The Commsec debit card is issued by Commsec, or Commonwealth Securities.  It is tied to the Commsec cash account.  The card is well suited to investors.

There are no spending limits on the Commsec debit card, up to the value of the money that is being held.  There are no fees on the debit card.  This includes annual fees, debit card fees and fees to withdraw from Commonwealth Bank ATMs.  There are fees to withdraw from non-Commonwealth MasterCard ATMs, both in Australia and abroad.

The Commsec cash account is essentially a fee free current account that is linked to the broking operation.  Unlike many other current accounts it does not have some of the advanced features such as a cheque book and it will not pay interest, but it does have a debit card and access to ATMs as well as a fee free function for debit card purchases.  It is possible to pay a salary straight into the account, which means that it can be used as a main account.

Commonwealth Securities is the stock broking arm of the Commonwealth bank, one of the largest banks in Australia.  It is Australia’s largest discount stock broker, and has a strong following among retail investors.  The card is designed to make it easier for investors to use the cash account, and so to have money on hand to invest in the stock market.  Although it is a discount stock broker it offers a large range of investments such as derivatives, contracts for difference, international equities and managed funds.  It also allows for leveraged investing and short investing.

Commonwealth Bank, the parent company is one of the big four Australian banks.  Although Commsec is a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank, the debit card is separate from Commonwealth Bank’s offerings.  However there is a fee free withdrawal service from the reasonably extensive Commonwealth Bank ATM network.  This now includes the BankWest network as well and it claims to be now the largest ATM network in Australia.

The debit card is backed by MasterCard, one of the two largest debit card operators in the world.  As it is backed by MasterCard it is accepted almost anywhere in the world.  MasterCard also has an advanced fraud detection capability as well as a zero liability guarantee should any unauthorised transactions be reported in a timely manner and the card holder did not co-operate in the transaction (for example by giving the card away).  The MasterCard applause programme which allows for priority booking for sports and entertainment events.