Net Bank offer
 

Just got an emial from MR offering the following: http://www.netbank.com/pro373.htm

Looks good at first glance as the minimum deposits are so low. Now I just have to read all the fine print and see if any fees are involved.

FYI if you do it just do it for miles. NetBank is a horrible bank and I have used them for about four years.

The only reason why I keep the account open is that they don't charge any fees for foreign ATM transactions and thus only use the account to withdraw money when abroad.

holtju2,please expound on this-or if you have posted elsewhere let me know-thanks

Looks like an easy 19,000 points.

My payroll dept wont be crazy about sending a few payments and then going back to my regular bank.
or I can take 17,000 points without any direct deposit.

Was this targeted?

MR vs PC points
 

Well I got the same email today and the first question that came to my mind was:

"Is the Marriott offer better or the Pririority Club offer of points?"

They have the PC points offer for a long time, and I guess the answer would depend on how valuable people consider the MR points vs. the PC points. I have little redemption experience with MR and none with PC so I am unable to decide....

[QUOTE=rebadc]Looks like an easy 19,000 points.

My payroll dept wont be crazy about sending a few payments and then going back to my regular bank.
or I can take 17,000 points without any direct deposit.

I will probably skip the direct deposit, too much work, and the bill pay, which is only free for "active users" according to the netbank website. That will leave me and my wife with 16,000 points each.

IMHO Marriott points are far move valuable than PC ones. At Marriott travel packages each MR point translates to one FF mile on various FF programs.

You can have a "direct deposit" from your PayPal account i.e. transfer money from your PayPal account in to your NetBank account.

You can have the Billpay to pay $1 to you three times in a month to qualify.

Not much work IMHO to get some extra points.

NEGATIVE

When I originally opened the account 2001 or 2002 I had to mail in notarized documents to prove who I was in order to open the account. It is a lot easier to open an account with a brick and mortar bank.

The deposit options to deposit checks are really bad. I once had a deposit to take more than 10 days to get to NetBank. I though that the checks that I had mailed in had vanished but luckily they got there eventually. Since that incident I have not used the account to deposir checks.

Somebody got access to my NetBank card in Auckland and used it to purchase services from Vodaphone. I informed NetBank about the charges over the phone and they gave me credit but required me to mail in WITHIN 10 DAYS a notarized affidavit to confirm that the charges were fraudulent. I tried to explain to them that I cannot do it in TEN days because I was on a trip and concept of notarizing documents is not a worldwide concept.

When I was back in LA I got my thing notarized and mailed it in with a strongly worded letter. The "investigation" is still pending after two months but for their benefit I was given conditional credit second time too.

You must have account activity to qualify for free checking. I do this by using billpay to schedule a $1 check being sent to my address each month. I don't cash it and it is deposited back to my account after three month.

I have not been too impressive with their telephone service when I have needed to contact them.

POSITIVE

They do not charge anything for their debit card use at the foreign or domestic ATM's.

It seems that they do not tack foreign transactions with FX fees.

When my card got stolen and they managed to get my PIN too NetBank did reverse the ATM withdrawals ($900) after I mailed in a police report.

The Marriott offer seems to be pretty good IMHO.

I have tried it out, see how it goes.

What are the Monthly recurring charges ?, are they waved if you meet minimum balances ?

Thanks in advance

Have you read the terms of the account agreement? They are all laid out there.

Called and found out that...
 

you will have to keep the accounts active for 6 months to avoid a $25 early closing fee. So if you are planning to do this solely for the points and will close the acount eventually, plan on keeping your monies "locked up" for half a year.

There are also ATM charges for non network ATMs. Star is in the network.

I dont think those free foreign withdrawals take place. I also checked there FX service, there is a whopping 10% difference between published rates and their rates.

Thanks OP,

I once had a netbank acct during the dotcom rage as they were giving out a TON of AA miles, closed it up as soon as the min was passed.

For 19,000 MR Pts its Definitely worth opening another up, especially as my bank now charges for ATM withdrawls anywhere that isnt at one of their branches. Ill probably keep the checking acct open, but close up the Dierct deposit and Billing once I get those Pts for having done so.

I signed up and funded my accounts online. There is no reference to the Marriott Rewards bonus online nor in the materials mailed to me. Luckily I printed the screens when I signed up. When I called, they said not to worry. Famous last words! Did anyone get confirmation of the MR bonus?