ING drops overseas ATM fees, international fees

ING Australia has put an end to ATM fees globally and dropped its fees for international transactions made overseas or online.

The changes apply to both ING's Orange Everyday transaction account and Orange One credit card.

It's a huge win for customers and one that Money will follow closely to see what other banks do.

To be eligible for these fee-free international transactions, Orange Everyday account holders must deposit at least $1000 a month from an external source and from March 1, 2018 also make five or more card purchases a month.

The Orange One credit card is available only to existing ING customers but the bank plans to open it to all consumers in early 2018.

ING was first to abolish ATM fees in Australia for its customers back in 2009. The big four banks have only just abolished ATM fees here. While the banks maintained the decision to cut these fees came down to "listening to what customers want", cynics argue it had to do more with the fact that consumers are withdrawing less cash from ATMs anyway.

But it's a very different story when it comes to overseas ATMs and international purchases.

According to ING, over the past year 10% of all online purchases by its customers were made on international websites. Nationwide 37% of Aussies shopped from a global site.

Use a credit card overseas or on an international website and you can be hit with an international transaction fee (2%-3% of the purchase price). If there is no international transaction fee then check what exchange rate you getting, because often the banks can put a margin on the wholesale rate.

ING will work off the Visa wholesale exchange rate only. It has stated that no other fees on top of this will apply.

Get a cash advance on your credit card and you can be hit with an ATM fee plus a cash advance fee. Not to mention you lose any interest-free period attached to your card.

Use your debit card overseas and you could be charged a local ATM fee, an international ATM fee and an international purchase fee. The same problem with exchange rates can also apply on your debit card. For more details on who's charging what see our comparison table.

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