Virgin Saver

Best interest rate – Follow the simple instructions and every month you'll get the highest interest rate

Confusing – I keep missing out on the bonus interest making the account rather useless as there are much higher "base rates" out there. As the other reviewer said I'd agree they have purposely designed the account to be confusing and to skip out on ever paying the bonus interest. I think I've had the account for about 7 months now but only managed to get… Read more

paid the bonus interest 2 or 3 times. It rarely happens. It doesn't matter if I made the deposit to the right account and did the 5 transactions, it appears you need to be doing this for 2 months in a row before they will pay the bonus interest which isn't outlined in their terms and conditions. When querying staff they don't tell you this either. They never apologise or have compassion over their products being confusing.

Beware!!!!!! Do not invest in this Banks Savings account – The Bonus Saver is designed to confuse and trick you out of the bank paying your interest. I accidently paid my qualifying monthly deposit into the bonus saver instead of the linked Go account subsequently I was penalised and did not qualify for interest in that month. A mistake very easily done considering the interest is paid from the Bonus… Read more

Saver and not the linked account. However I accepted the mistake and left savings in the account the following month in which I paid the qualifying monthly deposit in the correct account so as to qualify for the bonus interest. Well Surprise at the end of the month I still did not receive any bonus interest . On contacting the bank I was told that due to the fact that in the previous month I did not qualify for bonus interest I did not qualify in the next month to receive interest even though I fulfilled all the criteria in the month to receive my bonus interest The Bank penalise you two months bonus interest. The biggest scam in Banking as far as I am concerned . Be warned DO NOT USE THIS BANK!!!!!

Terrible Internet Banking App – Wanted to switch my accounts to this bank but it was far too difficult. Issues with the internet banking app and getting it working for both myself and my husband. Will find another bank as it is far too difficult especially as you need their app to do everything.

5 days to transfer my money to a new account – I highly DON'T recommend you use Virgin banking products as their customer service is shocking. I changed my external transfer account for my online savings account and called customer 'service' to change it with them. Long story short, at the end of the second decade of the 21st century I have to wait up to five days to get my money transferred… Read more

to the account I deposit from fortnightly because they need it to be 'verified'. When I asked hard questions, the operator just went silent and I had to keep asking if she was still even there and then she pulled the 'bad line' stunt which was clearly untrue. Added bonus that made no difference to their process, my sister is in emergency TODAY and I can't buy a ticket to go and see her when she needs me most. Thanks for nothing, Virgin. In five days, all of my savings will be leaving your bank and I will be closing the account forever.

Terrible – Nightmare to deal with. Online system is terrible. Took multiple attempts with them to close my account and transfer money. Then they sent a cheque to an incorrect address instead of just putting it into the requested account. Avoid at all costs.

Should have known better – The interest rate was great, so I decided to open an account. What a nightmare. Only two of the three letters I was supposed to receive arrived and even after numerous phone calls to customer service I've never received the third letter. This basically means I am only able to use phone banking with them not Internet banking, however this isn't… Read more

that much of a problem. What is driving me crazy is the fact that when I set up the account I nominated an amount for them to withdraw from my linked account fortnightly. Because of no Internet banking, I can't alter this amount at all. No matter what it just keeps taking it out. And if I don't have the funds in my account for any reason say different pay day because of public holiday or so, it still tries to take it out and then I get charged! And because they never helped me set up Internet banking I can't change this! :-(

Also, the money takes about a week to clear into the virgin account and about the same to clear back into my linked account should I transfer any of it! What a joke!

Anyway, I have decided that in two days time when I have transferred all the money I have in there and it is cleared back into my account I am going to call them and tell them to shut down my account and stick it!!! I can't wait! I'm actually excited about it!

Most stressful account ever created. Interest rates Bad customer service, opening account is a nightmare, slow transfers

Horrible! The absolute polar opposite of what an online account should be – I was lured in by the $50 bonus scheme (set up an automatic transfer of at least $1000 into your Saver account for three consecutive months) and the overwhelming sense that I should be saving my money. I was okay with jumping through the elaborate hoops to set up the account (three different letters mailed to you to verify your address, a… Read more

telephone account to set up online...) because I guess it's better to be vigilant against identity fraud. I could even deal with how badly designed the online interface was, even though that's not a great sign for an online-only financial institution.

I'd set up my automatic transfer when I first signed up online, which didn't go through on the designated date. I had close to two grand sitting in my linked account for a few days when it could have been earning interest, defeating the purpose of opening this account in the first place. I tried to check and alter my transfers but the site kept knocking me back, suggesting that maybe my account hadn't been activated. This definitely wasn't the case as I had money already sitting in my Saver account, transferred from my linked account when I'd signed up (any kind of transfer from your linked account should, hypothetically at least, activate your account). There was actually no reason for me to think my transfer wouldn't go through.

I attempted to use their online form to get in contact with customer service, as written documentation is obviously easier to refer back to later. What's particularly hilarious is the way that you can only use alphanumeric characters in their feedback forms. That means you can't use the dollar symbol ($), which irked me a few times, what with them being an online bank and all that. My complaints couldn't be submitted -- I realise now it's because I like to punctuate my sentences, and commas and full stops are offensive to alphnumeracy -- and I was logged out every time as a security measure. It was a bit of a nuisance having to use their screen keyboard to log in again whenever this happened (especially on a trackpad).

I eventually abandoned any notion of a written complaint.

I called.

I was told my account wasn't activated. I pointed out that the couple of thousand dollars I'd had in there already must mean my account had been activated. There was umm-ing and ahhh-ing. I was put on hold. My details were taken and I was told I'd be contacted later that day when the appropriate manager could work on it. No one rang.

I transferred more money in hopes of activating my account. Nothing changed.

I rang again and explained my situation. I was told my account WAS activated, but I still couldn't set up transfers or move my money back to my linked account. I was told my automatic transfer was set up to BEGIN the next month which is why my transfer had not gone through. I'm almost certain this wasn't true because I had checked the dates several times when I applied, and had a start and end date with different years (I applied in December). As well as that, the last person I had spoken to had confirmed that my transfer had been set up for December. The customer service person took my details and told me she'd ring again within the next few days after moving it up with management. No one rang.

The month ended, I had some interest credited to my account. But I knew I would no longer be eligible for the bonus. I couldn't transfer my money back to my linked account because I still couldn't add or alter transfers. I felt it was pretty futile to call customer service again and from the looks of it the introductory interest rate isn't even guaranteed, it changes in line with the standard variable. The cons had now far outweighed the pros.

The only was I was going to get my money back was to close my account. And I did. It felt liberating in a way that I could never have expected.

I try not to blame customer service; they're defending a truly terrible product and it's tough to be in that firing line. They wouldn't have to work so hard if the product actually worked. In both cases I would only be contacted after management had reviewed my situation, and in both cases management must have been unable to.

However, it is really worrying and stressful to not know how to access the savings which you have just started to build. And it's baffling that a financial organisation won't take your money when you ask it to. Their bonuses are a really enticing idea; but even if I had gotten it, it would not have made up for the time and energy wasted trying to get my transactions in order.

I really, really wanted to like this account and I have NEVER complained about a product before, but the Saver account was so at odds with the easiness and flexibility which other online accounts offer that I'm not sure I could ever reconcile this company with good practice or product. If you happen to have a good experience then you are very lucky, and I'm envious that you've managed to see the good side of what, for me, has been a very inconvenient and frustrating product. I have lost more than I have gained from dealing with Virgin and I really regret that I don't have the means to complain at an official level. Bonuses, high introductory interest rate Difficult website, lack of communication, unreliable, introductory interest rate is not guaranteed, soul-crushing

Can't Be Trusted – I received an email offer to open a Virgin Saver account with competitive interest rate and, this caught my interest, a bonus of $50, if I deposited min $1000 per month for 3 consecutive months before 29 Feb 2012. So I opened the account in Nov 2011; I even went further as to convince my spouse to open one as well. The bonus was promised to be… Read more

credited by end of Mar 2012, but no bonus comes into our accounts until mid Apr.

So I called, and the Customer Service courteously told me that their back office was closed already and she would get them check and credit the bonus within 3-5 working days.

No news and no bonus came, so I called again 10 days later. Their CS said she would ask their team to investigate and I could get the outcome within a week.

Still no body called, so I called again. At first the CS said that the promotion ended on 31 October, but after I mentioned that I had the promotion printout showing that it ended on 30 Nov, she said she would check again. She came back telling me that the result of their "thorough investigation" was that I was not eligible for the bonus. There is no further explanation why, the result was simply "not eligible".

I am disappointed to say the least. Three phone calls, zero call back, zero bonus and zero explanation why. I have followed the requirements for the bonus -- opened the account within the promotion period, and deposited the minimum amount for 3 consecutive months before 29 Feb. So I am eligible for the bonus.

So I decided to close the account, also my spouse's, and will not consider an offer from Virgin anymore. High interest rate Difficult website, unreliable, false bonus offer, never call back

Competitive rates, but very poor service and management – *This opinion is genuine, unbiased and based on real experience I set up an Virgin account last year because I am always on the lookout for the best interest rates to keep my money. Initially, I was quite happy with it, until I realised that: 1) Transferring funds from Virgin to my linked account (Commonwealth bank) can take up to as long… Read more

as one and a half weeks. (Tolerable)

2) Everytime you call them, their call centre is obviously based overseas where the staff gives you textbook answers.(Tolerable)

3) The main thing that made me switch was that Virgin sent me an email (addressed to MY NAME) saying that if I transfer $1000 for 3 consecutive months, I will receive $50 bonus interest at the end of the 3 months. I know this only eligible to certain customers. The email states that I was eligible. So I did what the terms laid out. At the end of the three months, I did not get the $50 interest. I called them and the staff said that it was for NEW customers only. When I stated the email was address specifically to ME, they said it is automatically generated from their Marketing department, and sent to EVERYONE. They can't possible just send it to new customers only because it is more convenient this way to mass-send it. This SHOCKED me. Its misleading and caused me so much inconvenience to transfer $1K every month from my primary linked account just to get this reply. They would not budge or be flexible. They apologise politely, but I think this is unacceptable behaviour from a bank and I can't trust their future offers anymore. So I rather switched high interest accounts, even if the account may offer a slightly lower rate! I am currently using an online bank for Savings that has Australian based call centre, higher interest rate than Virgin and much more reliable and trustworthy! Should have done it sooner.

Vanessa Chong, Perth WA Competitve high interest rate (though currently not the highest) was what first attracted me. Slow transfer to linked accounts,umimpressive service, offers proven to be falsely advertised! I have closed the account!

My worst online banking experience EVER – Set up account online and followed necessary steps to link nominated bank account. This did not happen automatically and took several more attempts to complete. It has now been three-months since I opened the account but I cannot access/transfer my money either via the website or phone banking option. Several online feedback forms and calls to… Read more

Customer Service has not resolved the issue. They have NEVER called back, I have to call them. Apparently the are trying to resolve the issue. Sadly for them I will be closing my account before they get the chance! Good Interest Rate SO much. Activating account was not straight forward. Website is archaic (based on the clunky CitiBank model). Appalling customer service or rather lack of. So untypically Virgin.

Terrible – I think from mine experience- NOT WORTH IT. Stressull experience , plenty of interaction with customer service not having authority and skills to resolve a problem.I deal with several other similar financial institution and this experience had been worst. Good offer not matched with good customer service probably will backfire. Unhappy J Best… Read more

introductory rate on the market for 4 month. Very hard to use. Lost 7 days( interest ) just to get account in place.

Need to wait for all letters to arrive. Called several times - different answers had been received. It is totally unclear what is the best fastest way to open fully operational account. When calling to real help had been received, Worst customer service.

Terrible – The process for getting the online banking set up for the new account was very confusing and difficult. There were a multitude of letters supplied to facilitate the setup of the acocunt, and unnecessary steps were required. The pop up keyboard did not function on our new windows 7 laptop, consequently we could not progress to complete the… Read more

application. The questions and answers supplied in the drop down list to assist in the recognition process were not useful or meaninful.

Overall a very bad experience and time wasting exercise. I would not recommend this product despite the favourable interest rate.

Badly designed website, process for setting up online banking for new bank account is not properly though through

Dont Waste Your Time – Badly designed website, process for setting up online banking for new bank account is not properly thought through Overall: The process is time consuming and difficult after a month I am still waiting for access code and pin. Ring the customer support line,twice told different story's for getting the account operating. We thought we would give… Read more

them another chance after our last experience, due to a good rate, but ended once again a very bad experience and time wasting exercise. I would not recommend this product / mob it's not worth it.

Very bad organization to deal with, not helpfull