Commonwealth Bank Debit Cards

For a personal account, CommBank offers a debit Mastercard with its Smart Access everyday transaction bank account, Pensioner Security account and Cash Investment Account. 

However, if you open a business transaction account, you’ll have the option of having a CommBank-linked business Visa debit card. To get a Visa debit card, you’ll need either a Business Transaction Account – Zero fee option, or Business Transaction Account – $10 account fee option.

Commonwealth Bank is one of very few banks in Australia which offers debit Mastercards for personal accounts, and Visa cards for business use. 

Mastercard features

These are some of the features of a Commonwealth Bank debit Mastercard for personal use:

• the Smart Access account with a linked debit card comes with a $4 monthly fee, unless you meet certain conditions (see the list below of what those conditions are.)
• no ATM withdrawal fees at most bank ATMs in Australia
• access to the CommBank Rewards program, which offers personalised cashback rewards for your everyday spending. The bank will send you shopping rewards based on where you’ve previously shopped, and similar places matched to your normal spending habits. The cashback will be credited into your linked Smart Access or another relevant bank account

Overdrawn and dishonour fees

If your CommBank debit Mastercard linked bank account accidentally becomes overdrawn, the following fees will be charged:

• a $15 initial overdrawn fee
• an ongoing interest charge of 14.90% per day that your linked bank account remains in the red
• if you have a scheduled payment (for example, a re-occurring bill payment such as a mortgage or rent payment) which can’t be paid due to lack of funds, then five attempts will be made to make the payment in the following five days. If the payment is still unsuccessful, a $5 dishonour fee will be charged.

Digital payment options

A CommBank debit Mastercard will work with the following digital wallets and wearables:

• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Samsung Pay
• Apple Watch
• Garmin
• Fitbit
• Google Wear OS

Exemptions from account fees

These are some of the customers who are exempt from paying CommBank’s monthly account-keeping for a transaction bank account:

• Anyone under 25 years of age
• All full-time or part-time Australian students
• All apprentices with a Student Options account
• If you deposit at least $2,000 a month into your linked bank account
• Aged, disability and war veterans
• If you have a balance of $50,000 or more in any other account
• If you have an eligible Commonwealth Bank home loan
• If you are disabled and rely on over-the-counter services to be your banking

Using a CommBank debit Mastercard overseas

You can use your debit card overseas. The Commonwealth Bank debit Mastercard will work at over 35 million locations worldwide, wherever you see the Maestro, Mastercard or Cirrus logo. However, there are several fees that apply if you use your CBA debit card overseas, so this may not be the cheapest option for financing your holiday.  For this reason, it’s important to compare debit cards and consider all your options with Savvy before using your CommBank debit card abroad. Fees charged by CommBank include:

• a $2 withdrawal fee if you use CommBank ATMs either in New Zealand or overseas
• a $5 fee plus 3% of the transaction value for any other cash withdrawals overseas
• a currency conversion fee of 3% of the transaction value if you use your card to pay for goods or services overseas
• a 3% international transaction fee if you use your Mastercard to buy anything online at an overseas-based store

It is worth remembering that both a currency conversion fee and an international transaction fee will be charged on each transaction you make on your CommBank debit Mastercard overseas, which combine to be a 6% fee on the value of each transaction.

CommBank Prepaid Visa Travel Cards

An alternative to paying costly overseas transaction fees with your standard debit Mastercard is to get a CommBank Travel Card. These prepaid Visa Travel Money Cards can hold up to 13 currencies and are issued free by the bank. These prepaid cards can be recharged when running low on funds for no additional cost. However, there are initial load fees, cash withdrawal fees, and currency conversion fees which will apply if you pay for goods and do not have the relevant currency stored on your travel card.