Minimising Your Account Fees

At Orange Credit Union, you will not be charged monthly account keeping fees on your transaction, savings or loan accounts. That is one of the many benefits to having membership with our credit union.

We do, however, charge exception fees, which in most cases, can be avoided by careful management of your account. Careful management includes checking your transaction account balances before making a purchase; not withdrawing or refinancing funds before their maturity date and many other situations.

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Minimise your account fees

Plan for your purchases by checking your account balances:

Fee-free Rediphone, Internet Banking, Mobile banking or Mobile App will allow you to check your balances even when you are away from our branch
SMS banking or Mobile App can be done at the touch of a button for fast account balance enquiries
Reconcile your account so you don't overdraw your account when you write a cheque or a direct debit is due

Schedule your regular bill-paying activities:

BPAY allows for a direct transfer of funds from your account to the biller's account via Internet banking, App or Rediphone banking or in our branch. You can also set up a schedule for payments on a regular basis, or do them as a one-off. These are free transactions.
Internet banking allows you to set up regular BPAY payments or external transfers from your account. This is a free transaction channel.
Periodical payments can be organised in our branch to pay directly from your account to the billers account on a regular basis.
Direct debit allows for the biller (merchant) to debit your account on a regular basis. You will need to supply the biller with our BSB number (802-129) as well as the account number (or Alternate Reference Number) for the funds transfer. Direct debit is a free transaction facility.
Our Budget Account can help you to allocate all bill paying funds to the one account for easier budgeting management.

Include cash-out in your eftpos transactions:

When you use eftpos, take cash out at the point of sale as well. That way, you'll minimise the number of ATM cash transactions you conduct in a month.

Save on eftpos fees by using a Visa Debit card:

To avoid the possibility of least-cost routing, please make Visa Debit payments via Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay on your smartphone. Alternatively, you can dip your Visa Debit card and press the 'Credit' button on the terminal.

Have your payroll credited to the same account as your direct debits:

Our payroll allocation direct credit service allows you to nominate the accounts that you would like to have your payroll split when we receive your pay. That way, you can budget more accurately, and plan your financial commitments, so that you can match your outgoing funds with your incoming funds.

Minimise your loan fees

Consolidate personal loans:

If you have personal loans across a number of different banks or finance companies, you could possibly save fees by consolidating your loans to an Orange Credit Union personal loan. Our loans do not require a monthly account keeping fee.

Monitor your home loan:

It is important to monitor payments to your home loan to make sure that your payments are being paid at the required amount (or more) and on time. When you have a change in your payroll, or an interest rate increase, you may need to contact us to let us know of any changes to the payment required. You can check your balance and payment history on your loans, by using Internet, phone or SMS banking, checking your member statement or by calling us.

Minimise your credit card fees

Pay your credit card bills on time or before the due date:

If you are a regular credit card user, set up a monthly or weekly repayment to ensure that your card is always paid on time. That way, you will minimise the interest that you pay on your credit card.

Avoid cash advance using your credit card:

A different interest rate may apply on your credit card, when you make a cash advance.

Using your credit card when travelling:

Although credit cards offer a safe, convenient way to make purchases when you are travelling, you should be aware that conversion fees usually apply when overseas. So, not only will you be paying the difference in the conversion rate to Australian dollars, you may also pay a fee for the bank to calculate the conversion payment. Please factor in these costs when planning a budget for a trip overseas.

Minimise interest payments:

Use your credit card responsibly, and never purchase more than you know that you can repay in a reasonable amount of time. If you cannot afford to pay off the balance on your credit card each month, then at least pay more that the required amount. When you plan to pay off multiple credit cards, pay off or down the most amount of money toward the card which holds the highest interest rate.

For more information about spending wisely, minimising fees or to get help in setting up a budget, please contact us during business hours. You may also be interested in the following tips and information:

10 Tips for Managing Debt

Choose the best type of credit to suit your needs
Never treat credit like cash
Shop around—don’t just look at interest rates, consider fees and charges too
Don’t take on more debt than you are comfortable to repay over time
Set a spending limit with your credit or loans
Don’t build up debt now, on the promise of income you expect to earn later
Every dollar you pay in interest is money out of your pocket. Reduce the interest you pay, by repaying more than the minimum required payment
Paying off debt should be a priority. Set up a direct debit that allows for more regular repayments to pay off the debt sooner
Don’t take on a higher credit limit without understanding your ability to repay the higher debt
Pay with cash or Visa Debit card whenever you can—that way you only spend the money that you have saved.

Financial Trouble

Possible warning signs of financial trouble

Regularly spending beyond your budget for the week or month
Living from pay packet to pay packet.
Being unable to meet large one-off expenses like household insurance.
Paying only the minimum repayments on your credit card each month.
Not knowing the amount of your total debt
Being near, or at, your credit card limit – especially if you have more than one card.
Consistently paying bills late.
Hiding your indebtedness from your spouse or partner.

Getting your finances under control is not always easy. And it can take time. Most people get into debt simply because they spend more than they earn. It may be possible to increase your income, but it’s usually easier to cut back your spending.

Ways to cut your expenses

If you do need to use your credit card for large purchases, then do not use it again until you have completely paid off the balance of the card from the previous purchase.
Set up a direct debit to pay down or off the balance on a monthly basis to avoid interest charges
Visit the shops less frequently. The more often we shop, the more we are likely to purchase ‘impulse’ buys.
Aim to pay in cash.
Avoid borrowing from one credit provider to pay another—this can lead to over-indebtedness

Tips to get you back on track with your finances:

Pay more than the minimum

By paying more than the minimum repayments you will lower the principal and thereby reduce the interest charge.

Prioritise your debts

List all your debts, ranking them according to the rate of interest . Concentrate on paying off the higher interest debts first. Once the highest-rate debt is paid off, add the total you were paying on this debt, to the next one on your list.

Talk to your lenders

Some members make the mistake of avoiding making payments all together as they fear contacting us. There is no need to be embarrassed; we are more than willing to try to help in these circumstances.

It is much better that you call before your credit history is affected. In circumstances such as these, we can possibly revise your repayments and/or extend the time you have to pay.

Consolidate your debts

Debt consolidation involves combining all your debts into one loan. This can have many advantages including reducing your minimum monthly repayment; establishing a payment structure that will see the loan paid off in a structured way, setting a fixed monthly payment that helps with budgeting. Note though, that this strategy only works if you change the spending habits that got you into debt in the first place.