New Australian bank account
May 3rd 2019 | 4:46 am
#1
Thread Starter
Just Joined
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 8
New Australian bank account
My mother has a British passport and has moved with me to Australia on a permanent resident Visa. Only proof of address is the one on the Visa letter. From any personal experience, which banks will be easy for her to open a current account for normal everyday use. She will not be working at the moment. Thank you
May 3rd 2019 | 11:54 am
#2
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,998
Re: New Australian bank account
My mother has a British passport and has moved with me to Australia on a permanent resident Visa. Only proof of address is the one on the Visa letter. From any personal experience, which banks will be easy for her to open a current account for normal everyday use. She will not be working at the moment. Thank you
Jun 4th 2019 | 7:08 pm
#3
Humble vaudevillian
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 690
From: Set adrift on memory bliss
Re: New Australian bank account
Commonwealth was easy when we had foreign exchange students. I believe you have to arrange it within a certain timeframe of arrival otherwise you have to go down the whole 100 points i.d.
Jun 18th 2019 | 1:59 pm
#4
Just Joined
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 10
Re: New Australian bank account
Talk to ING in Britain before coming here. They have banks in both countries.
I was also able to open a Commonwealth account in London before we moved here using Uk ID.
I was also able to open a Commonwealth account in London before we moved here using Uk ID.
Last edited by mangotree; Jun 18th 2019 at 2:01 pm. Reason: Unclear original statement
Aug 15th 2019 | 6:49 pm
#5
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 24
Re: New Australian bank account
Might be different if already in Australia but I bank with HSBC and was able to open up a banked account in Australia from the UK with a single form. They will also transfer my credit history out to OZ when I move.
Aug 15th 2019 | 10:46 pm
#6
Last resort... format c:/
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 2,095
From: Singapore to Surfers Paradise to... Tenerife... to Gran Canaria!
Re: New Australian bank account
I'd give HSBC or Citi a look, the latter looking especially interesting if you'll be travelling in the future. Their free, everyday account is called Citibank Plus and actually comes with one of the best debit cards in Australia as it charges 0% on foreign currency transactions abroad (same with overseas ATM withdrawals). So you basically get the official Mastercard rate each and every time with no additional bank charges.
HSBC will even charge it's top ("Premier") customers 2% on foreign spend (so MC rate plus an additional 2% added to the total). On top of that they convert currencies at a worse rate than Citi (though still a better rate than practically all other banks).
Both banks open accounts for residents and non-residents alike so you should be fine.
HSBC will even charge it's top ("Premier") customers 2% on foreign spend (so MC rate plus an additional 2% added to the total). On top of that they convert currencies at a worse rate than Citi (though still a better rate than practically all other banks).
Both banks open accounts for residents and non-residents alike so you should be fine.
