| Account | Country | Network | Type | Overseas Foreign ATM fees | International ATM surcharge rebates | Foreign currency transaction fees | annual/ monthly fees | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ING Orange Everyday | Australia | Visa | Debit | 0 | unlimited | 0 | 0 | need to deposit $1000 monthly and make 5 card purchases |
| Citibank Plus Account | Australia | Mastercard | Debit | 0 | none, but surcharge free withdrawals at Citibank ATMs worldwide (21 countries) | 0 | 0 | |
| UBank USaver Ultra Transaction Account | Australia | Visa | Debit | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | |
| RAMS Action Account | Australia | Maestro | Debit | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | no international wire transfers |
| Xinja | Australia | Visa | Debit | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | |
| Maquarie Transaction Account | Australia | Mastercard | Debit | $5 ("we are waiving this fee from 8 December 2017 until further notice") | - | 0 | 0 | |
| HSBC Everyday Global Account | Australia | Visa | Debit | 0 | none, but surcharge free withdrawals at HSBC ATMs worldwide (40 countries) | 0 | 0 | use their own currency conversion rates instead of Visa's |
| Bankwest Zero Platinum | Australia | Mastercard | Credit | 2%, min. $4 + 1.67% interest per month | - | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 Degrees Platinum | Australia | Mastercard | Credit | 3%, min. $4 + 1.67% interest per month | - | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 Eleven Just Go (Heritage Bank) | Australia | Visa | Prepaid | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | no load fee. Own rates for USD, NZD, GBP, EUR. Visa rates for all others. |
| Revolut | Australia | Mastercard | Prepaid | $350 per month free, then 2% | - | $9000 per month free, then 0.5% | 0 | own exchange rates. 0.5% markup on weekends. |
| Transferwise Borderless Account | Australia & New Zealand | Mastercard | Prepaid | 350 AUD/350 NZD per month free, then 2% | - | 0.35%-2.85% depending on currency, less than 1.5% for most. | 0 | |
| Air New Zealand OneSmart | New Zealand | Mastercard | Prepaid | 3 free per month, then $3 | - | 2.5% | $1 monthly | no load fee |
| ICBC Transaction Account | New Zealand | China UnionPay | Debit | $4 | - | 0 | $12 annually for the debit card | |
| Westpac Electronic Account | New Zealand | Mastercard | Debit | 0 for Global ATM Alliance (40+ countries), $3 elsewhere | none, but surcharge free withdrawals at Global ATM Alliance | 2.5% | $10 annually for the debit card | |
| ICBC Dual Currency Credit Card | New Zealand | China UnionPay | Credit | $4 + 1.66% interest per month | - | 0 | $30 annually | only available with an account a ICBC |
| Kiwibank Mastercard Zero | New Zealand | Mastercard | Credit | $6 + 1.74% interest per month | - | 1.85% | 0 |
Recommendations:
For Australians ING offers the best deal because of the surcharge refunds, but only if you can manage to fulfill their conditions. If you can’t or don’t want to Citibank is great as well, with a slight advantage over UBank: guaranteed surcharge free withdrawals in 20 countries. Xinja is new on the scene.
RAMS, Maquarie and HSBC aren’t bad either but each comes with a slight drawback: RAMS is a Maestro card (fine for ATMs, but less acceptance for POS or online), Maquarie makes it sound like it’s a temporary offer and HSBC uses their own currency rates which is usually not a good deal for the customer. Because RAMS belongs to Westpac the card might offer access to the Global ATM Alliance and thus protection from ATM surcharges in some countries, but that is speculation – they certainly don’t advertise it.
If you’re still under 18, go for the Maquarie account which can be opened 14 and over.
The credit cards are nearly identical, either one is good. But, you’re stuck with Mastercard in any case, no good Visa Cards on offer unless you shell out an annual fee.
If you’re from New Zealand, the picture is a bit bleaker. The best deal are the Transferwise card and the ICBC debit card (even if it may not look that way on first glance. No exchange fee easily outweighs the ATM fee if you do the math. And for POS transactions it wins in any case). Because relying on China UnionPay alone is risky (they do have some sort of presence in 170 countries, see here) I’d just get both.