Perthbound

Hello, I will be over there in April 2004, but there are loads of things I would like to know before I arrive. My main question at the moment is as follows: How do I open an Australian bank account in England where all the money in the account will actually be Aus dollars. Then when the exchange rate is in our favour, i.e. around 2.90 to the Pound or similar, I can go into a UK bank and invest my English money but actually buy Australian dollars with it and have a bank account which instead of having a balance of pounds and pence, actually has a balance of Australian Dollars. Then next April when I bring my family over, and the rate may be 2.60 to the pound for example, I will have got 2.90 for my English money instead by buying at the right time. I hope all the above makes sense.

I am based in Bolton and am heading for the Perth area.

Thank you in advance if any of you can solve my problem.

magnetman

Try searching the archives typing in 'bank'. HSBC has some favourable comments.

http://www.hifx.xo.uk

has been recommended for foreign exchange

cheers

doub

Hi,

This is pretty hypothetical cuz the £ just fell through the floor, compared with the Oz$, but if you register with Currencies Direct (ask for Nathan) or Halewood int. or some such money transfer company, you can 'buy forward' which means you tell them the rate your after, say 2.85, and then tell them how much you will need to transfer, when the rate hits your desired level they will automatically buy all your dollars. All you do then is send them a 10% deposit and they will hold your money for upto 12 months, you only give them the ballance of the money when you are ready to go. They can tranfer the money directly to an Oz account either in this country or in Oz. You really need to talk to them as they will expain it all much better than me!

hope this helps

Mark

Perthbound

Thanks for the advice.

Perthbound

I have contacted the Commonwealth Bank, are they my best shot or should I try HSBC for example. They dont have a branch in Perth though.

Inked

We used the commonwealth bank, it was easy to open an account with them in the uk. They in turn create an account for you in Australia and then you can transfer money to your Aus account whenever you wish within the 18 months that they keep the account open in the UK. Not sure what happens after that, as we have not reached the 18 month mark yet.
We’ve found it to be a really useful way to ship cash over to Aus whenever we have needed it

We also found that it was really useful already having an account sorted out in Australia, so many things depend on it, so well worth getting it sorted before you get to Aus. All we had to do on arrival in Melbourne was go to the designated branch of the Commonwealth bank and they issued us with cash cards etc.. and sorted out the finer details of what sort of accounts we wanted.

We did all this without having PR too, I was just in Melbourne on a 12 month visitors visa at that time , but it still seemed ok.

Joe

BillyGoatGruff

are you sure there isn't a HSBC in perth? i'm sure i've seen one there

pickletheplacid

Yes there is
http://www.hsbc.com.au/information/press/001030.html

pickle.....too many Joe's on this site

Grub

You can also book your currency up to 12 mths in advance through Moneycorp. You agree a good rate (ie watch the exchange rate until it peaks), then you book it and pay 10% to hood that exchange rate for a year. You can also do it for less time. I booked at 2.8 in Sept 02 and am still extending it- mores the bloody pity!!!!!

Grub

Oops- 'hold' not 'hood'

Herman

We have used CBA here and I have to say their customer service is absolutely terrible, their staff are poorly informed and badly trained, their website crashes at least 50% of the time, their savings interest rates are low, their mortgage rates are high and their fees are daylight robbery.
Most of the Aussies I work with swear by St George.

Grub

Hi Herman

I have just signed up for a CB but have also heard that St George is best (from Australians) but i dont think they are very widespread. Can anyone advise whether there is much coverage in Perth? as i would be very interested in opening one with them instead.

Cheers