olauf

Hi there,

Which bank did you choose and why?

Generally people choose to bank with a specific bank for a number of reasons and to name but a few :- Generous premium – personal loans – students loan – overdraft facility etc…

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Blooregard Q Kazoo

Commonwealth bank because it was the first one I passed whilst looking for one in Sydney.

yanH

Same for me on both counts. I was walking through North Syndey on our first day on Oz and it was the first bank we came across. The Account opening process was completely painless and all over in about 15 minutes.

I think that I would possibly have used them anyway due to them being one of the biggest banks. I wanted to be sure that I would have access to a lot of ATM's and branches due to high bank charges if you use other banks facilities.

Plug

ANZ as it was easy to set up from the UK - going to change very soon though, they are shite (me being polite ).

loz

NAB first bank we came to when we first arrived. The girl who helped us was really good and friendly. $5 per month fee and not 1 minutes problem since we signed up.
We are looking round for a home loan shortly so will approach them first and take it from there.

Loz x

DrWho

Westpac... easy to do from the UK, and branches all over where we were going...

hoofie2002

Bankwest - 'cos :

a) The first bank was ANZ and the queues were terrible
b) More ATM's around in the west ?
c) Less Fees [or rather more avoidable]
d) I banked with one of NAB's banks in the UK [Clydesdale] and after their completely hopeless handling of things, I promised I wouldn't touch NAB with a bargepole.

Funnily enough, I've ended up working for them as a contractor so I get to see the bank 'from the other side' as it were...

Of the year I've been with them, I've had zero problems, and that include accounts, mortgage, CC's + international transfers. And please note that I do not get any special treatment above that of any other account holder.

olauf

I think the Banking sector is mostly dominated by those four banks mentioned that is N A B, Westpac, Commonwealth and ANZ…

They should have more or less similar costs in terms of banking fees. So choosing a bank is more of a question of feeling if I am not mistaken..

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Swerv-o

HSBC. Fee free banking. No brainer.

Also check out Citibank too - they now operate a fee free current account with good ATM access.

S

deanmhunt

HSBC
They may say fee free but check your statements as there not free for using ATM'S or EFTPOS (5 free per month utter crap) as we found out today with $98.00 charges for using our own bloody money either by ATM or eftpos not happy with them so will be moving banks, only been here 10 weeks so been spending loads what with cars, beds, school fees, and loads of other stuff so please beware everyone, and sorry for ranting but i was sooo crosss Tracey x

PoppetUK

Commonwealth. Opened it after seeing it on movingplanet.com and new my sister in law is with them. Sorted it out in the UK 2 weeks ago. Arrived Friday and booked appointment for today. Got our cards, pins, internet banking within 1 hour. Deposited our travellers cheques and are up and running. The fee is $6 per month but I think most things are unlimited like eftpos and cash at Comm atm's. The lady in Perth was really helpful.

We were advised to look into transfering pension before July to do with a tax break. Perhaps buy a house after May to see if they up the threshold for stampduty. We should also be entitled to some helps because we will be first time buyers in Oz.

HTH's

J

Swerv-o

Which account do you have? I've never paid anything for using EFTPOS, and I've only ever exceeded my free withdrawals once which cost me $1.50.

S

sassie

Same here. the most I've ever paid is about $10.00. we now make sure we draw enough money out at once, therefore limiting our atm usage, and are well under our 5 free a month, and can't remember the last time we were charged anything.

goingozwards2007

I was thinking of keeping my Nationwide account for a while, at least until i decide wher ei want to put my savings, because i can use it free worldwide in the ATM's, and do my internet banking as well, is this a bad idea?

TheSubMainMan

I'm planning on doing the same. I can't see why not.

Great account that one.