lawlaw

Hi Guys

We are emigrating to aus in feb and will be living in Brisbane. We dont have heaps of money to take probably about £8000 in total.

We bank with HSBC and have the forms to fill in for foreign account.

Will hsbc let us transfer the money over without a big fee, would the exchange rate be ok?

Hows banking with hsbc in australia? are there plenty of branches in Brisbane and cash machines?

Not sure what to do for the best really.

Thanks Laura

annqldau

... You have to ring main international HSBC in London and arrange to have papers sent to you. You are lucky as when I rang they would only let HSBC members in the UK do it now.

See also these threads...

Get a Nationwide Credit Card while in UK
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=hsbc

Re: Banking: HSBC accounts?
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=hsbc

and

Transferring money to HSBC AU account
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=hsbc

Hope that helps.... .

karenjc

We still have our HSBC account from the UK with money still in it and some money being paid in every couple of weeks. All we do is go to the HSBC cashpoint and draw out what we need. We did not see any in Brisbane but then again we were to busy doing over stuff but as there is a couple on the gold coast then i guess there must be some in Brisbane.

wendywoo

Hi
I'm certainly no expert however I've been in touch with the hsbc about opening accounts in oz and an off shore account, from what i understand if your just transferring from 1 hsbc account to another then theres a £15 charge per transfer if from a different bank its £25. they use the current exchang rate on the day i believe.
their web site ( just put hsbc in google ) is really user friendly and theres a phone number on there you can call and they can tell you where your nearest branch / ATM will be in Brisbane
hope this helps a little

nicola411

HI Laura

I am not sure but I think HSBC only have 2 branches in the whole of Brisbane.
That is what someone told me from Commonwealth bank

hope that helps

Nicola

annqldau

HSBC in Brisbane is only one there I think but once open you can do all on internet or at post offices and shops, and much cheaper than commonwealth.

HSBC Branch is:

HSBC Building, 300 Wueen St. Brisbane QLD 400 Tel 0061738357802 from UK

or email www.hsbc.com.au if you want more info. Manager of Brisbane branch is from Yorkshire if that makes you feel safer and you get the little online security device for safer internet banking... .

A dogs life

I'm sure you meant to say
300 Queen St. Brisbane QLD 4000

lawlaw

thank you all, will get that hsbc account opened then, so should I just transfer my money through them for such a small amount? will they let me keep my english account open for emergencies etc?

Thanks

Laura

Swerv-o

Yes, as other here have posted, you can open an HSBC Au account from the UK, and you can transfer funds either through the bank or using an FX dealer. HSBC isn't so well established as the other banks, but it does offer fee free banking for most everyday services, which others don't. There arn't so mny branches either, but you have access to excellent telephone and internet banking, and can also conduct many transactions at the post office if you need to.

In addition, I have also been successful in opening an HSBC Serious Saver account, while still here in the UK. This is an additional account to the online savings one, and offers a staggering 5.7% interest rate. It is linked to your existing account, and you can transfer money into it from your savings account and interest is credited monthly. You have to pay witholding tax at the rate of 10% of your interest, but even with this it still makes it a pretty good investment if you're looking to move your money over.

I've been very impressed with the service offered by HSBC Au from the very beginning.

Hope this helps.

S

Nicstids

[QUOTE=Swerv-o

In addition, I have also been successful in opening an HSBC Serious Saver account, while still here in the UK. This is an additional account to the online savings one, and offers a staggering 5.7% interest rate. It is linked to your existing account, and you can transfer money into it from your savings account and interest is credited monthly. You have to pay witholding tax at the rate of 10% of your interest, but even with this it still makes it a pretty good investment if you're looking to move your money over.

I've been very impressed with the service offered by HSBC Au from the very beginning.

Hope this helps.

S[/QUOTE]

Was interested to hear that you managed to open the Serious Saver A/c as we looked at this but one of the account opening conditions said that you had to be Aussie resident. How did you manage to do it?

Would like to get that rate of interest!!

Cheers

Nicola

lawlaw

Hi Swervo

Thanks very much for all this. I have the forms already, Once i fill them in, hsbc aus open me up an account? I then transfer money from my uk account to aus account and i can use it straight away in aus? do they send me a card etc while im still in england?

I doubt theres much point me opening up a savers account until were settled in aus as our £8000 wont go to far once we reach australia.

Thanks

Laura

Swerv-o

Well, there are some terms and conditions. You have to have an Australian bank account of some description before you can apply, and it has to be in the same name as the new savings a/c will be. In my case it was the HSBC Online Savings account, so I just applied online and linked the new a/c to the existing one. They do require that you send them a copy of a statement from your existing a/c by post though, so make sure that you keep your statements.

If you hve an existing account, then you just apply through the link on the HSBC Au website and follow the trail. You just enter the BSB and A/C number of your existing account, give them your Email address and they mail out some forms for you to print, read, sign and send back, including your bank statement copy. Took about a week all in.

Hope tht helps,

S

Swerv-o

Yes that's pretty much it. Are they the forms from the HSBC international centre in London? If so, then you fill them in, then take them and all the ID stuff to make up the 100 points score to a local HSBC branch, where they will verify them. You have to give them the interntional money order for AU$2000 (the account opening fee), and they send it all off to the international office. They then check everything through for you, and forward it on to the Direct banking centre in Sydney, where they will open the account.

A couple of weeks later you will receive all the gubbins in the post from Au - Account numbers, debit card, cheque book, Pin numbers, paying in book etc. It's all pretty painless, but make sure you know what has to be done at the local branch, as invariably the staff there won't and you will have to guide them through it. It's all very simple really - They just have to check and copy your forms of ID and sign the bottom of the forms. Job done.

Hope that helps,

S

lawlaw

That helps loads, thanks very very much, your a star, ive been umming and arring over this for ages not quite sure how it works what to do etc and now i finally get it

Nicstids

Thanks for that. We've got an Online Savings Account too so will give that a go. Good job you mentioned the statement as they were all filed away with our other documents which were packed by our shippers today! Have gone and unwrapped the box and dug one out!! (I'll be popular when they come back on Monday!)