Westpac Bank Review

Westpac Bank started its business in the year 1817 with the name Bank of New South Wales. With the merger of Commercial Bank of Australia in the year 1982, it acquired a new name i.e. Westpac Banking Corporation.

It has branches throughout Australia and New Zealand and it also maintain offices near pacific region and places including London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
According to Australian Securities Exchange Limited (ASX) with $77.2 billion as market capitalisation it was ranked in the top 5 listed companies and for the financial year 30 September 2009 it was estimated that it had a net profit after income tax of $3,446 million and as at 30 September 2009 it had total asset of $590 billion.

Westpac Bank provides financial services and its business line encompasses Personal Banking, Business Banking and Corporate Banking. It offer services like Bank accounts, Home Loans, Personal Loans, Insurance, Super & Retirement, Investments, Services, Credit Cards and much more.

To contact Westpac Bank one can dial 132 032, for Telephone Banking from overseas- Dial the international access code then (61 2) 9293 9270, for Online Investing dial 131 331, for Personal loan enquiries dial 132 651, for Cardholder enquiries dial 1300 651 089, for Gold Card enquiries call at 1300 367 228, for GM Holden Card enquiries call 131 200 and to visit its official website call www.westpac.com.au .
It also offers credit cards in categories like Rewards Card, Low Annual Fee Cards, Low Interest Rates Card.

There are various cards in the category REWARDS CREDIT CARD such as
1)Altitude Master/American Express Card : One can earn 2 Altitude points per $1 spent on one’s Altitude American Express Card and 1 Altitude point per $1 spent on one’s Altitude Visa Card or Altitude MasterCard. Two credit cards linked to one account - with one monthly statement and one credit limit. There is no cap to earn points also there is no expiry date for the reward points one can earn as many points as one wants. One will receive 5000 bonus points when first use either card for a purchase. The annual percentage rate of 3.99% is applicable on Balance Transfer for up to 6 months and the annual interest rate of 19.39 % is applicable for Purchases and 20.99 for Cash Advances. The annual fee for the card is $100.00

2)Altitude Gold Credit Card : One can earn 2 Altitude points per $1 spent on one’s Altitude American Express Card and 1 Altitude point per $1 spent on one’s Altitude Visa Card or Altitude MasterCard. Two credit cards linked to one account - with one monthly statement and one credit limit. There is no cap to earn points also there is no expiry date for the reward points one can earn as many points as one wants. One will receive 10,000 bonus points when first use either card for a purchase. The annual percentage rate of 3.99% is applicable on Balance Transfer for up to 6 months and the annual interest rate of 19.39 % is applicable for Purchases and 20.99 for Cash Advances. The annual fee for the card is $ 150. One will receive complimentary insurance covers in accordance with the policy. And many more benefits.

3)Altitude Platinum Credit Card
4)Earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Amex/Master-Visa Credit Card
5)Earth Gold Credit card
6)Earth Platinum Credit Card
7)Singapore Airlines Westpac Gold Card
8)Singapore Airlines Westpac Platinum card

Credit cards issued in the category Low Annual Fee are
1)55 Day Visa/ Master Card
2)55 Day Platinum Visa Card
3)Westpac No annual fee master Card
4)Westpac Student Visa Card

Credit Card issued in the category Low Rate is
1)Low Rate Visa or Master Card

Macquarie Bank

Macquarie Bank was founded in the year 1969 in Australia. It was formed from the merchant bank Hill Samuel Australia (HSA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hill Samuel & Co. Limited, London.

It offers a diverse range of banking, financial, advisory and investment services. It has five operating groups and two divisions within which individual businesses operate.

For the year Sep2009, Macquarie Bank has over $A10.7 billion in real estate fund assets which were managed by the division and its associates.

The Personal Banking facility provides services like Savings Account, Loans, Cards, Investments, Trading, Super annuation, Insurance and Financial advices and more.

Macquarie Bank also provides specialist products and services for small and medium-sized businesses and the services offered are Financing and Leasing Solutions, Investment options, Advisory and Risk management and other specialized banking solutions.

To contact Macquarie Bank one can call 1800 245 555 or can email and to view the official website one can log on to www.macquarie.com.au

It also provides credit cards which helps its customers to satisfy the financial needs of the customers.

Macquarie Bank Visa Platinum Card - Macquarie Bank charges an annual interest rate of 19.95%pa on purchases and Balance Transfer and the annual interest rate for Cash Advances is 20.95%. Up to 55 days of interest free is provided to the card holder to make the repayment of the balances of purchases. One will earn 1.25 Reward points per dollar spent. Collected points can be redeemed for various options such as merchandise, gift certificates and for travel and much more. Reward Points don’t expire so one can save reward points for larger rewards. The card is accepted globally and can be used to get instant cash access through ATMs which displays Visa Card acceptance. The annual fee of the card is $ 200 and one can add up to 4 additional cardholders at no extra cost.

Hilton Macquarie Visa Platinum Credit Card - The bank charges an annual interest rate of 19.45% on purchases and 20.45% on Cash advances. One can earn 1.25 Macquarie reward points per dollar spent and can redeem one’s points from a range of hand-selected merchandise or flights. One can enjoy 20% off any published accommodation rate at Hilton Hotels throughout Australasia also one will receive 20% off all room charges and food and beverage at Hilton restaurants and bars located throughout Australasia. One can enjoy a $99 stay at any Hilton Hotel in Australia. The annual fee for the card is $295 and the addition card holder fee is $ 195.

Macquarie Visa Gold Card - Bank charges an annual interest rate of 0% for the Balance Transfer for the first six months and 19.95%pa on purchases and 20.45%pa on cash advances and up to 55 days of interest free is provided to a card holder to repay back the balances of purchases. One can earn 1 reward point per one dollar spent and the points collected can be redeemed for various options such as travel, merchandise and much more. And points don’t expire also. It is accessible online and is accepted worldwide. The annual fee is $100 and the annual fee for additional card is $ 30.

ME Bank

ME Bank was established in the year 1999 as a project of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). For the year June 2009 its total assets were $ 19.7 million.
Its business line encompasses Personal Banking, Business Banking and Investment and Financial Planning and Internet Banking.

The Personal Banking offer services like Home loans, Credit Cards, Personal Loans, Transaction and Savings Account etc.

The Business Banking offer services like Business Finance Solutions, Development & construction solutions, Asset finance solutions and deposit products.
Investment & Financial Planning deals with Managing funds, retirement products and financial planning.

ME Bank provides an excellent customer service. To contact ME Bank one can call at 13 15 63, for phone banking one can call at 1300-654-998 and to visit its official website one can log on to www.membersequity.com.au

It also offer credit card which helps its customer to meet their fiscal needs
Members Equity MasterCard - An annual percentage rate of 11.49 % is applicable on Purchases, Balance Transfer and Cash advances. A card holder is also granted a grace period of up to 44 days and a low annual fee is applicable that is of $ 39. One can add up to 8 additional card holders at no extra cost. One would also avail Master Card benefits such as 24 hour customer service support, emergency worldwide replacement if ones card is lost or stolen, free issued of mailed replacement cards, accessible online, pay bills online, shop online and accepted worldwide and much more.