Rod, at 11:35 on Apr 28 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

RS> There aint on mine. Completely free, not even any FID or BAD.

BG> Well whoopy-fucking-do, there's no BAD or FID on mine either (Suncorp),
BG> but our cards are now the relatively rare exception, rather than the rule.

RS> Aint that rare to not charge $1 per EFTPOS tho.

Some are still free, but most now incur charges of between 60c and $1 per
transaction, depending upon whose terminal you use at the time.  Not a bad
trick at all, the cardholder pays up to $1, while the terminal lessee pays
around 30c per transaction.  Just like stockbrokers, they can't lose.

BG> In fact, Westpac is probably one of the worst FIs when it comes to fees
BG> and charges, which amuses me no end, as my completely-free Suncorp cheque
BG> account just happens to use cheques issued by Westpac. :)

RS> Yeah, bet that burns the Westpacers |-)

I don't doubt that in the least.  Until about 5 months ago, Suncorp's
cheque accounts were supplied and maintained by the NAB, and when they
changed over to Westpac, I thought at the time that perhaps Suncorp could
no longer absorb the fees being levied by the NAB.  Ditto the BAD and FID,
which still have to be paid by somebody, as they sure aren't waived. 
Either way, I doubt it will be too long before Suncorp start charging fees
(but I hope I'm wrong here).

RS> Westpac ended up in some extremely deep financial shit indeed thru the 
RS> bust.

True.  My BIL is Westpac's Chief Accountant for this region, and even he
came within cooee of becoming redundant at the time.  Couldn't happen to a
nicer fellow either.  :)

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20