Are you paying your bank to hold your money?
Account-keeping fees, overdraw fees and dishonour fees are avoidable, and if you hold a concession card your bank has to be asked about a basic account.
No fees
a basic bank account has no account-keeping fees, no minimum deposit and no overdraft fee
What this is
Most bank fees are charged for things that have a free version: an account with no keeping fee, an ATM in your own network, a payment that did not bounce. Basic bank accounts exist specifically for concession card holders and carry no account-keeping fees, free monthly statements, no minimum deposit and no overdraft fee. Banks are not required to offer them unprompted, so the people they were designed for often pay fees for years without knowing the account exists.
Does it apply to you?
- Anyone holding a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
- Anyone paying a monthly account-keeping fee
- Anyone who has been charged an overdraw or dishonour fee in the last year
How to do it
- Read twelve months of statements and add up everything charged by the bank itself: account keeping, overdraw, dishonour, ATM and international fees.
- If you hold a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, ring your bank and ask to be moved to a basic bank account.
- If you do not hold one, ask what it takes to have the monthly fee waived on your current account. It is often a deposit amount you already meet.
- Review your savings account once a year against what else is on the market, and ask your own bank for a better rate before moving.
Where people lose the money
Assuming the monthly fee is unavoidable.
Most banks waive it if a deposit condition is met, and many people already meet it without the waiver being applied.
Waiting for the bank to offer a basic account.
They are not advertised. Contact your bank and ask whether you are eligible.
Counting only the monthly fee.
Overdraw, dishonour and foreign transaction fees are usually the larger number across a year.
Questions
What is a basic bank account?
An account for concession card holders with no account-keeping fees, free monthly statements, no minimum deposit amount and no overdraft fee. Contact your bank to check whether you are eligible.
Do you recommend a bank?
No. We do not list, rank or recommend banks or accounts anywhere on this site. This is about the fees on the account you already have.
Will switching accounts hurt my credit?
Opening or closing an everyday transaction account is not the same as applying for credit. If you do switch, list your direct debits first and give your new details to anyone who pays you.
Where these numbers come from
- Moneysmart (ASIC), Transaction accounts and debit cards · read 2026-09-23
Last gone over 2026-09-23. Figures change; the link above is always the current one.
Published by Income Lab, Melbourne. Responsible for this page: Jarred Krowitz.