the greens

We need to open an Australian bank account for wages to be paid in once we get there. Which is the best bank account you can open from Britain - Commonwealth any good ? Also is it true you have to pay to open an Australian HSBC bank a/c from England ?

longreach

No. The HSBC online savings account is completely fee free, offers a good interetst rate, and can be opened easily from the UK. Do a search for HSBC international account opening. They are based in London. They will send everything you need.

Beware that a number of Aussie banks can charge fees, Commonwealth included.

Cheers,
Mark.

Vim Fuego

Swerv-o

Agree. I bank with HSBC, and haven't paid a cent in fees since I arrived.

I opened the account from the uk, which was fairly straightforward. Also, the account is immediately active - no having to activate it when you arrive.

S

Wol

I bank with HSBC although I was on the point of giving up on them: they swear they'd posted some six chequebooks to me - none of which I had received, so were cancelled - and after almost three years and innumerable calls and mails they discovered that the secure printing firm they use had posted them to the branch in Sydney instead of to my address. So the branch kept each for three weeks - and then destroyed them. Naturally.

However, I'm slowly learning to accept this "efficiency" as a normal part of life here. And I don't even keep alpacas...........

jan&co

Sorry if this soundes silly, but do u pay any fees when closing an account, say the Bankwest Telenet Saver Account if thats what you mentioned? I cant find anything on closing accounts.

Im with Suncorp, Subaccounts Savings Rate of 6.4% but they charge account keeping fee of $5.00 on your Everyday Options main Account. Have been thinking of switching to Bankwest.....

Thanks.

Swerv-o

At least you got to the bottom of it Wol, and no harm done either. It could have been a lot worse had they just been delivered to some disreputable scrote's house...



It wouldn't surprise me, but I don't think that you have to pay a closure fee, unless there are any fees outstanding on the account.

I have found Bankwest to be excellent actually, and I would happily recommend them to anybody. They are very forward thinking when it comes to fees, and there interest rate is the second best in the country.

S

jan&co

Found it - Closing of account at customer service centre - free.
Closing of account via another bank - $10.

jan&co

Thanks! Serv-o. Will be looking into the Telenet Saver Account.
Bank fees in Australia is really like shark territory.... just got to be alert!

OzWannabee

Check which banks charge you for using other banks ATM's (usually about $1.50). I'm sure Bank West don't charge you for using other bank's ATM's if you are outside WA. I think all major banks like CBA, Suncorp, ANZ and NAB do. Banks that do not have lots of branches dont tend to charge for using other ATM's.

I think CBA have the most ATM's Australia wide - someone will tell me different I'm sure! They charge $4 for unlimited electronic banking on their everyday account and you can also have an Internet Saving account, with no fees and 6.25% interest, joined to it with min. $1 balance. If you have savings or debt of over $50K then you don't pay the $4. Whoopeedoo!!

jan&co

Check which banks charge you for using other banks ATM's (usually about $1.50). Quote.

Suncorp charges $4.50 from my memory!

haggis supper

Pray tell - explain ??

Rosscarbery

Westpac are the spawn of the devil.

Vim Fuego

Lovely adverts though, they are like totally environmentally concerned maaaaaan ...

maverik1979

why?