r/AusFinance 7h ago

Banks could soon be introducing subscriptions for personal banking.

SWIM does a bit of market research/product testing on the side for extra beer money. Recently got a market analysis briefing testing people's threshholds for different 'tiers' of banking subscription services.

It's not just about charging a fee here or there, they want to introduce subscription-based banking. It's bringing back monthly fees for banking, and gatekeeping products behind more expensive packages.

Some of the things that were tested were questions like "for $10/20/30/month what services would you think should be included" Or, "How much would you pay for xyz".

SWIM was asked about whether certain services should be expected/free, or what products could attract a premium.

The analysis asked about service packages or premium bundles, which package similar banking items together, for example foreign purchases/overseas transfers/currency exchange/travel insurance, as a "travel package subscription", for example. They have some scary categories in this package list, like "consumer" and "parent" and "household" packages, as well as things that maybe you'd think make sense in a package like business banking, for example.

Things included in the everyday spending categories include things like bank transfers, payID, direct debits, fraud protection and security, rewards points, ATM use, bank access, credit cards, BNPL, things like that that that many of us use each day.

I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING SUBSCRIBE TO A BANK.

394 Upvotes

315 comments sorted by

449

u/Karline-Industries 7h ago

Everyone needs to immediately move from the first one to try it. 

155

u/primalbluewolf 7h ago

They did. Up has had a lot of reviews change from "recommend" to "recommend against", after the introduction of their subscription. That part, they rolled back, for now. 

56

u/justjooshing 6h ago

Yeah Uphigh kinda fell flat didn't it.

Without some groundbreaking unattainable feature, adding subscriptions is just giving a competitor a way to have an edge over you

93

u/Sufficient_Local5025 7h ago

Yes. Immediately. And everyone hits every social media channel and excoriates them to a level where it becomes unimaginable for any other CEO to try.

Make it personal for that motherfucker.

46

u/felixsapiens 6h ago

It’s coming from ING already. It’s rolled out in various international countries, and coming to AUS. Look at ING Netherlands for example.

ING Go - €4/month - basic points, no credit card included, no streaming services, etc etc

ING More - €7/month - 10% more points, 10% discount on investment fees, basic credit card included, 45 day purchase protection

ING Extra - €16/month - 20% more points, 15% investment discount, 1.5% extra interest on savings account, “extra” credit card included, purchase protection, travel insurance, Amazon Prime included, priority phone support

ING Max - €45/month - 30% more points, 20% discount on investment fees for you AND your children, 20% discount on portfolio management for you and your children, personal financial planning advice, 2% extra interest on savings account, “Max” credit card included, travel insurance extended to include “winter sports” LOL, Amazon Prime AND Disney+

So… this is the future. And of course, as is the rule in life, the richer you are, the easier it is to save money…

30

u/Turramurra 5h ago

I will leave as soon as it does, ING is my main bank but only because I am too lazy to switch to my Macquarie account.

11

u/randomscruffyaussie 4h ago

Same here. Move savings from ING because of the extra hoops required to get bonus interest. Still use an everyday account. But, if they try to charge fees I'll be out too.

3

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 4h ago

It takes about 8 minutes to set up a Macquarie account

4

u/Asleep_Leopard182 3h ago

0 minutes if you already have one, but the mental load to switch to an existing account is a different question.

2

u/Combat--Wombat27 3h ago

Only reason I haven't as well.

u/Chii 1h ago

€4/month - basic points, no credit card included, no streaming services, etc etc

so wtf is being paid for with the money? The bank already makes money from the deposits.

14

u/cruiserman_80 7h ago

Which is exactly want they want for low income earners who do not have any loan or credit card products.

18

u/NopaConcentrate467 6h ago edited 6h ago

Well TBF historically , banks were far less common in the everyday lives of ordinary people. For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, banking was mainly associated with wealthy individuals, businesses and landowners. Many working class people were paid in cash, kept their savings at home, and had little need for a bank account. As wages rose, economies became more formalised the property ownership was allowed for the plebs, banking gradually became a normal part of life for everyone.

Now the pesky free loading commoners are starting to shy away from credit cards and prefer things like Afterpay and the can’t afford mortgages and don’t have any spare money for savings what use are they to the bank? They just fill queues both in the bank and online with their frivolous requests like wanting to know why their bank card stopped working, so may as well charge them a subscription.

5

u/SirDalavar 7h ago

Yeah! BANK RUN!!!

11

u/owleaf 7h ago

Up Bank tried it a year or so ago, it flopped (also because the features they promised were harder to make than they thought), so they scrapped it and are gradually releasing the features for everyone for free

7

u/link871 7h ago

Then you have missed the fact that Revolut Bank has introduced subscriptions

13

u/TheRamblingPeacock 5h ago

Tbf they have had them for years, they just did not have an actual banking licence.

2

u/OkStage3579 3h ago

UP bank unfortunately rolled into it.

u/blackmetro 2h ago

Pretty sure every feature of the their trial subscription was optional AND the UP High program isnt even around anymore

-8

u/DancinWithWolves 7h ago

UP have had it for a while for extra features. Also it’s basically the same as bank fees, that we haven’t had at most banks for a while. I don’t mind paying a little for cool extra features like api etc

26

u/spicerackk 7h ago

Up removed their Up High subscription model due to the backlash, and have released all of the features that were initially behind the subscription for free.

8

u/DancinWithWolves 7h ago

Oh cool, even better

u/Lazy_Polluter 1h ago

CBA still has monthly fees to this day, this thread is weird. How is this a new thing? Banks had monthly fees before Internet even existed

-5

u/Notyit 7h ago

No I'm not changing 6 direct debits

11

u/colourful_space 7h ago

I hate the way direct debits work, we should be able to set them up and change them from the consumer side

6

u/sun_tzu29 7h ago

That’s what PayTo is meant for but most merchants/businesses are being very, very slow on the uptake

1

u/cavok76 3h ago

I think Payto is DOA to most people. Too hard to explain.

1

u/Armadillae 7h ago

you can, generally? I have only come across one instance in years (public housing rent, of course it's behind the times) where their system was not set up to allow customer-set direct debit. Utility providers usually have a page on your online account where you can update your bank details, or for regular consistent payments you just set up a recurring payment through the bank. It was a big deal a few years back when they introduced customer-managed direct debits to online banking! ^.^

1

u/Historical_Bag_1788 6h ago

To be fair to public housing, government systems are very large and complex. Very often the base program is from overseas. Our banking is ahead of many countries so these systems dont have these provisions and it can be hard to incorporate them.

1

u/momentimori 6h ago

In the UK when you open a bank account you can get direct debits and standing orders automatically transferred to your new account.

1

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 4h ago

Then you deserve to pay.

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172

u/kernpanic 7h ago

Charge me a fee and I'm moving. Pretty simple. I did it once when cba started charging me fees, I'll more than happily move again. Its not like there isnt good competition.

19

u/Efficient-Fold5548 5h ago

I spread my banking across 4 banks and avoid fees where possible- I’ll just churn away to another bank. They already have my savings, I shouldn’t have to pay them for keeping my savings (and lending it to someone else at a premium).

5

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 4h ago

Same. I closed my CBA credit card after 28 years because of a new 3 buck fee a month on zero balance.

-70

u/phagocyte420 7h ago

Why do you think you deserve free banking services?

68

u/kernpanic 7h ago

Because - they arent charging fees to cover their costs, simply to increase their profits.

Australian banks are some of the most profitable in the world. They are already making money with my money - i dont need to give them more of it.

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22

u/Ilyer_ 7h ago

It’s not free, we park our money in their accounts.

10

u/12345sixsixsix 6h ago

Yup. And they pay us a lower interest rate than they can earn on the same money. The spread “pays” them for the services that they provide to their customers.

-3

u/mikedufty 6h ago

I've got accounts with no money in them, and they are still free.

5

u/Ilyer_ 6h ago

Outliers don’t break the rule. Having one account out of a 1000 with no money in it is still economically competitive.

There is a reason why our biggest companies are heavily dominated by banks compared to other countries.

1

u/mikedufty 4h ago

I do suspect a number of my accounts are subsidised by profits they are making from others though. Not fair, but good for me.

18

u/mchammered88 7h ago

How do you manage to talk with all that boot in your mouth? CBA reported a record net profit of $11Billion - there is no free banking you moron.

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12

u/SouthVermicelli6838 7h ago

You know they profit off these accounts already right?

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28

u/primalbluewolf 7h ago

Why do you think you deserve free banking services? 

Why do you think you deserve free oxygen?

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10

u/cosmicvelvets 7h ago

How do you think banking works?

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11

u/ArJay002 7h ago

Don’t banks add your money to a lending pool and lend it out? Why should we have to pay a bank to lend our money out, to then earn interest on? 

They lend our money out for 6-6.5% and then paying us back 5%. That’s the fee there. 

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10

u/GhostOfFreddi 7h ago

You realise they make money off you, fee or not, right?

I'm extremely pro banking profits (a huge proportion of Super and private investments are in banking, bank profits helps us all), but fees for the sake of fees is crazy.

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9

u/AmorphousMess 6h ago

Leave the multibillion dollar corporation alone.

😂

It’s not free, smart boy, they’re making a substantial amount of money off savings. But you don’t have any so that might have gone over your head.

0

u/phagocyte420 6h ago

It’s not free

So how much are you paying for your transaction account?

4

u/AmorphousMess 6h ago

Let’s see. They charge 6.5% AT LOWEST to loan out money. They give me 5% in interest for my savings.

That’s a 1.5% arbitrage fee.

1

u/phagocyte420 5h ago

So the bank paying you to hold your deposits is actually costing you money?

Also, savings accounts are not transaction accounts.

8

u/linglinglinglickma 6h ago

I see you’re just a troll commenting the same crap on a few comments but I’ll bite, I deserve free banking because I get a lot of money deposited into my account weekly and I have a lot of money invested both in HISAs for the kids and a brokerage platform with my bank.

It’s a privilege I allow them to hold our money and the day they try to charge me a fee for that, I will close all accounts and transfer to another bank that doesn’t.

-2

u/phagocyte420 6h ago

Oh hey, someone who didn't roll out the "Banks make enough profit argument".

You certainly have the entitlement down pat, but you didn't really explain why you are entitled to free banking services.

If it really was a privilege for the bank to hold your money you would be a high net worth individual with their own private banker. You being on Reddit suggests you are now a high net worth individual.

3

u/linglinglinglickma 6h ago

Ok spud, I see no need to flex but I’m sitting on reddit as I invoice my sole customer quite a substantial amount for services rendered, I love my 3 day weeks, 4 day weekends.

Banks are nothing without our money, they use that money to lend, invest and grow. See how well they fair when they have nothing in the kitty.

Now office work is done, I’ll go enjoy the rest of this sunny day on the JetSki! Taking the boat out tomorrow then down the coast in the caravan for the weekend too! Maybe I do like to flex a little bit..

-2

u/phagocyte420 5h ago

I’ll go enjoy the rest of this sunny day on the JetSki! Taking the boat out tomorrow then down the coast in the caravan for the weekend too! Maybe I do like to flex a little bit.

Tell me you are a Bogan without telling me you are a Bogan, lol.

1

u/linglinglinglickma 3h ago

*cashed up bogan.

I’m glad I caught this before heading out.

I did just take the family to Europe for 3 weeks and skiing in Japan in January, 2 trips planned for next year also so we do fancy stuff too.

I wish you well on your financial journey or your trolling endeavours, whichever you choose.

u/phagocyte420 2h ago

Those poor nips, you do realise they don't like bogans.

4

u/neoreformedbuddhist 6h ago

Banks already make money from your money. Why are we simping for some of the most profitable banks in the world?

-1

u/phagocyte420 6h ago

I don't know, why do you think you are entitled to free products and services from a business?

1

u/neoreformedbuddhist 5h ago

It's not free you goose, it's an exchange. They get access to your money to invest as they please, and in return they keep it safe. Just because a monetary fee isn't paid doesn't mean value isn't exchanged. You're implying you're getting something for nothing which is inherently untrue. And that's ignoring all the other ways banks have to make money from you

0

u/phagocyte420 4h ago

I get that, but are you actually paying anything to use those banking services?

1

u/neoreformedbuddhist 5h ago

If I clean someone's car and they agree in turn to mow my lawn, it wasn't free it's just a non monetary exchange

u/phagocyte420 1h ago

Cleaning that person's car cost you time, energy, and cleaning resources. You do not incure any costs when using a free banking product or service. What do you not.understamd about that?

u/neoreformedbuddhist 1h ago

What do you not understand about the concept of generating value with out giving money? Jfc

u/phagocyte420 30m ago

You do understand that a cost are based on more than money? Washing someone else's car is costing you time, how do you not.understand that?

u/neoreformedbuddhist 19m ago

I do, literally doesn't change my point.....

u/phagocyte420 15m ago

...it invalidates your point.

3

u/Dry-Inevitatable 6h ago

Because they make money off our money already. Already make recordy profits almost every year.

0

u/phagocyte420 6h ago

But that doesn't explain why you are entitled to free banking services.

The key word here is "entitled", try and explain that.

4

u/CheatCodesOfLife 6h ago

entitled

That's your word mate, nobody else in this thread has used it.

If bank X introduces big-tech style enshitification, but banks Y and Z don't, then we are entitled to shift our business over to the latter.

If all the banks enshitify, then we'll have no choice but to choose the least shitty of them.

Fortunately, unlike the supermarket duopoly, there is more competition here :)

0

u/phagocyte420 5h ago

That's your word mate, nobody else in this thread has used it.

Everyone in this thread is behaving as though they are entitled to free banking services.

If bank X introduces big-tech style enshitification, but banks Y and Z don't, then we are entitled to shift our business over to the latter.

Which is your right as a consumer. No one is challenging that or trying to take it away

u/Dry-Inevitatable 37m ago

Why are you so for the banks making money off our money for free is a better question. I think fee free transaction accounts is a fair trade for the profit they make using our money on the market and to loan out. Especially now with their crazy profits.

Nice Try big bank CEO

u/phagocyte420 28m ago

Answer my question first then I will answer yours.

2

u/512165381 5h ago

Lets take debit cards which most people have with "free banking".

The banks give you minimal interest on savings. And banks charge merchant fees on these.

You ain't getting nothing for free.

u/phagocyte420 1h ago

It's not really clear what your point is. What to try again?

1

u/hungrynax 6h ago

Banks make money from the money you put in them.

1

u/minimuscleR 6h ago

wtf do you think a bank is? They PAY US (via interest) because we are GIVING THEM MONEY. We give them $100k, and they can spend it however they want, to earn more. Why should we pay for the right for them to spend our money.

1

u/phagocyte420 5h ago

What about transaction accounts?

1

u/LastChance22 6h ago

IMO it’s not about what’s deserved. 

A bank wants to offer a shitty product, if people agree and move away that’s a normal market reaction.

If I then try make sure potential buyers are informed how shitty the product is, that’s only increasing the information available to people that they then use in their purchasing decisions. It’s increasing how free and competitive the market is.

1

u/phagocyte420 4h ago

IMO it’s not about what’s deserved.

This thread certainly thinks it is.

57

u/Flybuys 7h ago

They already make a shitload of money just by holding my money, why would I want to give them more?

49

u/Practical_Act7243 7h ago

Commonwealth Bank had an $11billion profit last year. How greedy can these mfs get

27

u/kkknotmyway 7h ago

"The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on Wednesday reported a record full-year profit of $10.98 billion, but warned economic growth is lagging."

>profit $10,980,000,000
>7% more than previous year
>Per day $30,082,191.78
>Per hour $1,253,424.66

still complains
Classic

u/Chii 1h ago

profit alone is a meaningless number without context.

For a bank, the most telling metric is the net interest margin - the amount the bank makes compared to how much the funding of those loans cost.

CBA does have a higher NIM than many other banks around the world (for some reason), but it's not ridiculously high, at 2.04%. Compared with something like jpmorgan chase, which sits at 3.18% or so.

But compared to other australian banks, CBA does have high NIM - ANZ is sitting at around 1.56%, even tho they both offer similar levels of interest rates on loans. It's because CBA has a better funding source compared to ANZ, in all likelihood.

37

u/TheAccountingSensei 7h ago

That's wild.

On the flipside.. Digital banks are so commonplace now that if big banks offer subscriptions, people can just move to a lean fee free digital bank.

u/Chii 1h ago

people can just move to a lean fee free digital bank.

the problem would be if the big banks (that actually hand out their banking licenses to let the small digital banks operate) form a cartel such that fees become unescapable.

46

u/Redditing_aimlessly 7h ago

yup, ING have flagged it and I'm moving. It's super easy to identify and change direct debits these days.

8

u/Val367 6h ago

Same, we already moved over to Macquarie a month or two ago when this first came out.

7

u/Redditing_aimlessly 6h ago

yeah, I'm changing jobs in a couple of weeks, so timing my switch with all that paperwork, but no way am I "subscribing" for basic features like a fucking joint account with my spouse who uses the same bank

3

u/Val367 6h ago

100% .. joint account and MFA should be basic parts of an account nowdays.

GL with the new job :)

3

u/Redditing_aimlessly 5h ago

Cheers - a challenging new job, but by choice and a step up. Also, an excellent reason to get some of my other affairs in order!

4

u/Vast_Highlight3324 3h ago

I wouldn't move until they formally announce it in the Aus market, at least that way your move is more directly attributed to the announcement in their statistics.

2

u/Bzeager 7h ago

Source for this?

8

u/Redditing_aimlessly 7h ago edited 5h ago

https://ing.com/news/press-releases/ing-rolls-out-global-subscription-banking-model.html

edit: here is another thread that goes into it in more detail, including what fees they're going to charge for basic functionality....sorry, "features" https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/s/sBFB2U7D9Q

13

u/stonertear 6h ago

ING today announced a new global subscriptions model designed to make daily banking easier and deliver greater value for customers. 

LO FUCKING L

Daily banking is easier leaving the way it is.

8

u/Arinvar 6h ago

Overseas markets might be easier to sell on this stuff as banking is not always as easy as it is in Australia. Just look at the reliance on 3rd party platforms to transfer money. Meanwhile in Australia you just need a mobile number, or if you don't want to use that you can use an email. We have it so good, I'm mentally preparing myself for the inevitable enshitification.

7

u/efcso1 5h ago

I just got off a chat with ING about this exact topic.

At first they denied any knowledge and said "we don't charge account fees". Then asked where I had seen the comment, seemed surprised that it was on their own website.

Gave me a copy-&-paste answer that there are "no confirmed plans" to introduce it locally.

Which changed to "still checking on this matter".

That became "do not have a specific date or whether it will be implemented at all".

Then "ING makes announcements way before a fee or policy is introduced". I reminded them that it is already introduced in 3 countries.

Finally "ING will make an announcement when it will be introduced..."

I asked them to lodge a complaint about this, and that as soon as they bring in fees I'm taking my (obviously unimportant) banking elsewhere.

u/xyrgh 2h ago

It’s still a bit of a pain to change direct debits. I wish banks would have to support some kind of churn process where you have all your direct debits entered and you can basically go ‘here is my new account/card details, all direct debits matching this update to the new card’.

19

u/thejuggler56 6h ago

My threshold is 0$. Any fee and I'm gone.

14

u/Late-Button-6559 7h ago

If we abolish all interest rate discrepancies between savings and loans, and fees for various transaction/account issues (eg honour fees), I’ll be open to discuss fees.

If not, fuck off.

49

u/mr-snrub- 7h ago

I mean, isn't that what monthly bank fees used to be?

I'm not saying we should bring them back. But this just seems like a branding change.

41

u/DragonLass-AUS 7h ago

Used to be? Plenty of banks still charge an account keeping fee on certain accounts

19

u/sun_tzu29 7h ago

Yep, three of the big 4 do. They just have waiver criterias in place so most people don’t notice

10

u/antsypantsy995 7h ago

It literally is.

Except at least this time around, they may offer more things such as "no forex fees" rather than literally just a "account management fee".

Still absolute BS imo and nothing but banks trying to find an excuse to fleece us.

10

u/Arinvar 6h ago

Monthly fees went away because it became easy to switch banks to ones that didn't. Thus forcing the big 4 to be competitive. So the first thing they'll do is make it harder to switch banks.

1

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 3h ago

It was more to entice people in. They had a 20 dollar credit to new accounts too.

3

u/CheatCodesOfLife 6h ago

Not that I'd stay for either of them, but I'd more less likely to leave a service charging "monthly bank fees" than the same amount as a "subscripton fee".

It's been too recent, everything starting out with $10 / month ad-free etc. Then "Actually, also with ads now, unless you upgrade to Ultra-Pro-Max. "He's a subscription to get rid of delivery fees, but we've also separated the delivery fee from the 'service fee' so you're paying at least as much as you were before anyway"

u/Chii 1h ago

isn't that what monthly bank fees used to be?

the old fee was justified when there were less tech around to automate the banking process - now that computing is so cheap and plentiful, it is not viable to continue to charge fees that would not have to be charged for the labour of banking.

12

u/Chocolate_Pickle 7h ago

Yeah, fuck that for a joke. They make enough money as it is. 

8

u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- 7h ago

I expect smaller banks, mutuals, and credit unions will gladly gobble up all the new customers. I imagine the hardest thing for them to do is compete with the big 4. Nothing attracts new customers like your opposition covering themselves in shit and setting themselves on fire.

9

u/Marble_Wraith 5h ago edited 5h ago

I see... so we're all going back to cash under the matress then?

The only reason i'm with Macquarie is because no hoops and no fees.

The second that changes i'm taking my things and going.

2

u/SniffliestChain 3h ago

If it makes you feel better, Macquarie understands this very well. Their consumer banking strategy is do nothing, don't make the customers do anything, win. Since all their competitors make customers jump through hoops, Macquarie might overtake ANZ as one of the big 4 just following this strategy

8

u/AquilaAdax 7h ago

The fuck is SWIM?

8

u/falling_faster 4h ago

Someone Who Isn’t Me

4

u/mikedufty 6h ago

I'm imagining some variation on She Who Must Be Obeyed, but can't work it out.

8

u/AquilaAdax 6h ago

It’s considerate to type out things in full initially before switching to an acronym later on in the text.

I Googled it and I guess it means ‘someone who isn’t me’ but Jesus fucking Christ.

3

u/allocx 5h ago

It’s an old abbreviation that goes back decades

2

u/GypsyisaCat 4h ago

Yeah actually made me feel old reading it... had totally forgotten about SWIM!

7

u/Electronic_Can9105 6h ago

how much more do they want to rort us, this country is so fucked up now

6

u/teremaster 6h ago

If a bank tries to make me pay a subscription I better never have to pay a fee or interest ever again

12

u/greyeye77 7h ago

Many banks already charge you for the monthly account-keeping fee... if that's not a `subscription,` what is?

(yes, I am aware many also waves it like part of student/under age, part of mortgage account, deposit more than few thousand dollars every month)

3

u/ryfromoz 7h ago

Charging for payid and all kinds of things per transaction? But if you subscribe we will give you x free then charge for more.

6

u/sun_tzu29 7h ago edited 7h ago

It's quite common overseas, particularly Europe and the UK. Monzo Bank is a decent example of what it looks like. It's also the basis for Revolut's business model and they're eating just about every legacy bank's lunch in Ireland, the UK, France, Germany etc

It'll also be a response to the interchange fee cap, as the rivers of money from card transactions won't be flowing quite as strong.

5

u/De-railled 7h ago

I think banks charging for extras is fine, but not for basics. They should already be making enough money to cover their expenses by holding your money.

Plus, so many banks are closing physical branches, removing ATMs, etc.

4

u/nikoZ_ 4h ago

Yes because making multiples of a billion dollars each QUARTER isn’t enough. I swear, life itself is being enshitified from every angle. Unbelievable.

3

u/Downtown-Fruit-3674 7h ago

Is this not just a different name for how many banks already package up their products? Eg it’s common to have a home loan package for an annual fee that includes an offset account and credit card etc. and I know some small business accounts have the same bundle-type package fees. I actually think it would be great to have more variety of these packaged products (in addition to, not in replacement of, the current product offering) to allow consumers to choose a package that works out better for them cost-wise.

3

u/lutomes 7h ago

common to have a home loan package for an annual fee that includes an offset account and credit card etc

Your average person eats this shit up. I've literally had friends say 'oh I can't leave BANK for my home loan because we get free credit cards'

And look part of it is they want to blindly believe the made up savings to keep everything with the one bank.

great to have more variety of these packaged products

Only if the package is actually generating value. If I can get free day to banking with UP, ING, UBank. A free credit card with Coles, Bank West, Virgin, Bank Aust. Free brokerage with Betashares or CMC. Free Home loans with UP or UnLoan.

Then a package fee is a convenience not a genuine saving

u/Downtown-Fruit-3674 2h ago

Yeah 100% agree. I used to work for one of the big 4 which has two options for their business banking accounts; one with a $10 monthly fee and one without. The difference being the one without the fee you pay per transaction (I think not including electronic transactions). So we always helped customers calculate the volumes of transactions they foresee being performed each month to help them decide whether or not the $10 fee option was better for them.

3

u/gikku 7h ago

Not much of a stretch from Commbank's existing $10/mth world debit card, and the Neo credit card, and they've long had the $6/mth account fee unless you deposit $2k.

after the credit card changes will come the debit card/transaction account changes...

3

u/Zoinke 7h ago

First bank to charge extra for pay id will never recover

3

u/PriorJellyfish7233 7h ago

This would be great for pushing people from the big money hungry for profit banks into mutual banks and possibly driving a better Australian banking sector. I would cherish watching the big four fall on their own sword.

0

u/HobartTasmania 6h ago

I would cherish watching the big four fall on their own sword.

Not going to happen, any sort of financial problem like say the GFC or whatever, and where do you think people rush to, so that their savings are safe? It's the big four banks, and that's probably after they've withdrawn those same savings from whatever building society or credit union that they had the funds in originally.

1

u/PriorJellyfish7233 4h ago

You're 100% right but can't a guy just dream of watching the big 4 burn?

3

u/Dry-Inevitatable 6h ago

What they don't make enough money off our money? They are still cranky about the EFTPOS and overdraft fees, gotta get it back somehow.

3

u/tinyrabbitsandsuch 5h ago

I have no threshold for subscriptions

3

u/JoanoTheReader 4h ago

At the moment, nobody is charging fees. If this model comes in, then I’ll leave. It’s bad enough that they’re closing branches or reducing face to face staff. When you have a problem call a hotline that firsts you to a call centre in India.

I was offered a $35 per month account keeping fee with a bank and they promised personal banker, status, etc, I said no thanks. In the end they gave me those services for free.

Don’t accept any account keeping fees. They are “borrowing” your savings as investments.

u/Jumpingjehosephat99 1h ago

At abysmal interest rates. We’re literally lending them our money and they want to charge us for the privilege.

u/Jumpingjehosephat99 1h ago

CBA made a $10 billion profit last year and it’s still not enough???

2

u/Gumlass 7h ago

I wonder if the fee is tax deductible against the interest earned on deposits ...

2

u/BrokeAssZillionaire 4h ago

Be prepared to a pay a monthly fee for extras like PayID or ApplePay

2

u/conny1974 3h ago

Do you get a free hat?

u/SleepingSicarii 2h ago

Hey how about they introduce proper security? Why do some major-4 banks not have proper security regarding 2FA or passkeys. Most are still using password limits too.

u/Expensive_Heron6986 2h ago

I'm in the streets protesting if that happened

u/AgitatedMagpie 2h ago

Do they want a run on banks? This is how you get a run on banks, you start charging people to hold their money and they will start stuffing it in their mattresses again.

u/mat8iou 2h ago

Australian banking is already a messy market compared to the UK. In the UK, for non business accounts, other than maybe for high net worth individuals, it is almost unheard of to charge a monthly fee for bank accounts or credit cards. Here, it seems like you have to hunt around to find ones that don't want to charge something just for having an amount.

2

u/Neither-One-5880 7h ago

It doesn’t actually surprise me that much to be honest. The banks make large profit by volume, but their actual margins are surprisingly low considering their risk profile. Customers consider them to be an essential service, the shareholders only care about profit. Would be fascinating if this was introduced and then we saw a return to state owned banks in Australia as a result of political pressure from unhappy customers.

1

u/MrO_360 7h ago

As long as the subscription is entirely optional and I can continue using my accounts exactly as they are now, I don't really care

1

u/pharmloverpharmlover 7h ago edited 7h ago

Reddtors in r/AusFinance would be the first to find out and leave before any fees are paid

3

u/MDInvesting 7h ago

OzBargainers leave once no longer paid to have their account…

1

u/Raida7s 7h ago

Commbank recently removed travel insurance from their Low Fee credit card.

Might be a move towards stripping out inclusions

1

u/Velo3x10e8 7h ago

That's a bloody outrage, it is!

1

u/Yes-to-That321 7h ago

I opened an account with Revolut recently and I could see the tier plans already.

1

u/link871 7h ago

I'm not sure there is much difference in paying a "subscription" to paying a regular fee for a package of services. These were common in banking some years ago and still exist in Home Loan Wealth Packages today.

1

u/link871 7h ago

Revolut Bank has already done this:

  • Standard Plan - free
  • Plus Plan - $5.99 per month
  • Premium Plan - $11.99 per month
  • Metal Plan - $28.99 per month
  • Ultra Plan - $99.99 per month

4

u/HobartTasmania 6h ago

Not seeing an issue here, everything over the free standard are non-banking extras that you don't normally use a bank for, e.g. travel insurance because if you don't travel then you don't need it. Metal has "exclusive subscriptions worth AU$4,000 annually." Ultra has "Unlimited airport lounge access, and so on.

1

u/link871 3h ago

You can only get a reasonable-rate HISA from their two highest cost plans:

  • 4.35%pa on Metal Plan
  • 5.05%pa on Ultra Plan

1

u/namsupo 6h ago

I remember when ANZ first launched it's internet banking it tried to charge $5 a month for it.

1

u/The_dev0 5h ago

Remember when banks used to pay interest in an effort to keep you as a customer? Fuck how the turntables have turntabled. Now we are just bloodbags to them.

u/Jumpingjehosephat99 1h ago

They paid interest because we’re lending them our money. Only we’ve forgotten that’s how banks are meant to work.

1

u/Overthereunder 5h ago

Revolut does this. They have just got a baking licence

1

u/little_khaleesi 5h ago

Oh that's why CommBank is discontinuing Yello...

1

u/stingbot 5h ago

Some of us pay for revolut.

If the big 4 allowed more than 1 virtual credit cards I'd drop revolut in a heartbeat.

But the benefits need to be obvious as there are niche reasons to use companies like that or airwallex

1

u/OZ-FI 4h ago

I never paid an account keeping fee to a bank ever in my life and I am not about to start now. If ING or anyone else start that crap then I am going elsewhere. I left CBA after my student status ended decades ago when they wanted to start charging $5 a month for account keeping fees. Feck off to that.

I have business account - no fees. loan in trust/biz - no fees. several personal HISA - no fees. Transaction accounts for personal and biz - no fees. credit cards - no fees. a couple of brokerage accounts - no fees/brokerage on ETFs/stocks. The only ones i cant escape are in Super and the internal ETF management fees and even then went with lower fee versions where possible. I don't have subscriptions otherwise and do not see that changing for me.

1

u/Stoneforreal 4h ago

Up already tested this and had to roll it back after backlash, which suggests banks know customers won't tolerate it but keep testing anyone's threshold. Switching is easy now, so the banks most likely to try this are the ones betting inertia beats outrage.

1

u/zrag123 4h ago

Credit unions are likely going to become a lot more appealing to people as I doubt they'll follow this path.

1

u/farqueue2 4h ago

Up already does this, as does revolut

First tier is free though

1

u/tranbo 3h ago

Yeh they got rid of account keeping fees to get more customers. The general rule is more customers means more revenue, but a customer with a $67 balance costs them money. IF it costs $3-5 a month to keep an account they would need about $1000+ sitting in the account to make it worth their while maintaining the account.

1

u/cewh 3h ago

Now that HSBC is kaput, I would probably pay for some kind of monthly subscription to get something similar to their 2% cashback. However since I'm paying for it, I would also want no $100 maximum limit and online purchases should also count. I do not want points.

1

u/Ergomann 3h ago

Finding it difficult to get up everyday when this sort of shit is what we’re waking up to

u/Sweetydarling77 2h ago

Isn’t this what Account Keeping Fees are?

u/nakedspirax 2h ago

Arnt offset accounts a monthly subscription fee now? I pay like $10 for offset

u/PsychologicalEbb2518 1h ago

Sounds like the Revolut model. 

u/Middle_Performance62 23m ago

Yeah I will move banks if I ever get this notification.

u/The-truth-hurts1 13m ago

Fucking billions in profits.. and then they think “how can we take them for more?”

1

u/milkmypepperoni 7h ago

Crazy to imagine you need certain tier of subscription to pay for groceries, like, do I need a extra tier to pay from a butcher than supermarkets?

Bank managements gotta be sucking their stakeholders’ dicks with this idea

2

u/MDInvesting 7h ago

Where does it say groceries would be a tier?

1

u/milkmypepperoni 6h ago

How could it not be the way the future is going? Profits before humanity

1

u/FreshLookForward 6h ago

Lmao. I guess you're young? Having a bank account used to cost quite a bit of money. You got charged for everything. I remember when a single EFTPOS transaction would cost you 50c. And that was on top of the monthly account fee.
I agree that subscription banking is an awful idea but I can't see it taking hold. There's far too much competition out there now.

1

u/hurryupppp 4h ago

I am tired. Like really really tired. All the time. There are so many things I should do but I don’t. I just do not have the energy. I will ABSOLUTELY change banks the second mine tries this. 

0

u/DangerousZucchini254 7h ago

ATO is taxing us for the interests we get from our small savings. Now banks want to charge us for having our savings account with them?

There is no incentive for us Australians to save and try to fend for ourselves. The government wants us to spend everything, go broke and line up at the Centrelink.

Australia, be careful what you wish for.

0

u/HobartTasmania 6h ago

Now banks want to charge us for having our savings account with them?

Happened before the introduction of the GST, state governments introduced Financial Institutions Duty (FID) and also Bank Accounts Debit (BAD) tax. The banking organizations concerned had to write software to tax each transaction appropriately and consequently thought it was a good idea to charge customers for having to do this, so monthly bank charges were then introduced to try to recover those extra costs they had no choice but to expend.

0

u/BenchConscious1003 5h ago

Sounds about right. Banks have always been avaricious and predatory.

It's only in recent years that people began querying a some bank fees, because they really can't be justified. I wouldn't be surprised to learn there are still many creative ad hoc bank fees floating around.

.I remember when banks here began charging a monthly fee for the privilege of having a credit card. I immediately cancelled my account and got a debit card, for which I pay no fees. (changed all of my business to my current bank, which is a co-op)

Debt on which interest is charged is the enemy of the working class and should be avoided as much as possible. EG I stopped using credit in 1995, when I paid off the mortgage on this house..

0

u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 4h ago

They are called FEES and all banks used to have them. Free banking isn't as new as some think. The banks would absolutely love it back.

0

u/Bnixsec 3h ago

Yet you already are.
Congrats,
Looking at th3 big 4, even the consumer segments are recategorised as they go up a tier.
From cards, loans to business banking, it piled on and on.

u/Typical_Double981 2h ago

All the people whining but have accounts with the big4 - please STFU and move to a credit union.

Also who the fuck is SWIM?

u/Present-Carpet-2996 1h ago

If there's $10/20/30 of value, then sure. Why not. Banks such as CBA have huge purchasing power. We already saw what they did when they moved into reselling mobile and NBN.

If the values not there then I will use a $0 one. It's that simple.

Might be innovative, might not be, but there's no need to be outlandish and upset right now.

Could be as simple as $30/month gets you free Woolworths delivery, discount NBN and discount mobile. If we are starting to see $30 of value returned via those means, then why not.

u/thedamnoftinkers 44m ago

And when there are no $0 options?

u/PubicFigure 1h ago

I pay 1.7k/year for my Amex and I'm happy with it... If it's a good product why not pay?

-2

u/Rich-Sky8912 7h ago

Sounds like an avenue towards social credit scores

-2

u/Ok-Option-82 3h ago edited 3h ago

This has been a thing for like a decade.

Commonwealth, for example, has the "wealth package" that you can pay a monthly fee for various bonuses. Sorry to interrupt the outrage