Hi

I am planning on opening up a Oz HSBC bank account before I depart for OZ (I have a current account with HSBC) . Then depositing £3000 - and transfering this amount into the Oz account.

Is this a good way of going about getting money accessible for me when I arrive in OZ?

It seems it is very easy to open a hsbc account once there.
Go into branch in Aus with passport within three months of arriving and open account with only your Passport as ID.
Then transfer money into the new account from old.

It was easy to open one here as well.

Personally I've opened one here, as it's another think ticked off the list before going.

How much did they charge for transfering money?

£10 per transfer, and you get a good exchange rate.

That is cheap. Makes it worth while to transfer more in one go....

You also get a better exchange rate the more money you transfer.

Jane

HSBC UK to HSBC OZ is a good way to transfer funds, it keeps costs down, and its quick.

On one time that I did it, the funds were in my OZ account, before they came out of my UK account. At least, thats what my internet banking figures were saying

Hi Scamp

I banked with First Direct (HSBC) for years in the UK and were v happy with their service. Over here, in Perth, I found HSBC useless and ended up transferring all funds to the Commonwealth Bank. HSBC is a good idea for transferring from UK to Oz but as for their service in Australia, forget it.

Here in Perth there are just two HSBC branches but you can also use the Post Office for HSBC banking. The only problem with the Post Office is that there is a limit in the amount you can get out, for example, we wanted a bankers draft to buy a car, the PO wouldn't let us get the money, even with passports and ID. We had to go all the way up the City HSBC Bank to get our Bankers Draft. This becomes a pain when you first come over here and need to buy a few expensive items.

Oz HSBC telephone banking is a nightmare, it takes ages for someone to pick up the phone. Their internet banking is OK though.

Another thing. A cheeky little bank teller at HSBC Perth, told us we would need a credit card in order for us to get a mortgage as we had 'no credit history' This, we found out later, was a load of old cobblers.

Shikse

Hi,

I have recently been looking in to opening accounts from the uk, however I have also found out that you can lose quiet a bit of money if you transfer your funds at the wrong time. I have seen a lot of places and recommendations for "moneycorp" there website is www.moneycorp.com. They might be able to help.

I am not too sure what or if they would charge for their services but they are well recommended by most immigration books etc.

I'll agree with Shikse, i've had an HSBC OZ account here, mainly because I also have an account with HSBC in UK, but I use it mainly as a savings account. I use a local bank with a local branch for most other things, especially deposits. 45 minutes to the nearest HSBC branch for me.
They are also good for mortgages though. I found their mobile lender very helpful. The best thing with HSBC is in transferring money from UK to OZ, and in getting a good interest rate on the Online Savings Account.

Moneycorp dont do amounts under £10,000 unfortunately. If anyone hears of anywhere offering those good exchange rates for amounts of £4,000 let me know!

Cherry