tinaj

After the recent thread on who to use to transfer money. I hope you can share your thoughts on which bank to use when we arrive in OZ.
Lots of you have slated the Commonwealth, what alternatives are there and how do you go about setting them up. Can you do it from this end or is it best to wait until we arrive?

Any ideas on bank charges for a current account?

Any thoughts welcome.

pread

Tina,

I know you can get a Commonwealth Bank account setup before you leave, and I believe you can setup something similar through HSBC. Before you do, take a look at the following Choice article, re. customer satisfaction. The big four (ANZ, COMMONWEALTH, NATIONAL and WESTPAC) seem to be the worst.

http://www.choice.com.au/articles/a103412p1.htm

Cheers,
Paul.

yafm

West pac have an arrangement with LloydsTSB and their UK branches are very helpful with regard to opening an account in australia.

Their web site gives all their costs and etc. as does all the other main banks It appears that as they all restrict you to a certain number of cheque transactions each month - in and out - it is better to use a credit card and pay it off once a month.

Herman

Many of the Aussies I work with recommend St George bank. Their website is apparently pretty stable (unlike Commonwealth - crashes every time), their charges are reasonable and apparently their customer service is OK. AMP bank is another one which is a relative newcomer to banking but seems to have decent charges. Another good low cost alternative, which we found out about too late, is the credit unions. They have low charges, reasonable internet banking and often give favourable mortgage rates to members, but dont have the same number of branches as the big banks.

Current account charges are a mixed bag - typically about $5 per month for a certain number of free transactions (typically 20). When you exceed that number charges are in region of 50c for a transaction (withdrawal/direct debit). Then there are counter charges for getting cheques written, charges for requesting statements, big charges for uncleared transactions (like $20) etc etc. All in all I have never paid so many bank charges in my life and I think most British will find the banking system here a bit archaic and expensive compared to UK banking.

etlniwd

Why pay any charges at all when you can have free banking ?

It's about time these dinosaur Australia banks were given a bit of a shake up. My advice would be to leave them well alone.

I bank with HSBC. They only charge if you use another bank's ATM more than 5 times a month. HSBC ATMs are free. They also pay 4.25% on your current account and have full online banking and you can set up your account before you leave the UK.

The only disadvantage is that they only have about one branch in each city but then who needs to go to a branch these days anyway ?

anzen12

Most of the banks are much of the same. At the moment ANZ has the highest approval rating, but last year it was ST George and before that NAB. If one has a slightly better rate or lower charges the others will usually catch up sooner or later.

If you feel you do need to go to a branch now and then, I would try and find out which banks have branches in the town you plan to live in. So many branches have closed in recent years, it can make quite a difference. I bank with Westpac and they have closed the two closest branches to my home. However, they have a good website and I try and use that for most of my banking.

pommie bastard

Use Credit Unions there are on the whole far better than banks and charges are next to nothing , the banks here are rubbish will charge you for breathing .

dillon

If it's any help you can set up with ANZ thru Nat West(well, you could three years ago). Would'nt recommend ANZ though, and if you transfer fund from your Nat West to the ANZ they will still charge you, and cocked it up at least once for me. (ANZ was at fault but try and get them to admit that!)
I've also heard that St George is good for a high street bank.
Although Commonwealth is terrible, I have to admit that the staff in Aus are always willing to help and seem to try. More than could be said for their staff in London.

tinaj

Sounds promising, I knew they were out there but didn't realise that they were free. Do you know where any of the branches are around BRisbane/ Sunshine Coast area?

Thanks for all of the info everyone.

Herman

I have had my fill of banks here. Twice I have been forced to pay my credit card bill a day late because the funds I had transferred from one CBA account to another had not cleared in the 24 hours that they are supposed to (according to the specs of my accounts). So how do you think CBA react when I phone to tell them I have to pay my card balance a day late due to slow clearance of funds through their system? They tell me that there is nothing they can do. Surely you wont be charging me interest on the full balance? Sorry sir, there is nothing we can do.
I had the same situation with Lloyds a couple of times in the UK and they always waived the charges. In fact, whenever I called Lloyds to complain about a charge they waived it. Try to get a charge waived here, you'll get nowhere.

pommie bastard

I give up with the banks after getting charged for making mortgage payments and for writting checks they make a charge for everything even using ATMs so I now use BHP Credit Union and the wife uses Police and Nurses Credit Union .

NinaU

How safe is it to keep your savings in a Credit Union as compared to a Bank?
Banks are a big rip off there - No way would I like to pay a single cent - I thought cheque books and ATMs were free?. By the way, what if some one has a large deposit - are they also charged for these services?
Never have been subjected to any charges - even my credit card here is free - not even annual charges. So I guess I will also stick to a Credit Union

Rgds
Nina

pommie bastard

The Credit Unions are owned by the members and are far more helpful than the banks , they still have to charge goverment taxes but they a lot cheaper than the banks

Choppa

The bendigo Bank is the only way to go, open till late, and also on Saturdays, excellent service and excellent e-bank facilities.

yafm

do they have a web site and are they also in New South Wales