JDAD84

Hey,

Sobmy husband and I are planning to make the move to Oz in the new year, we're trying to work out the best bank for making the move. We'll probably have around £8k we want to transfer to an aussie account whilst keeping some of our higher interest accounts in the UK.

We've been looking at moneycorp as an option for transferring money and also looking at NAB for a basic current account but wondered if anyone has any good or bad experiences they can share from their move....

Any suggestions welcome, we'd just like something easy to setup and then use as a day to day account when we get out there

Thanks

wongstonn

Hi there

Folk get very animated about banks over here. The BE community will doubtless have loads of good/bad stories with all the banks. In terms of a basic savings account to have a salary paid into, get an ATM card and internet banking with access to an extensive ATM network I think there are several banks that can do that easily. I think of them will offer free banking (i.e. no monthly charge for holding an account) as long as your salary is paid into it. If you are not going to get a salary paid into the the account then you should do a bit more due diligence and see what is out there.

TheCreature

No we won't. A bank is a bank is a bank.

I only have my own personal experience to draw on and that's with the Commonwealth Bank. For me, I couldn't fault them.. others probably can.

wongstonn

oops - just had a bad iPad moment and sent post before completing what I wished to write.

One differentiator at this level might exist if you are a smartphone user. Might be worth seeing what each bank's apps can do. For instance, I'm not sure that all banks have the equivalent of CBA's Kaching, or NAB's Flik applications which make it easier to transfer small amounts of money to people without having to write down account numbers and BSBs.

Neil

Bermudashorts

No I don't think so. Most people say the banks are much of a muchness. I am with NAB, they are just a bank and I do the usual banking stuff with them. No complaints but no reason to particularly recommend them either.

old.sparkles

Some banks have bonus introductory interest rates - may be worth looking at that to give you money an initial boost, although £8k isn't going to go very far.

Also worth looking at what fees may be involved - ATM's, monthly account handling, paper statements, etc

Main banks I think are Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Commonwealth although there are other's that depend on the state you are in and some like ING that I think do not have branches as such (cash deposits can be made at post offices)

Do you have a job lined up here, visas, etc? Do you know where you are headed?

Kiwikaye

We're with ANZ, have been for some time and they seem fine. Mind you I can't remember the last time I went into a branch as pretty much everything is done online. Their smartphone app seems to work pretty well if that's important.

Beoz

They are a much of a muchness.. Here is something that may help guide you. If you are retaining money in the UK perhaps and international bank may help. When I moved I went and spoke to Lloyds who I banked with and they told me they were a UK only bank and could not help with anything in Oz. So I went and saw HSBC and they said that if I moved everything from Lloyds to them they would give me a Premier account and open me up an account in Oz. Done so I did and they beauty of it was the Premier came with free transfers. Haven't looked back really. All too easy.

old.sparkles

please respond to the pm sent to you!!

scrubbedexpat055

We are happy with Westpac, never had any issues. Friends have ANZ and again no issues to report.

Swerv-o

The main difference between Aussie and UK banks is the charges - Many of the local Aussie banks still charge for things that you had probably taken for granted as free a long time ago.

As a person that would rather spend my money on beer than needless bank charges, I would seek out a bank that offers free monthly banking, and a free Debit card. I believe that currently the transparently free accounts are with NAB, Citibank and HSBC. Others offer variations on free banking - if you deposit $xk a month, then the monthly fee will be waived, or if you take out a particular credit card package etc. There is a quite a bit of conditionally free banking.

ATMs charge for withdrawing money if you withdraw from a non aligned machine - though it will warn you befroe you complete the transaction. So if you use cash a lot, then this may be important to you. The largest allied network of ATMs is the Westpac/St George/Melbourne Bank/Citibank/HSBC I believe. I don't see many NAB ATMs about these days - not sure if they have an alliance or not. I believe that the Commonwealth Bank has the largest individual bank network, but they are unaligned with any other bank.

I'm with Citibank, and can't fault them - they were excellent when I bought my house, and I have my mortgage with them too. The American customer service focus is far and away better than the local offerings I believe. Excellent credit card reward scheme too. Your mileage may vary however...


S

Beoz

Indeed. I had a Commonwealth bank account from years ago. I was getting charged every month for an account keeping fee. I went in and tried to close it because of the account keeping fee, and they said, if you keep it open we will remove the account keeping fee. It's open for now, only because my local Comm Bank has a coin counter, and every six months or so my spare change goes in it, usually amounting to about $500 or so. It's a bit of a joke and plenty of locals pay the fee not knowing otherwise.

Yep this is important. My HSBC can use all of the above without a fee. If I were to flick HSBC I'd be looking at an international bank like Citibank.

Swerv-o

I started off with HSBC actually, but I had problems with my old workplace being unable to transfer money to HSBC (This was later revealed to be because they owed HSBC lots of money, but that's another story), so I switched to Citi.


S

dave99

I setup an aussie HSBC account while I was still in england just by going into a branch and filling out forms before I came here and have been happily using it for the last 7 years.
Other australian banks will charge you a monthly admin fee.
I have no fee with my HSBC account and can use all the red westpac cash machines without any charges.

KJCherokee

We have an ING account which has no (or minimal) fees. Online only, no branches, no fees for using other bank's ATMs.