When was the last time you got something for nothing?

Better yet, when was the last time you got free cold hard CASH?

And best of all, when was the last time you got free cold hard CASH from a BANK?

No, we are not pulling your leg. Getting Free Money from a bank IS possible!

The competition nowadays between banks for the privilege to hold your ‘hard earned’ has never been more fierce. Due to various factors affecting  the global financial system since the GFC, many banks (including those in Australia) have seen their cost of funds in the wholesale market sky-rocket. As a result, it is actually cheaper for them now to source their money from depositors like us.

Due to this unique set of circumstances, banks are now happy to ‘bribe’ us for transferring our business to them. Many do it by offering bonus interest, gift cards and other perks however more and more of these banks now realise the simplest thing works best – cold hard CASH!

Here are two current offerings we thought you might wanna know about:

  1. ME Bank is offering anyone who doesn’t already have a transaction account with them, $50 cash if they open one of their “Everyday Transaction” accounts and make three “credit” purchases (i.e. online or in-store by using the “paywave” feature or pressing the CREDIT button on the EFTPOS terminal) in an amount of at least $10 each within 30 days of the new account being opened. However, if you want to take advantage of this, you need to hurry up!
    The account must be opened by June 30, 2013 so you have less than a month. The easiest and quickest way to do so is online and for most of you, the ID check required from all customers who are new to ME Bank, can be done electronically as well by supplying your drivers license, Passport and Medicare card details. For those of you who can’t complete the ID check process online for whatever reason, it can be done for free at any Australia Post branch.
    The account itself doesn’t have any monthly fees, minimum balance requirements or electronic transaction fees but does have some sneaky charges which we don’t like. Therefore, we would advise that you don’t make this your primary transaction account. Instead, open the account, fulfill the requirments to get your cash bonus, get the money and then close the account.
  2. ING Direct is offering anyone who doesn’t already have a transaction account with them an instant 5% cash rebate on any in-store purchase they make using their ING Direct Visa debit card. The purchase must be for an amount of less than $100 and must be completed using the Visa Paywave facility available at many Australian retailers (including major ones like Woolies, Coles and JB Hifi). Australia Post outlets also all have PayWave terminals which means you will be able to get the instant 5% cash rebate when you pay many of your everyday bills in-store at an Australia Post outlet using the PostBillPay facility supported by most major billers.
    There is just one ‘catch’ though: the rebate is offered only for the first 6 months from the day your account is opened and the promotion is stated on their website to be for “a limited time only” which means ING Direct might pull it down at any point.
    Therefore, we suggest you act sooner rather than later. The account can be opened online and if the electronic ID doesn’t work out for you, you will need to complete the ID check at an Australia Post outlet.
    After the first 6 months are up, you will still enjoy the PayWave rebate but it will be only 2% and will also be conditional upon you depositing at least $2,000 to one of your personal transaction or savings accounts with ING.
    The Orange Everyday transaction account is pretty good as far as the fees and charges (no monthly fee, no minimum balance required and no fees on most electronic and paper transactions) but cannot be considered the BEST in Australia due to the fact ING Direct charges you for overseas purchases (2.5% of the transaction amount) and cash withdrawals ($2.50 per withdrawal plus 2.5% of the withdrawal amount) as well as the fact that ING Direct doesn’t have any of its own ATMs which means you will pay an ATM operator fee every time you withdraw less than $200 at an ATM in Australia.

 

So there you go, getting free money from a bank IS possible!

As already discussed above, neither of the two transaction accounts mentioned in this post is the best product of its kind in Australia. The only reason why we mention them to you is due to their current promotions which are time-limited.

If you want to find out what is the ABSOLUTE BEST transaction account in Australia, we invite you to subscribe to our email series below. We like to say that this series is both free and priceless as it will show you how to save significant amounts of money on almost every product and service you use in your everyday life, including banking.

Give it a try. Just sign-up in the boxes either below or above this post. There is no cost and no obligation.

Before you go:

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The Spending Hacker Scout service is where we not only find you the absolute best deal for your individual needs & specific circumstances but we also make sure you continue to always be on the best deal. If a better deal becomes available at any point in time, we let you know straight away-  full details on this page.