Macquarie enters the full-service retail banking market
Macquarie Bank has started rolling out its long awaited full-service retail bank offering. Since October the bank has been contacting customers with offers of a transaction account, savings account and a new credit card.The transaction account comes in two versions: platinum and standard. The standard account comes with a MasterCard debit card, free access to the rediATM network and has no monthly fees.Customers who deposit a minimum of A$4000 a month qualify for a platinum account, which gives access to a concierge service and theft and damage protection on their purchases.Macquarie has taken the bold step of withdrawing its cheque account facility. From February it will not honour customer cheques.It is also withdrawing its Australia Post deposit service.The savings account is currently offering an introductory rate of 3.15 per cent for four months on the first $250,000 deposited and a base rate of two per cent. The savings account and the transaction account can be linked.The new credit card, the Black Card, offers a zero rate on balance transfers for 14 months, a $99 first year annual fee and a bonus 60,000 reward points or 40,000 Qantas points for consumers who spend $3000 within 60 days of approval.Macquarie said customers would be able to integrate their online bank account with investment and business accounts.The new accounts flow from Macquarie's $250 million investment in an SAP core banking system. The project is in year three of an expected five-year development.The transaction and savings accounts feature real-time processing.Macquarie's group head of banking and financial services, Greg Ward, first disclosed the project at an investor briefing in February. "We don't have a branch network, so growing customer engagement through digital channels is a big opportunity for us," Ward said.