Everyday Bank Accounts

If you’re new to a particular financial institution, you’ll have to provide 100 points of ID to open an account.  This could be your passport and driver’s licence or any other forms of ID including at least one form of photo ID and one showing your signature.

The minimum age to open a bank account in Australia is 12 years old.  A child younger than 12 can still have a bank account, but it must be a joint account with a parent or guardian.  From the age of 12, a debit card can be issued to a young person with parental permission and at 14, a teenager can get a debit card in their own right.  By the age of 18, a young person is considered an adult and can be offered credit facilities in the form of a credit card.

Yes – many people have more than one of these accounts.  Some people wish to have a personal account and another joint one with their partner or spouse, or different accounts for different sources of income.  There’s no legal limit to how many bank accounts an individual can open.  However, be mindful of account fees, which may make multiple accounts not worthwhile.

A digital wallet is an application program which allows you to record and store all your cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, membership cards and loyalty cards, in one digital location on your phone.  It means you no longer have to physically carry plastic cards around with you.  They’re a very safe method of making payments as long as you keep your phone safe and have strong security to gain access to your phone’s apps.

No – you don’t have to be an Australian citizen to open a bank account.  In fact, you don’t even need to be resident in Australia.   Overseas students intending to travel to Australia for study, for instance, can open an Australian account up to three months before they arrive in the country and can let their bank know their residential address once they have their accommodation sorted out. 

Round up accounts are smart accounts which round up each transaction you make and transfer the rounded amount into a savings account.  For example, if you buy a cup of coffee that costs $4.80 and you’ve set your rounding amount to the nearest $1, $0.20 from this transaction will be transferred to your savings account.  How effective these accounts are at building up savings will depend on where you set your rounding amount.  Transactions that are rounded to the nearest $1 will increase your savings more slowly than accounts rounded up to the nearest $5.

It can be more convenient to have both your transaction and savings account with the one bank, building society or credit union, particularly if you regularly transfer money between your various accounts. However, no rule says you must keep your accounts with the same institution, so it’s worth comparing your options with Savvy before you change your bank account to see if you can find a better deal.