s1mon321

We opened some bank accounts with ANZ whilst in the UK and then went to our local branch in George Street on Monday to activate the accounts.

The lady that dealt with us was soooo brilliant, she not only sorted out all our banking needs but gave us loads of advice about living in Sydney and made us feel sooo welcome!

Considering we'd only arrived two hours before and were feeling so tired, she was a breath of fresh air!!

The lady's name was Madjur.

Simon

tripawaymars

Hi
How did you open the account from the U.K? Did you have to phone them direct as I have tried to o it online and they need a residential address in Oz!
What ID did you ned to show to validate the account?

Thanks

bridie

You know, that sounds like the name of the lady that dealt with us when we first arrived many moons ago.

Must admit I like ANZ. We recently switched our main account to Bankwest but our experience has not been as good, hence we may be switching it all back to an offset mortgage account.

TillyG

We did it over the phone. When we arrived, we didn't have to do the 100point credit check as long as we turned up with our passports (don't think they even had the visa stamp in them at that point!) within 6 weeks of arriving.

paul30

I did the same with NAB opened it online here in UK and validated when I went for a reccie at christmasthe guy I dealt with at the Melbourne branch was fantastic really friendly and made me feel so welcome as a customer. they even waived the monthly account charges until I get my visa and move permanently to Aus (never had that level of service with a UK Bank)

tripawaymars

Did you put U.K address in then..it seems to want an oz phone number, or did you phone them?
Thanks

Thanks for all of the replies on here, I have been scared off of Westpac so will be closing that account before anyone can take money out of it without permission!!

paul30

I did it online in the migrant banking section so you don't need an Aus Address or phone number.
http://www.nab.com.au/Personal_Finance/0,,84838,00.html this link should take you through to NAB migrant banking section. Hope it helps

@boy

...and the ANZ equivalent...
http://www.anz.com/aus/Personal/Movi...UK/default.asp

I have to plug them. They do employ me after all ;-)

paul30

Plug away then

Basty

Why have you been scared off of Westpac??

Gina123

I dont want to hijack your thread or start a credit/bad debt debate, but do they credit check you in the uk if you apply to open a bank account in Australia from the uk?
Or is it just a case of opening up the account ready for your arrival in Aus and then going in to validate the account by showing the id required on arrival?

Hope that this qustion makes sense!

Thanks in advance.

Gina x

paul30

no credit check as far as I'm aware. new life new chance new credit rating

tripawaymars

I have now done this , thanks. However, the form is very vague. it does not ask you what type of account you want or let me specify CAIRNS as my nearest city (only Brisbane). Is this what happened with you. it didn't even ask which branch I would like my account held at, or is it mainly internet bankinG! Am a bit confused now.

paul30

they only give a very basic account with cash card and eftpos to begin with then when you validate you can move to a different type of account.
I couldn't specify mornington as my branch only Melbourne but other than having to go to the city to validate it everything else can be done at your local branch

tripawaymars

Thanks
there is no way that I can go to brisbane from cairns to validate a bank account! it is a 2 hour flight! i will call the branch in Cairns and see if I can sort it over the phone.. I nearly moved to Mornington peninsula..offered a job there (a very good one) but my partner at the time was joining Queensland police force and then decided against that so I lost out. i hear it is a lovely part of the country.
Thanks for your help.