Are you confuse with some new banking terms when you arrived Australia?
Terms like EFTPOS, Bpay and Online Banking. Probably you are confused about the difference between debit card and credit card too.
Let me explain to you
There are three main ways to manage your cash at Australia.
Debit card
Debit card is similar to credit card. The only difference is, debit card only allows using until certain amount that’s available in your bank account.
The main advantage of debit card is it allows me to make purchases online, such as order pizza, get a Paypal account for eBay, recharge phone credits online, and many more. It is a great alternative to credit card, as not everyone has access to credit cards due to bank requirement of income.
Debit card is not available to everyone, though. The condition of applying debit card is to have certain amount of money in your bank for past few months. Credit history is also important. I am not sure about the details. You can ask for your bank about eligibility.
EFTPOS
This is a card most students has. Banks usually will offer students a debit card if you put your savings in the bank. Usually also known as EFTPOS (read as F•Pos).
How this card works?
This card replaces cash. You swipe card and press pin number when you make purchases. Simple!
This service is widely available in Australia and usually students will own one. If your card is stolen, the thieves have no direct access to your card due to the requirement of pin number.
Internet online banking
This service is only available recent years, and I strongly encourage you to apply online banking account, as soon as possible! Why?
Online banking has saved me heaps of time! I repeat – heaps of time!
I am able to pay my rent through transactions saving time from going to agent’s office every week.
Bank Statements (the history of banking transactions – how much money you received, how much you spent) are usually mailed to me every month, but since they started charging A$2.20 for each transaction printed, I choose to use eStatement. eStatement works the same as normal bank statement, except it is showed on internet. This helps reduce usage of paper.
With online banking, you can also pay money to friends through easily. How? You only need these details
1) Full name
2) BSB
3) Account number
4) Amount.
Example,
Name: Daniel Wong
BSB: 014272
Account Number: 490826393
Amount: A$ 2,000,000.00
(disclaimer: not my real banking details)
How to pay with Bpay?
You can also pay your bills online. Electric bills, telephone bills, internet bills… These services usually come with a BPay logo. You can spot this logo easily.
Login to online account. Go to “Pay Bills” and type the numbers. Simple.
I hope this short article covers your basic understanding of the mentioned points. Please forward this article to friends or family who you think may need it.
Drop your questions in your comment box, I’ll try my best to answer.
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