Everyday Banking Award Winners in 2019: Which institutions came out on top?

Canstar has revealed the financial institutions that provide the strongest combination of everyday products and services for customers in its 2019 Everyday Banking Award.

Canstar’s researchers assessed and rated 116 transaction accounts and 183 credit cards from 14 banks and 34 customer-owned institutions on the Canstar database, to determine the providers offering a strong combination of competitive transaction accounts and credit cards for customers.

While product excellence was the main focus for Canstar Research in these Award calculations, the team also assessed institutions based on the strength of their online banking platforms and their coverage of ATMs and branches throughout Australia.

To be eligible for Canstar’s Everyday Banking Award, institutions must offer consumers a transaction account and credit card rated in Canstar’s respective Savings and Transaction Account Star Ratings and Credit Card Star Ratings. According to Canstar Research, the Everyday Banking Award winners consistently performed well across all consumer profiles assessed in both ratings.

The recipients of our 2019 Everyday Banking Awards are listed below.

Bank of the Year – Everyday Banking: Bankwest

Canstar Research has named Bankwest the winner of the 2019 Bank of the Year – Everyday Banking Award, noting its strong performance in both transaction accounts and rewards credit cards.

According to the research team, Bankwest made some major improvements to its rewards credit card offerings over the last year, including to its More Platinum Mastercard that now gives customers the opportunity to earn 75,000 bonus rewards points for spending over $48,000 on eligible purchases in a year, at the time of writing.

Bankwest’s More Platinum Mastercard and More World Mastercard were also recognised for providing outstanding value to customers in the most recent Credit Card Star Ratings, with Canstar Research noting both products received a 5-Star Rating across different annual spends within the Rewards and Premium Credit Card profiles.

Canstar Research also highlighted the value of Bankwest’s Hero Transaction Account, which received a 5-Star Rating in both the High Transactor and Low Transactor profiles in the Savings and Transaction Account Star Ratings. The team said at the time of writing, this product offers customers a competitive 1% p.a. variable interest rate on balances up to $5,000. While the account does currently charge a monthly fee of $6, this can be waived for customers who deposit at least $2,000 a month, and there are also no withdrawal or transaction fees on the account for purchases within Australia.

Customer-Owned Institution of the Year – Everyday Banking: Bank Australia

Bank Australia has won the Customer-Owned Institution of the Year – Everyday Banking Award, for the second year running.

Canstar Research found Bank Australia once again excelled in the credit cards arena, leading the customer-owned institution market in overall performance in the Frequent Flyer space.

For customers interested in earning Qantas Frequent Flyer Points, the research team found Bank Australia’s Platinum Rewards Visa credit card was a standout amongst its peers, currently offering a competitive 0.75 Qantas points for every $1 spent and complimentary overseas travel insurance.

According to the research team, this card also offered the highest net reward return out of the customer-owned institutions assessed in the Frequent Flyer profiles at $60,000 annual spend and the second-highest return in the $24,000 annual spend profile. The net reward return is calculated based on the dollar value of the credit card reward point earned each year, minus the cost of the card and reward program each year.

While the Platinum Rewards Visa card does come with an annual fee of $189 at the time of writing, Canstar Research said people who spend more and pay off their balance in full each month could be well-placed to take advantage of these benefits and may recoup their fees with flights and other Qantas benefits.

Outside of Frequent Flyer cards, Canstar Research also highlighted the performance of Bank Australia’s Low Rate Visa credit card, which received a 5-Star Rating in the Low Rate profile of the most recent Credit Card Star Ratings. The team said this card, at the time of writing, provided an interest rate of 9.39% for purchases, which is lower than any card offered by the major banks.

Also noted for its performance was Bank Australia’s Visa Credit Card, which received a 5-Star Rating in the Low Fee profile of the Credit Card Star Ratings. Canstar Research said currently this card has no annual fee, an interest-free repayment period of up to 55 days, and a competitive interest rate of 12.39% on purchases.

For more information about the 2019 Everyday Banking Awards and how they were calculated, please view the methodology.

View Methodology

Cover image source: antoniodiaz (Shutterstock)