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Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Old Jan 4th 2007, 10:15 pm
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Question Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Hi Guys,

Just been looking at setting up an account in Australia.

When reading through the sites for Westpac,ANZ and the Commonwealth.

I can't make head nor tail of who provides the best services and charges the least amount of fees.

Please Guys and Gals help me with my dilemma.

We want to open an account from the UK in order to transfer Our money asap.

Any recommendations or warnings LOL will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance to all who reply!!
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Old Jan 4th 2007, 10:44 pm
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by utopia
Hi Guys,

Just been looking at setting up an account in Australia.

When reading through the sites for Westpac,ANZ and the Commonwealth.

I can't make head nor tail of who provides the best services and charges the least amount of fees.

Please Guys and Gals help me with my dilemma.

We want to open an account from the UK in order to transfer Our money asap.

Any recommendations or warnings LOL will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance to all who reply!!
hi have heard ok things about ANZ. Cant comment on opening from abroad tho.

Commonwealth are widely regarded as rude and bad to deal with.

I am with westpac and so far they are brilliant.
I have heard that you can open an account fromthe uk and you may be only able to pay in funds and not withdraw til you get to oz.

Have had a few dealings with them from the uk and they are brilliant. They even gave me a REVERSE charge number to contact them, with them picking up the bill for me to swap accounts!!!

They have al3ways been pro and i would recommend them highly. We went with them as when we was doing a validation visit they seemed to be oin every village and town from byron to noosa for ease of a branch if you needed it.

We have spoke to them twice as well and the staff are chirpy and very pro.

Initially i opened a current account with a maxi direct saver attached, and with only £10,000 in it i got and interest rate of 5.35%(i think).

Most banks charge you for using their accounts but i picked the classic account as itr had no charges if you have Au$2000 in. (about 800 quid).

You dont have to pay any set amount in per month and never had a prob.I can access online and i get all documents sent to the uk
no probs

I then noticed online that they were doing another account called the westpac one. its the same except you pay $5-7 dollars a month on the regular account and the savings account you get a whopping 6.3% as long as you dont withdraw that month(as you lose for that months interest. Its mnot tied in either and no waiting periods.

Im just going to pay in my excess wages once a month through www. tranzfers.com. They are a sister partner of ozforex designed for smaller amounts and it only costs seven quid a transaction to do and i make more in interst a month thab=n that so is well worth doing, and in the 12 months ive been doing it ive never had any bother. Initially it takes a few emails and a phone call and you have to scan a few identity papers and upload them to their secure server(5 mins)(or got the old fashioned rouute of photocopies and post them( a few weeks)

All ok if you arent in any rush.

Hope this helps.

Quite few people only get a few cashpoint transactions thrown in to the accounts "fee free" but aussies get round this with just getting cash back in shops as most eftpos(thats what the cashback till in shop are called or at lease the transaction is therfore cutting out cashpoint usage.

If you are on an account that charges fees for eveything(there are alot of accounts out there that dont charge you if you have $2000 in it or more) but say you do then most people pay for efverything on their credit card all month and get cash back etc etc and then they only have one transaction a month out to clrear the credit card. You do pick up handy tipos on this website!!

Goodluck and westpac are the way forward in my eyes. How many banks will pickup an overseas call on their bill! My missus was in banking for years and is more than happy with them
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Old Jan 4th 2007, 10:54 pm
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by alkristensen
hi have heard ok things about ANZ. Cant comment on opening from abroad tho.

Commonwealth are widely regarded as rude and bad to deal with.

I am with westpac and so far they are brilliant.
I have heard that you can open an account fromthe uk and you may be only able to pay in funds and not withdraw til you get to oz.

Have had a few dealings with them from the uk and they are brilliant. They even gave me a REVERSE charge number to contact them, with them picking up the bill for me to swap accounts!!!

They have al3ways been pro and i would recommend them highly. We went with them as when we was doing a validation visit they seemed to be oin every village and town from byron to noosa for ease of a branch if you needed it.

We have spoke to them twice as well and the staff are chirpy and very pro.

Initially i opened a current account with a maxi direct saver attached, and with only £10,000 in it i got and interest rate of 5.35%(i think).

Most banks charge you for using their accounts but i picked the classic account as itr had no charges if you have Au$2000 in. (about 800 quid).

You dont have to pay any set amount in per month and never had a prob.I can access online and i get all documents sent to the uk
no probs

I then noticed online that they were doing another account called the westpac one. its the same except you pay $5-7 dollars a month on the regular account and the savings account you get a whopping 6.3% as long as you dont withdraw that month(as you lose for that months interest. Its mnot tied in either and no waiting periods.

Im just going to pay in my excess wages once a month through www. tranzfers.com. They are a sister partner of ozforex designed for smaller amounts and it only costs seven quid a transaction to do and i make more in interst a month thab=n that so is well worth doing, and in the 12 months ive been doing it ive never had any bother. Initially it takes a few emails and a phone call and you have to scan a few identity papers and upload them to their secure server(5 mins)(or got the old fashioned rouute of photocopies and post them( a few weeks)

All ok if you arent in any rush.

Hope this helps.

Quite few people only get a few cashpoint transactions thrown in to the accounts "fee free" but aussies get round this with just getting cash back in shops as most eftpos(thats what the cashback till in shop are called or at lease the transaction is therfore cutting out cashpoint usage.

If you are on an account that charges fees for eveything(there are alot of accounts out there that dont charge you if you have $2000 in it or more) but say you do then most people pay for efverything on their credit card all month and get cash back etc etc and then they only have one transaction a month out to clrear the credit card. You do pick up handy tipos on this website!!

Goodluck and westpac are the way forward in my eyes. How many banks will pickup an overseas call on their bill! My missus was in banking for years and is more than happy with them

Thanks so much for replying and for the cheeky tips...LOL

I did a search on BE and so far the commonwealth seem to have the worst comments westpac and anz seem to be on a par.

Still trying to figure out who to go with. But you have been a real gem for replying!!Thank you
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Old Jan 4th 2007, 11:03 pm
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by utopia
Thanks so much for replying and for the cheeky tips...LOL

I did a search on BE and so far the commonwealth seem to have the worst comments westpac and anz seem to be on a par.

Still trying to figure out who to go with. But you have been a real gem for replying!!Thank you
ive never heard a bad word said about westpac. Depends how much money youve got to invewst and what your status is for needing it

banwest.com.au are like an ing account(online only) and otherr have said no prbs with them but you still need an ozzie account to ranfer money into/from . They are giving a rate of 12months at 6.80% and then it goes down to 6.2% i thinkso if you arent going for a while or need the money as soon as you geet there (we will put our house money in there for a yrear and live off the interst which will be about a thousand pounds a month or 2,500 Au$ which is enough to basicall live on while we have fun before settling)!!!

Then when we come to buy a house we will havce lived rent free for a year and still have had a money for a few beers, this means we only have to get part time jobs (if we want as im gonna hold back £7k to have fun with as the rent ll be paid!) as all rentals have to included council tax and water rates by law cutting about £120 a months of our budget (quite a few beers for that!)

good luck

So based on what youve said, id open current account with westpac leave in the $2000 to make it fee free until you get there and shop around(you get a cashcard and cheque book sent to you and all accessed from online(you even get to choose paper or none paper statements)and then open a bankwest account tranfer money across for highest rate of interest.

al.x

Last edited by alkristensen; Jan 4th 2007 at 11:07 pm.
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Old Jan 4th 2007, 11:24 pm
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

We bank with Commonwealth and it has been a fantastic service.
No problems with transfering funds, accessing accounts, service at the branch, getting a mortgage etc.

I don't know if we've been lucky but I can't fault them.

Gillian
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Old Jan 4th 2007, 11:59 pm
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

There is no escaping bank charges on current accounts in Aus, there seems to be a cartel type arrangement made between the major banks.
Bank recommendations on this forum are bound to be subjective and not general as they are only the experiences of the poster and not many people are going to say 'don't go with my bank I get poor service'
My own experience has been opening an account with Commonwealth Bank in London before our move (Tel 020 7710 3999) to put all UK funds in, once in Aus we continued with Commonwealth as transferring funds was easy.
We chose ANZ for our business banking mainly because they offered the best loan arrangements. Day to day service in branches is patchy depending on how long the queue is!!
The comment made by a previous poster about cashback at EFTPOS is correct as we have EFTPOS in our shop and over 50% of customers using their bankcards ask for cashout.
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 12:48 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by Carbery
There is no escaping bank charges on current accounts in Aus, there seems to be a cartel type arrangement made between the major banks.
Bank recommendations on this forum are bound to be subjective and not general as they are only the experiences of the poster and not many people are going to say 'don't go with my bank I get poor service'
My own experience has been opening an account with Commonwealth Bank in London before our move (Tel 020 7710 3999) to put all UK funds in, once in Aus we continued with Commonwealth as transferring funds was easy.
We chose ANZ for our business banking mainly because they offered the best loan arrangements. Day to day service in branches is patchy depending on how long the queue is!!
The comment made by a previous poster about cashback at EFTPOS is correct as we have EFTPOS in our shop and over 50% of customers using their bankcards ask for cashout.
I opened a migrant account with Westpac online before we arrived. I transferred the minimum into the normal account (must admit I thought it was $2500 to be fee free) and then the rest into a maxi account. You can transfer money in but can't switch money between accounts or transfer out until you have activated your account which you need to do in person once you've validated your visa.

Since then I do all my transactions online although hubby uses the branch as he is old fashioned and we have never had any problems.
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 12:50 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by Carbery
There is no escaping bank charges on current accounts in Aus, there seems to be a cartel type arrangement made between the major banks.
That's bunkum. There are fee free accounts here. The HSBC Online Savings account (current account to you and I) charges no fees for upkeep of the account.

You have unlimited free withdrawals from HSBC ATMs and at the post office. EFTPOS transactions are also fee free. You may have 5 free withdrawals from competitors ATMs per month, after they are used, then there is a $2 per transaction charge.

If people don't vote with their feet and move away from the fee charging banks, then they will simply just continue charging away. when it becomes clear that the customers don't want to pay $5 a month just for the priviledge of having an account with them, then they may do something about it. The same with Credit cards.

It make me laugh at how many people come on here piping off about how they don't want to pay bank charges, then turn round twice and they've gone and opened an account with the criminwealth.

S
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 1:36 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by Swerv-o
That's bunkum. There are fee free accounts here. The HSBC Online Savings account (current account to you and I) charges no fees for upkeep of the account.

You have unlimited free withdrawals from HSBC ATMs and at the post office. EFTPOS transactions are also fee free. You may have 5 free withdrawals from competitors ATMs per month, after they are used, then there is a $2 per transaction charge.

If people don't vote with their feet and move away from the fee charging banks, then they will simply just continue charging away. when it becomes clear that the customers don't want to pay $5 a month just for the priviledge of having an account with them, then they may do something about it. The same with Credit cards.

It make me laugh at how many people come on here piping off about how they don't want to pay bank charges, then turn round twice and they've gone and opened an account with the criminwealth.

S
There is no comparison between an internet account with a bank which only has 4 ATM's in Queensland and a current account with one of the major banks as I quoted.
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 3:08 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by Carbery
There is no comparison between an internet account with a bank which only has 4 ATM's in Queensland and a current account with one of the major banks as I quoted.
Your situation is your situation, and if you're happy to waste your own money then that's fine. I'm glad it's yours and not mine.

However, I don't think it's fair to tell somebody who has posted asking for advice, that they will not be able to find a fee free account in Australia, when that plainly isn't true.

The OP hasn't given any information about where they intend to settle, so they should be equipped with all the facts to inform their decision, not a load of half truths.

S
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 3:35 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

I work for National Australia Bank (NAB). Honestly can't say if we are any better or any worse, frankly a bank is a bank and there is very little to choose between them. We have plenty of branches and ATMs - as do the others. Feel free to drop me a PM though and I'll get one of our Branch Managers to see if she can help you - she's excellent.


Originally Posted by utopia
Hi Guys,

Just been looking at setting up an account in Australia.

When reading through the sites for Westpac,ANZ and the Commonwealth.

I can't make head nor tail of who provides the best services and charges the least amount of fees.

Please Guys and Gals help me with my dilemma.

We want to open an account from the UK in order to transfer Our money asap.

Any recommendations or warnings LOL will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance to all who reply!!
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 5:00 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by sme
We bank with Commonwealth and it has been a fantastic service.
No problems with transfering funds, accessing accounts, service at the branch, getting a mortgage etc.

I don't know if we've been lucky but I can't fault them.

Gillian
Same here. We've not encountered any problems with them. The only niggle I have is them giving my husband a mortgage before I even got out here to join him and off he went and spent it on a house I hadn't even seen:scared: But eh oh, he'd have done that regardless of whoever gave him a mortgage

As I said though, they have been extremely helpful and were great when it came to my son opening up his youth savers account. I suppose it's all swings and roundabouts. Need to assess good points vs bad points.

Mx
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Old Jan 5th 2007, 5:39 am
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Default Re: Anz-westpac Or Commonwealth Account??????

Originally Posted by alkristensen
hi have heard ok things about ANZ. Cant comment on opening from abroad tho.

Commonwealth are widely regarded as rude and bad to deal with.
We are with Commonwealth Bank and have nothing but praise for them, as they have been really helpful. I suppose some people have bad experiences like you get everywhere really.
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