supersonic4

Hi I was wondering if anyone has an idea on the best way to access money in uk bank while living in aust? I have £10k that I am planing on living on while getting a job,are there any banks that let you use the card in aust without limits?
Cheers John
PS
I was reading the threads but my brain burnt out from too much info.

Mrs Jackaroo

Your easiest option would be to do a straight trans into an Oz account but failing that I would suggest using a UK credit card and paying that off with the funds from the UK account. That way you wont incur as many charges. Using a UK Visa Debit card here can prove difficult plus you'll incur Foreign exchange fees & admin fees from your UK bank.

We lived off £10k when we first got here but just trans it to our Oz account as soon as we got here - only takes a couple of days and HSBC charged us £15 I think plus we got a good exchange rate.

HTH

tin

Not sure about limits but the best account is definitely Nationwide. Check it out on moneysavingexpert , they give you good rates and charge no fees on using it overseas.
Martyn

sg1964

nationwide, i have used them in oz for 3 months now, no charges when i have withdrawn cash from an ATM, good rates of exchange, even used it to transfer cash to deposit into my westpac account, and then draw a bank cheque when we bought cars.


simon

deb-n-rob2006

we are going in feb to perth , and we didnt know how to take our money , oh was think of just getting travellers chect to quite a large amount and just getting a bank account over there, is this not the right thing to do ????

Wendy

No, you will lose a fortune on the exchange rate. Plus you have to declare anything you bring over $10,000 if you carry it on you.

Take a look at getting a trading account, the best ones are either www.ozforex.com or www.hifx.co.uk

Also look at opening a bank account. You can open one from the UK with www.anz.com.au Just go to the site and download an application form, fill it in and post it off. About 2 weeks later they'll send you details of how to activate your account on getting here. They'll give you your account number, just forward that to the broker and they'll send your cash to that account ready for you.

deb-n-rob2006

do you mean $10.000 0r £££££

as we are definalty thinking of taking more than that in $$$$$

Wendy

Ten Thousand dollars or equivalent in other currency.

That's actually on you, you don't need to declare it if you transfer it through a bank or broker though.

dougggy

leave it in the uk with a nationwide account with a visa debit card - draw cash when you need it or pay with card -

no fees and due to good exchange rate it makes sense to pay for stuff in oz in sterling which is what you are effectivly doing..

JUST GUARD YOUR CARD WITH YOUR LIFE

adenray

Open a Nationwide Flex Account - we found it was best for us. We also opened an HIFX Trading Account and used this when transferring larger amounts of money to buy our house here. Again, excellent rates and no commission.

belleandscone

Another vote here for Nationwide Flex Account, we used that on our reccie and exchange rate was excellent and no charges.
Clairex

suebrennan

Nationwide - I have used them for years - every overseas trip/holiday. I have had no problem accessing my account from here and intend to keep it open anyway.

Sue