St.George Complete Freedom

Dont sign anything with StGEorge until you've had the chance to read what you're signing. First, StGeorge have gone to a lot of trouble to create multiple products on productreview, perhaps to avoid people seeing how they behave. The primary issue in my case was being advised I had the incorrect account type and needed to open a new account. So… Read more

far all ok. Except the lady then provides a document to sign. The first couple of sentences on this, note that Ive read the Terms and Conditions. She advises that theyre online and I can read them later. I said I cannot sign until I've what I'm agreeing to. She goes online and opens a T&C document. This, it turns is a lengthy booklet, that presumably you're supposed to read and absorb while sitting there; with the lady constantly interrupting you to explain it's just standard and all the banks use this. You could just give up and sign. which is what I expect StGeorge want you to do. I gave up and left, not wanting the repercussions of signing something I hadnt read, to come back later. It's quite absurd to sign a document (especially related to finance) without reading it first.

The best account ever – I would recommend using the Complete Freedom Account because there are no overdrawn fees on the account you can overdraw your account without getting charged also you get excellent interest on the account as well.

Liar. Change terms from no account keeping fee to $5/ month if you don’t deposit $250 by the end – Sales girl tricked me into opening complete freedom ac by depositing $2000 and keeping for 3 months in order to get a bonus $50. But after that, monthly fee $5 kicked in for failing to put in $250. @ month .:(

Perfect for Australia and Overseas – I've had a St George Freedom Visa Debit Card for a number years and have always preferred it to a credit card. I recently went on an overseas holiday to the UK. I looked in the Global Currency Card and even asked my accountant about it. He said it was great but that I needed to spend all the money on it overseas and then cut it up and throw it… Read more

away. Getting the money transferred from the Global Currency card back to my Complete Freedom card would be a long drawn out process with high fees being charged.

However with my Visa Debit card I contacted St George and told them I'd be drawing large amounts out from overseas ATM's in the UK and that they weren't to be concerned and lock the card. I also increased my daily withdrawal limit from $1,000 to $2,000. I withdrew 500 pounds in cash which is around $800. I paid for everything in cash therefore I only suffered currency conversion fees on the cash withdrawals from ATM's. If I'd used the debit card like I do at home I'd have suffered multiple currency conversion fees. Overseas I always looked for the Visa sign on the ATM to make sure that I could use it. Banks such as Barclays, Nat West etc are all friendly to foreign Visa cards.

None of the banks in the UK charge their account holders for using another banks ATM in the UK. People in the UK were shocked that banks in Australia charge their account holders a processing fee for using another banks ATM. It has now come that the banks here will not charge a fee for using another banks ATM.

Visa Back Door Deal With Westpac / St George Bank – I found out the hard way that Westpac & St George Banks are doing away with EFTPOS cards as there's no profit in them for the bank. You will notice that they have been replacing EFTPOS cards with new VISA DEBIT CARDS. These cards allow the user to SWIPE or PAYWAVE when paying for goods & services. BEWARE, the banks don't declare it to the… Read more

customer at all in the process but VISA is hitting the merchants with a fee for the cards used as PAYWAVE and stores like ALDI who don't absorb that cost pass it on to you, even through you don't use a credit account and the funds still come out of your bank account immediately just like a EFTPSO card. Oh, and yes the magnetic strip on the card is de-activated as well.

REMEMBER you didn't apply for a VISA DEBIT CARD and you have no contract with VISA to debit your funds so it's another VISA scam to fill their pockets and pay off the co-conspirator banks, as though they don't gouge us enough already.

GO TO THE BANK and you will find they still have plenty of EFTPOS cards in their teller draws.....they just don't want you to know about that.

Check out the latest in the court battle in the usa - 1000's of retail merchants -v- visa & mastercard for excessive fees. Recently VISA & MASTERCARD tried to BUY OFF the lawyers representing the retail merchants.

Reporting this scam to Banking Ombudsman Office.

Terrible – When I originally started using this card it was a great deal, I was happy with the ability to purchase over the internet and use the card as if it were a credit card, without having to pay interest on my purchases. Unfortunately, now (being about 5 years down the track) I am paying $30+ in bank fee's every single month. I cannot believe that a… Read more

bank thinks that they can charge their customers for using their own ATM's.... that is a disgrace Was originally a good deal, visa capabilities without the "debt" Terrible fees, poor quality cards, no interest

Excellent – The St George freedom account is one of the best around. It virtually has no fees and offers great flexibility. Online banking with this account is also very user friendly and easy to navigate/use. It's great that you can use this card with Westpac atms so you practically never have to use a foreign atm. No account keeping fees if your pay goes… Read more

into the account, can be used with both st george and westpac atms (and so finding an atm is easy), the visa debit makes purchasing online easy as you don't have to have a real credit card Nothing in particular

Excellent – I switched to St George not long ago and am so glad I got the debit card. I looked at the other options and St George came out on top by far. Their fees are much cheaper with more freedom of what you can do and free transactions. I love the extra security of their netbanking (as compared to Commonwealth). The customer service at my branch has… Read more

always been fantastic which is definitely a surprise at a bank! I love having all the features of a credit card but not the debt. I'm surprised more people don't use debit cards - they're great! Good value, great service, lots of ATMs in the ACT, able to use exactly like a credit card without the risk of debt, St George netbanking is great - it's really easy to track everything

Good – Although there are not enough conveniently located St. George ATM's around (and I will not use non St. George ATM's due to high charges) you can easily use it while shopping and just get cash out instead. I am not a big EFTPOS card user as I prefer to pay everything on credit and pay off at end of month so I do not need cash that often, but since… Read more

it is linked to my home loan, it is convenient. no fees or charges and unlimited free transactions as it is linked to my home loan not enough St. George ATM's available or St. George branches

Good – I really, really liked the St George Debit card. I had one for about 2 years before changing to ANZ. My main reason for changing was that St George only have one ATM in WA and the cost of other ATM fees was bumping my monthly fees up to well over $12 a month. Something to be wary of with any card you choose I think! I liked the fact that… Read more

the transactions I made on the 'credit' facility showed up on my account really quickly, (unlike the ANZ which takes DAYS!)and that they did allow a couple of extra other ATM transactions for WA users. Looks like a credit card, smells like a credit card - but isn't! No ATM's in WA

Excellent – I enjoy the flexibility of this card. I can use it online where visa is accepted and that saves my credit card because I'm just using my own money. I even used it overseas at shop where EFTPOS was unavailable and just signed for it like you would a credit card. I am the sort of person who only uses a credit card for emergencies only, and before… Read more

this card I sometimes had to go without things because I didn't want to use my credit card and EFPTOS was not available. But "St. George Complete Freedom Visa" gives me the freedom to spend my money where and when I want to. I also like the colour of this card; it looks like a platinum card which looks very nice in my wallet. This is the best debit card I ever came seen. For just $7 a month it gives me the peace of mind that I will not get other bank fees. Apart from using other banks ATMs. But since st. george joined westpac, I now have more ATMs to choose from. Which is great. Other banks ATM fees which all other banks or cards charge anyway.

Excellent – I recently changed from a normal freedom account to the complete freedom card. It costs two dollars less a month in fees plus you get unlimited amount of withdrawals from st george atms. There are also no fees from st george if you withdraw money from stores, which saves you from other-atm fees if you can't find a st george one. You can also use… Read more

it on the internet which is GREAT!!! I can now buy concert tickets off the internet without having to resort to getting a credit card or something else.

In the end it's extremely useful. Lets you buy online. Less fees.