UBank (page 2 of 3)

After having a nightmarish experience with ME bank I thought I'd give UBank a try before I give up and stay with my primary Big 4 bank.

Opening an account was a pain and it took to long, just over a week. I also spent about half an hour at the Post Office whilst the guy had to go through the whole process for verification. I almost gave up at this stage. Now Even though you can open the USaver which initiates the whole process you can't open the Ultra until you have been verified and have a dollar in there which also takes a long time to show as available. It Takes to long.

Note: I do not use and I am anti paywave/pass whatever, especially if it's forced on you automatically. Tap to pay, great! everything else about it is negative.

1- Paywave, It is not automatically activated nor do you have to activate it to use the Debit card. Excellent
2- I prefer swiping the card then pin, As to the now: insert, wait, pin, remove. I'll get used to it.
3- Transactions show up on the account pretty quick. Excellent, I would say this happens on selecting '2' (Savings) and not going through the Paywave/pass credit system, even though it's still your savings.
4- Auto sweep function seems excellent. No need to keep any money in the Ultra account. Money is automatically moved from the USaver account to cover the transactions. To ensure this I bumped up the midnight sweep to 500001 and 500000 so I can keep the Ultra account at $0.00 for auto sweep. Why? why use the midnight top up when auto sweep covers you anyway and you keep every cent where it earns interest. Though there is a catch with Direct Debits from the Ultra, but I don't use DD anyway.
5- It is much easier to earn the bonus interest than ME's version of earning it.
6- Deposits show up reasonably quick but this 'Available' thing is annoying. I'll get used to especially since I know the money is there anyway.

Privacy concern of which I have actually sent an email about. They email you for credit/debits automatically for over 2K. Debit fine, safety, but not credits. Email is not secure and is read by most servers for information Yahoo, Gmail, and others. It cannot yet be disabled even though the email says you can.

This also applies to a setting for a user specified notification limits. Again credits and debits but you can avoid email notices.

Major draw back, you can't have multiple Usaver accounts with the high interest for bills sorting or transfer directly into them if you created such a system, you have to go through Ultra I think... Maybe one day they will come to the party and do it.

It is very basic banking especially if I compare it to say the ANZ, but they do have what seem to be nice money management tools. In all we're in it for the interest with quick access so we have to sacrifice some functionality, even real world functionality such as finding an NAB bank to change the pin is a pain.

You never know how good a service is until you have problems, Time will tell. In the meantime in comparison to ME bank it deserves 5 stars.

We got our home loan through Ubank last year. The application process took a very long time and it was very difficult to get information from Ubank with hold times being excessive each time we called. Finally it went through. We enquired about extending our loan for renovations. We were told we had to wait 6 months before we could do this. Now we have just waited 6 months Ubank tell us that actually they won't allow us to extend our home loan for any structural renovations. Also, they refuse to value our house because they did a 'desktop valuation' last year. Therefore, we can not even do cosmetic improvements. Very unhappy with their service and support.

The verification process was clunky and took a long time. The accounts are confusing. It took ages to figure out how to set up a transaction account. The sweep function makes my transaction history confusing. Money seems to take ages to process in from other accounts. Interest rate is good.

I've had multiple terrible experiences with uBank. First time, I was overseas at the airport and needed some cash asap. It was all in my uSaver and I needed to move it into my transaction account. I jumped online and their app was down, I called in and they said there was no possible way to transfer that money over. leaving me stranded in Delhi without any funds.
Next, I made a purchase on a house and when I spoke to uBank they advised that they don't have cheque's and that the real estate contract will potentially offer me to do a bank transfer. They were right, the real estate agent told me a bank transfer won't be a problem to pay the deposit. I went to make the deposit and found out that my account had a transaction limit. I called in to query and ask if it could be increased and was advised that an increase is possible but it takes 7 days to process. Whereas, I can just make deposits over 3-4 days to cover the deposit anyway. I wish they had told me before I bought the property. I almost lost the property and part of my deposit due to not having the whole deposit paid within 1 business day.
I've since stopped using my uBank account and after not using my account for over a year, I've seen an unauthorised transaction on my card. I sent a query to uBank months ago and never heard back, I sat on hold for a long time to get in touch with no luck, now they're messaging me about my overdrawn account.
I feel like I've done nothing wrong, but they have just made it so difficult to do anything. Terrible bank

I had been with UBank for over a year when I inadvertently mistyped my password a couple of times when logging in. My account was then blocked. I rang to get it unblocked and was told I have to go to Australia Post to fill in forms and complete identity checks. They refused to further verify my identity on the phone, blocking access to my funds. They promised a call back by the end of the day which never came. Ironically I was still able to login via my mobile app and transfer all remaining funds to another bank! So much for their customer service and their security!

I set up my account and was quite happy depositing money over the years. Now I come to withdraw they blocked the account and have asked for Stat Declarations and numerous forms of proof. I has taken almost 2 years to get them to release it. At 1% interest it is tantamount to theft. I will never use another bank where I cannot physically see and talk to a bank manager.

I've had savings accounts with Ubank for several years and have been very happy with them. The interest rates they give on savings (including the bonus rate) is always among the top compared to their other competitors with easy requirements to get the bonus rate.

Well Done U bank, with you online Home Loan customer service.
Just spoke to Jasmin re: refinancing our investment loan, and have to say, the service and knowledge supplied was outstanding.
Compared to my current "big bank" , who were rude and unhelpful and wouldnt tell me anything, even with ALL my accounts and passwords available, and two previous loans over 7 years of being a loyal customer!
Jasmin gave us every reason to change our loan to U Bank.

Thank you

UBank is part of National Australia Bank (NAB) and have a high interest online bank only account (USaver) so I felt I could trust it. I've been with them (UBank) for a couple of years now and earn a good competitive bonus interest rate in the USaver account and can have up to $200,000 in the account and keep the bonus rate, many others only allow $100,000 maximum.

Currently you need to deposit at least $200 per month to keep the Bonus interest rate and can make withdrawals by transferring to the linked Ultra account. You can have a Visa debit card too. Their mobile Android App works well and is easy to use.

Whatever online bank you choose you need to do your home work first (I use Canstar to compare) and don't make assumptions and keep an eye on them to see if they change their rules to qualify for the high interest rate. So far no nasty surprises.

In filling out online application for ubank saving account, they say submitting your drivers license will verify your identity, This is false, only if you are already a customer with them maybe your identity is verified. what i found out is they contact Veda credit checking service in regards to identity. But what does Veda data have to do with my identity. Also i think that government requires 100 points of identity proof, where a drivers license is only valid for 70 points. Totally frustrating and time consuming dealing with their customer service. Further there website is unstable. Bottom line why would i trust large sums of money with such non transparent application process, lousy customer service and time consuming frustration. The problem in a Nut shell is that no matter how much business talks about customer service and satisfaction, they only really want your money and there PR departments keep spinning brain washing propaganda to condition the publics mind.....how wonderful there product is!!

Avoid NAB and Ubank. I've requested early redemption of a term deposit to pay the deposit on a house purchase. I realise there would be a penalty but that was acceptable. Ubank refuses redemption, citing international banking regulations. When I pointed why some banks have downloadable forms for early redemption UBank changed its stance and said it's an internal bank policy. UBank has not only refused to say why it won't allow early redemption but won't also say what its criteria are. For a bank that is supposed to be customer-focused instead it is anti-customer. Unhelpful and deliberately obstructive are polite descriptors. I've been with U Bank for a number of years but no longer. My recommendation is to avoid at all costs.

My home loan and personal banking with them and they have been awesome.

Also did a home loan refinance and it was so easy.

Friendly and helpful staff, awsome!!!

Ubank interest rate is good but take too long to settle the simple refinance loan. Be very careful about your privacy. Their solicitor send documents to my investment property that now my tenant has my information. Ubank solicitor has been very rude to me after I wrote her an email to follow up my settlement. I am still waiting for them to settle my refinance loan after more than 2 months and still waiting....

It was very hard to get loan approved since they needed lots of documentations. But since then its been two and half years, I have no problem with the bank.
Its a shame they didn't pass on the last RBA approved interest rates cuts but so as the other banks. Lets agree all bank are thieves, this one is a little civilized thief ;)

Ubank have a secret policy that they don't offer loans to any self employed person. This seems like a bit of an unfair policy given a good portion of employees are employed the self employed.

UBank is great, the interest rates are better than the other big banks. They use to have a decent rates, but now it's lower, it's still better than nothing.

I am surprised to see so many negative reviews. I've been banking with uBank for many years and have had no problems. Their staff is always courteous, friendly and helpful. I've never had any problems with their online system when I needed to access my money. If anyone is after an online savings account with high interest rate, then I'd recommend to look no further.

Earlier today, I was considering moving my savings to ME Bank after learning they have the highest interest rate but seeing their higher negative ratings here have turned me off completely. The many problems customers reported having with ME bank, I've not experienced these with uBank.

Well what can I say. This was the fastest turn around time I think I have ever heard of. 4 weeks from go to whoa. The staff kept me up to date the whole way in addition to the loan tracker. And for an amazingly low investment loan rate of 3.89%. Account is set up and easy and simple to use. No complaints and thanks U Bank.... I'm thrilled with my new home and thanks for making it so easy.

They are the best I am with them for 5 years and always my first choice of refinance if I can have the criteria that they want. If you can get the loan with them you will be happy!!! Issue is you need very good credit history and 20% to avoid LMI.

This "bank" is a joke. Their online system is unreliable and goes down. If it smells cheap, looks cheap, it probably is cheap and you know what - AFTER WAITING 15 minutes I was about to say on the phone to the operator that asks - how do i close my account (that wasnt the purpose of my call) only to be disconnected.

I cannot believe the website says I HAVE NO BALANCE - unbelievable, or 404 page errors or another page pops up that I have to log in ...again and again or other errors etc. Its a real joke. NO WAY would I recommend UBANK to anyone.