for all Australians. Banks offer basic bank accounts with no account keeping fees and free monthly statements to suit disadvantaged and low income Australians.
What is a basic bank account?
A basic bank account is a transaction account that has fee-free features and provides eligible customers with an account they can receive their government benefit payment into and access free banking transactions. The following have been identified in an ABA review of banking offerings as commonly-recognised account features for a basic bank account:
Free and unlimited transactions through all of the following banking channels:
What is the eligibility criteria for a basic bank account?
Generally, to qualify for a basic bank account, a customer will need to hold a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. If a bank requires a customer to hold a Concession Card or Health Care Card, they will typically require that income support or family assistance payments social security benefits be paid into this account.
Some banks do not have any eligibility criteria and offer a free transaction account to all customers.
Which Australian banks offer basic bank accounts?
Click here to see a list of banks and what they offer.
Where to go for more info
Financial difficulty
If you feel like you’re losing control of your finances, having trouble repaying a credit card bill or making your home or personal loan repayments, then banks can help. Find out more.
1 Some banks may require a customer to have their government benefit payment paid into this account.
2 Some banks do not allow an account to go into ‘arrears’, which means that if there is not enough money in your account, a payment, transfer, or direct debit will not be processed. However, if your bank does allow these transactions, you will not be charged an overdrawn fee when this happens.
3 A debit card linked to a transaction account comes with EFTPOS, Visa or MasterCard logos. A Visa or MasterCard debit card can be used to make purchases and transact online.
4 Some banks do not currently have mobile banking functionality where a customer can access their account from their smartphone or via an app and their online banking channel is available via Internet banking.
5 If customers choose to use ATMs which are not operated by their bank or part of a networked arrangement in Australia, the customer may have to pay an ATM direct charge (“ATM fee”) to the ATM operator to complete their transaction.