Kevhaze

Question: Is it better/easier to open an Australia bank account whilst you are still living in England, or to wait until you enter Australia?

Your thoughts please.

Hazel

ABCDiamond

I think it is easier to open it in Australia.

Depending on your situation, it may be better to open it before hand, purely for transfering your funds.

JAJ

Depends - http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk is the place to go if you want to set up an account from the UK.


Jeremy

bondipom

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/p...g+to+Australia

There is also an HSBC number to call from the UK however they have proved trickier. Ashame because they are much cheaper than the above 2. The CBA would charge you to breathe air in their branches if they could get away with it.

ABCDiamond

I agree. If only HSBC could get their act together for making the account opening a bit more understood, they would get an even larger share of the business.

The HSBC details are:
HSBC Bank, International Branch Tel: 020 7991 7278 (Local High Street Branches may not know about it)
and the account most people go for is:
http://www.hsbc.com.au/personal/accounts/osa.html

debilloyd

Hi

Are there many HSBC ATMs in Oz. We are hopefully moving to Sydney and when we were out there at Xmas, I saw loads of Commonwealth and ANZ ATM's but only one HSBC. If they charge you for withdrawals from other ATM's (except 5), it could become expensive?

ABCDiamond

Not many ATM's, but,
Free withdrawals from any Post Office

Also, cash back at the supermarkets means you don't often really need an ATM.

debilloyd

Thanks, appreciate it

marco121068

Do you get charged for paying bills (ie credit cards) either online or in branch?

Bix

[QUOTE=ABCDiamond] Free withdrawals from any Post Office
QUOTE]

If you don't mind waiting behind long queues.

Got to be honest for a bank that regularly advertises in the UK as The Worlds Bank we found them absolutely crap.

Not helped by the fact their helpline is now in India which from our experience is totally bloody useless. We got inacurate information on more than one occassion.

Our local HSBC branch in UK actually suggested we find a different bank in Aus. Very good advice !

Amazulu

[QUOTE=Bix] The whole Indian call centre saga is starting to come unravelled. Lloyds TSB have moved a lot of their operation back to the UK & Dell are opening a call centre in Scotland. Have dealt with both of these via India & it has been a disaster.

Ansy

Easy opening account in Aus; I'm talking from experience. Another suggestion, you may want to avoid CBA, they have very many charges for things that other banks offer free of charge. These add up when you look at your statement at the end of the month. CBA would probably charge you for asking a question if they could get away with it.

hevs

Not with HSBC. You can also take cash out from supermarkets etc as many times as you like in a month.

KatieStar

Hubby and I joined Westpak when we got here. Comparing prices for bank accounts for us they seemed the best. The account was very easy to open, just needed a passport to open it,as we opened it within 6 weeks of arriving.

Katie

ABCDiamond

[QUOTE=Bix] I have to agree that when comparing them against the UK HSBC set up, it is very different.

I suppose that living where I do, the Post Office isn't a problem. A long queue is two people, in front of me
But there must be times when it gets busier, I just don't use the PO enough to see it though