Preventing your account from overdrawing
To help avoid them, it’s good to:
- check your account frequently to make sure it has enough funds to cover your transactions.
- allow enough time for deposits to be processed before you draw on the funds (some can take up to 5 business days).
- keep track of your periodic payments (including direct debits and recurring payments) and reschedule them if you need to.
- discover our range of tools and services available to help you budget and manage your cashflow effectively below.
What are Overdrawn Fees?
| Fee type | How it is charged | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Overdrawn Fee | You may be charged $15 if we honour a transaction that overdraws your account. - The fee is charged once daily, even if you make multiple transactions that overdraw your account on the same day. - If you overdraw your account further on another day, you’ll be charged again. - You’ll also be charged debit interest for as long as your balance remains negative. |
$15 (max. per day) + interest accrued on negative balance1 |
Some example scenarios:
Mark pays his $50 phone bill by direct debit.
Jose pays an unexpected bill to fix his car after it breaks down.
Sandra's monthly health insurance fee is dishonoured.
She has changed her account Overdraw Preference to ‘disable’, to prevent her account from overdrawing when it has insufficient funds. One day, the $120 direct debit is processed when she only has $60 in her account, so the transaction is dishonoured.
Overdraw Preference Feature
The Overdraw Preference feature is available on eligible personal accounts other than accounts held by persons under 18 years of age and the Concession Account. The feature is by default enabled on eligible accounts unless it has been disabled at your request or at our discretion.
What this means for you
When the Overdraw Preference is enabled, we may allow direct debits, periodical payments, and cheque withdrawals to overdraw your account, or increase the amount already overdrawn at the time of the transaction.
If you request for the Overdraw Preference feature to be disabled, we will decline any direct debits, periodical payments and cheque withdrawals that would cause your account to become overdrawn, or further overdrawn.
Situations where your account may still be overdrawn
If your Overdraw Preference is disabled, some transactions may still cause the account to become overdrawn:
- where (at the relevant time) any of our relevant systems is offline or otherwise impaired or interrupted;
- where the authorisation request is not sent to us, or received by us, for our review and for processing by our system (which may occur, for example, where the transaction is made using a cheque or a card linked to your account); or
- where it is impossible or reasonably impractical for us to prevent your account from being overdrawn.
Where you can update your account Overdraw Preference
You can update your Overdraw Preference in Internet Banking by calling us or visiting your nearest branch.
For further information and applicable fees and charges please review the relevant Terms and Conditions applicable to your account.
Tools to help you manage your spend
Notifications and alerts
Pre-set an account limit and we’ll send a pop up alert straight to your phone if your balance falls below it. You can opt in to this free service via the Mobile Banking app so you don’t find yourself caught short of funds.
Quick Balance
Keep on top of your most recent card activity by setting up Quick Balance. No need to sign in to Mobile Banking; in a flash, you can see your account balance and also your 10 most recent transactions from the past 14 days.
Budget planner
This calculator lets you figure out the ins and outs of your account without having to do the maths. Compare earnings versus daily expenses and splash outs to see where you have room to grow and what needs a little trimming.
Spend tracker
Sort your spending patterns into categories via Internet or Mobile Banking. You’re sure to pick up on some handy insights with automatic monthly breakdowns, and you can even drill down further with sub-categories and stats.
Regular payments list
Review your periodical payments easily by asking us for a list of the regular payments and transactions on your account. You can request for a regular payments list in branch, with Internet or Mobile Banking, or by giving us call.
Did you know?
If you receive a protected payment such as income support or pension while your account is overdrawn, you may still be able to withdraw up to 90% of your fortnightly payment. See FAQs for more information
Are you eligible for a Concession account?
If you hold a Concession or Health Care card, or if you receive an eligible Australian Government benefit payment, you may be eligible for a Concession account which may only be overdrawn where it is impossible or impractical to prevent it2.
Experiencing financial hardship?
In these uncertain times, we want to make sure all our customers are getting the support they need. If your circumstances have recently changed and you’re having difficulty managing your finances, we can help.
We've put together some tips and resources to help you stay on track. For further support, please call our Customer Assist Team on 1300 630 266 or visit us in-branch.
The Detail
1. If your account becomes overdrawn and there is no overdraft arrangement in place (or any overdraft arrangement is insufficient to cover the overdrawn amount), debit interest will be charged to your account at the Unarranged Lending Rate. See the Transaction Savings and Investment Accounts Terms and Conditions for more information.
2. See the Transaction Savings and Investment Accounts Terms and Conditions for more information.