lacey21

can anyone answer this I have looked on the forum for some answers from the past threads but I haven't found anything that tells me clearly
cheers in advance
lace x

coxfamuk

Yes you can. I think the commonwealth bank have a branch in london.

hedgehog-girl

Yep, this is correct...HSBC also have a branch in the UK...but I don't know whether I would choose either of them to bank with. All banks in Australia charge for everything but Commonwealth seem to charge for a lot more than most! It actually doesn't take that long to do once you are here. I would personally wait and in the meantime do you research and see which is the best for you.

If its any help a lot of people here set up savings accounts with specialists...like Esanda, ING...Have a look into these and get one set up before you go.

hedgehog-girl

.

Nicky & Dave

Yes, you can. We are just starting to look into this ourselves and the Commonwealth Bank are who we're looking at using.

Rgds,
Nicky

Mrs Jackaroo

I'm just in the process of doing it as we speak!

http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk (Commonwealth Bank, London branch)

HTH

hedgehog-girl

http://moneymanager.smh.com.au/banking/guides


Just found this link to.....I am giving this link because a lot of people find (me included) that Commonwealth can be such money grabbers...You would be surprised at what you can get if you look around a bit more than the normal 4 main Oz banks.

floweroscotland

Hi

Yes we opened an account with Commonwealth while still in the UK and we also transfered our money with them, I must admit lots of people don't like them and they probably are slightly more expensive with charges but we think they are really good, our account and money tranfer went brilliant no problems at all, once we got here we just went in with our passports and other docs, they gave us our bank cards, credit card and offered us a morgage, which we didn't take as we had no jobs at that point. Contact Commonwealth in London and ask for a migration pack, I did it through their website.

Lisa

ABCDiamond

Both HSBC and Commonwealth are popular banks to open from the UK, and are popular with Expats, see this thread Banking Poll

I am biased towards HSBC, as I don't like to pay bank fees

lacey21

Thanks for all the great posts I am looking into this as we speak now.
My sister came over there in April and she is having a teribble time with HSBC. They wont transfer her money or anything.

However, I am going to have a look into everything cheers guys I knew you would know the answer
Lace x

Sharpy67

I would say to most people "don't rush to raise a bank account with the commonwealth just because its the only one that will allow you to from the UK'.Opening a HSBC acoount from the UK is ok only if you are a HSBC account holder in the UK and its not as simple as that as HSBC UK sees itself as independant from HSBC OZ and theres a fair bit of paperwork to do.

What we did was treat the first two weeks as a holiday, plan to be in temp accomadation for at least two weeks (hotel/motel). We arrived on a tuesday, went to the bank next day (HSBC in Brisbane and no we didn't have HSBC accounts in UK) armed with Passports, and three months worth of UK bank statements and opened an account (HSBC online savings account have low fees and good interest).Have a check on what Banks now need for the famous 100 point check. We had our bank cards within a week. We didn't take travellers cheques for the initial two week period, we instead had a Nationwide UK account that accessed using ATMs as Nationwide offer very good exchange rates (i know not as good as HIFX) but ok for the small amounts to initially get by. Once your OZ account is up and running, use the likes of HIFX and the other foreign exchange companies to get the bulk of your money converted to dollars.

have a look at

http://www.flickyourbank.com.au

http://money.ninemsn.com.au/compare/...ngs/index.aspx

Whilst the commonwealth account may look attractive, trust me its not and there are so many better alternatives when you get here. Also look at St george and ING direct.

I'm like ABCD. I hate paying bank fees, (although free banking seems a lifetime ago). Its a case of damage limitation now.

lacey21

Thanks for that and I will have a look at all options,
however HSBC is not an option to me as my sister has just been stung by them and she has had her bank account here in the UK for several years. They will not transfer large amounts of money so for now I am just making sure that if anything goes wrong or even if it doesn't we can get our hands on our money straight away.
No one likes to pay bank charges but they are a part of life especially in the UK.

I can always change banks when I arrive in Australia
thanks for the info
lace

teach

Hiya Lace,
We opened a bank account with HSBC in the Uk in preparation for our move. After doing some research on their overseas branches decided to swap to Commonwealth as there were very few HSBC branches.
Commonwealth was easy to open, we got a migrant banking pack sent stuff off and in a few weeks they had opened a holding account in London for us. When we were ready we paid in some money and they then transfered it to our Australian account. This did cost £15 , free if you are transfering more than 25k. We won't be staying with Commonwealth once we get to Australia as their charges are quite high, we only went with them so that we could get our bond interest paid in on 15th August. As it turns out this is now not happening and we are still getting a cheque sent to the UK.
Hope this helps,
Sarah

lacey21

Awww thanks Sarah,
I hope the preperations are going great for you honey.

Did the account cost anything to set up becasue the solicitor is certifiying all my stuff today so I may ask her just to certify another copy of my passport for this. My sister thought she was safe with HSBC but she is there now and it is a different story.
If it cost nothing or very little to open I will open one.

I just want the peice of mind of knowing I can get at our money and everything is set up for when we arrive.

Hark at me I do sound positive lol

hugs Lace x

teach

Hiya Lace,
Didn't cost us a penny, hun.
As far as I remember you need a certified copy of each account holders passport and an original utility bill in each of your names or joint names if you have them. We didn't as all bills are in my name so I sent Andrew's most recent credit card statement.
Sarah