Bendigo Bank offers four transaction accounts, including its Everyday Account for adults aged 18 to 55 plus accounts for retirees, students and concession card holders. 

The Everyday transaction account comes with a $6 monthly account-keeping fee unless you have a Bendigo Bank home loan or at least $2,000 a month is deposited into the account, in which cases the fee is waived.  It can also be used as a home loan offset account (for which an additional $5 monthly service fee is charged).  It can be linked to a credit or debit card (Mastercard) and also offers payment options through Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay and Fitbit Pay. 

For aged pensioners and retirees over 55 years of age, there’s an Easy Retirement Account which is a hybrid transaction and savings account offering tiered interest on the balance in your account over $10,000.  For a balance between $10,000 and $50,000 the interest rate is 0.05% p.a. For the portion of your funds between $50,000 and $250,000, the interest rate is 0.1% p.a., and any funds over $250,000 will earn 0.2% p.a.  There’s no monthly service fee.  For concession card holders, a Concession Account offers fee-free banking and a free debit Mastercard with no transaction fees.

Full-time students, apprentices and trainees can open a student transaction account from the age of 12.  Young people aged 12 to 15 years will be issued a Youth Debit Mastercard, which automatically blocks unsuitable transactions relating to the purchase of alcohol, cigarettes or gambling products.  Interest is also awarded on the balance in your student account over $250.  For between $250 and $2,000, the interest rate is 0.01% p.a., and over $2,000 it is 0.05% p.a.  Once an account holder turns 16 years old, they’ll be offered a standard Mastercard debit card. 

The bank offers what it calls a monthly fee allowance or a ‘transaction account rebate’ which reduces the account fees payable.  If you have a home loan, a term deposit, a personal loan or a credit card with Bendigo Bank, you also qualify for additional transaction account fee rebates.

Savings accounts

Bendigo Bank has a range of savings accounts to cater to all ages, from young children to retirees. The EasySaver account is the standard adult savings account, offering an interest rate of 0.10% p.a.  It offers two free branch withdrawals per month and free internet transactions, but transaction fees apply otherwise.  There’s a complicated transaction fee structure, with fees ranging from $1.75 for a cash withdrawal to $4 for an EFT credit transfer and $3.75 for a payment to another bank.

The Piggy Saver account is for children aged under 12 and includes a free money box when an account is opened for a child and free birthday rewards for children aged four to ten years old. Interest is paid at a rate of 0.10% p.a. There aren’t any account-keeping or transaction fees applied.

The Reward Saver account offers a basic interest rate plus a bonus interest rate depending on your age.  The base interest rate is 0.05% p.a., while the bonus interest rate is 0.50% p.a. if you’re aged 30 years or under or 0.20% p.a. if you’re aged 31 years or over.  A linked transaction account is necessary to receive the bonus interest rate (only payable on balances up to $100,000).

A Community Saver account allows you to donate a percentage of the interest your savings earn to a nominated charity or community organisation, which currently offers an interest rate of 0.10% p.a.  You can nominate either 10%, 25%, 50% or 100% of your interest be donated to a range of organisations including St John Ambulance South Australia, Oxfam Australia, Scouts Australia, or the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation in Victoria.

Term deposits

These are available fee-free for a range of terms, plus there are special offers available.  For a minimum deposit of $5,000, you can earn 1% p.a. interest on a term deposit for 12 months, with additional deposits available within seven days of opening the account. Interest is paid at maturity.  A Gold Term Deposit will reward you with 0.05% p.a. for a minimum deposit of $2,000 over 12 months, with interest paid quarterly. 

A special offer for new customers available in May 2022 is an interest rate of 0.75% p.a. on a balance of $5,000+ for nine months.  Other common term deposit rates include 0.05% p.a. for amounts up to $5,000 for up to five months, increasing to 0.10% p.a. if the term is increased to between six and 11 months and then 0.15% p.a. for 12 months and over.   The best rate on offer is 1.25% p.a. for balances from $5,000 to $5 million invested in a term deposit over 60 months, although this is unavailable for deposits with interest paid at maturity.