ukdarren22

Does anyone have an opinion on what the best bank is to open up before I get there, looks like I am gonna have to change my money up soon these exchange rates are ridiculous. we will have to set it up from here

beebopaloola

all banks are pretty much of a muchness
Westpac seems pretty good

bridie

depending on your monthly salary you may be able to open a Bankwest Hero account which pays interest and has no monthly fee

steve`o

http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk/moving_to_australia/

i would personally recommend the commonwealth bank

we set it up in the uk withan account in london and one in brisbane
we also used the commonwealth to transfer our money they made it easy and the rate i felt was comparable with other companies

regards steve

betsyboob

Just don't tell them about your credit card debt!!!!!

ukdarren22

Thank you guys,

bonvoyage

used transfermate.com after reading about them on a blog, they're in london and aus. they organised the bank account by phone with anz in 4 days and used them to send money over as they were cheapest

bridie

the cheapest way to transfer money is use a company that doesnt charge a cent (e.g. Ozforex)

its easy enough to sort out your own bank account with ANZ or whoever, most of them have the ability for people to open before they arrive - we did ours with ANZ so it was ready and waiting.

charliegirl

I am with Westpac and I have to say it hasn't offered the best of service. But from what I can gather, all banks here are pretty much the same.

If you want a big bank, I'd try the Commonwealth. Otherwise you can check out smaller banks like Bendigo Bank.

I'd keep away from the nab (national australia bank). I've heard nothing but bad news about that bank.

ccraig

agree with bon voyage,
getting transfermate to open the anz bank for you by phone is dead handy but using their transfer service and not anzs as anzs is no big shakes

bridie

what charges are involved?

Rosscarbery

As I always say on these threads, in our experience Westpac are seriously cr*p!

ccraig

I think theres normally a fee for opening a bank account but they waive it if you are using them for transfer service which has been cheaper having looked around

getawaysoon

Hi craig
new to this
Could you send me the number for transfermate?

craggie

Hi

Best bank is the Bendigo Bank IF they have a local branch. Excellent service & staff.

cheers

Craggie