Redrobinridinghood

Hi I'm an Australian currently living in the UK but returning to Australia next year. I have a little money I've saved for setting up in Australia but an very worried about the value of the pound and would rather get the money over to Australia before we go.
Does anyone know if I can set up an account in Australia before I arrive?

spouse of scouse

Hi and welcome to BE. While opening a UK bank account from Australia is very difficult, fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case going the other way. As an Australian with a current passport, I don't think you'll have any trouble.

Log onto any one of the big four banks and run a 'dummy' account application to see what you need to provide. You won't have any problem with ID - an address may be more problematic but you can nominate a relative's address for now and change it when you get back. It should all be doable online.

I know what you mean about the pound. We (I'm Australian, husband dual Brit/Australian) moved back from the UK a couple of weeks ago. The best rate we could get was $1.77, which I thought was bad, but it's worse now. I've had people pooh pooh the way I search for the best FX rates, but if I'd exchanged on today's rate I'd have been down AUD$9,000. To me, that's not an amount to be sneezed at!

Just a final thought, I'd strongly encourage you to transfer your funds through a reputable FX broker. Bank exchange rates are woeful, and so are their fees. I've dealt with OFX for years and can recommend them, but I used a different one this time (IFX) and they were great too.

Redrobinridinghood

Hi spouseofscouse, thanks so much for your reply. Very informative and helpful. I think I'll try the dummy run today on an Australian bank account. I popped into HSBC yesterday and they said they'd give me an Australian currency account but only if I switched my current account to them. I'm not wanting to do that so I'll see how the big four in Australia go. I guess there's not a big bank that's more ethical than the others? Lol
I don't think I'd be able to use a broker. My amount saved is piddling. It's just what I've managed to squirrel away over the last year as part of my escape plan! I've got family to stay with so any money I take is a bonus.

spouse of scouse

Hey, it's great that you've been able to save anything at all! Not sure what the minimum GBP transfer amount is, but with OFX the minimum AUD amount is $250.

I think 'big banks' and 'ethical' in the same sentence might be an oxymoron Good luck with it, happy to answer any other questions you have.

Redrobinridinghood

Very true!
That sounds doable with OFX. I'll look into it.

Thanks!

Wol

FWIW I used Ozforex (later OFX) for years to have my UK pension transferred each month to Oz. They were very user friendly until the guy who set it up - Matt Gilmour - sold out to MacQuarie Bank. I then continually had issues with delayed payments: they were always saying they had no way of saying who the money was due to despite my provider having had the same ID for me since I started! After a couple of years I gave up with the constant chasing my funds and just let my pension fund send the cash out with all the other Oz Expats: the exchange rate is a little worse I think (it's just not possible to find out) but it always arrives on time.
MacQuarie is of course known as the Millionaires' Factory, and it's not the clients who are the subject of that!

moneypenny20

We had no problem setting up a Comm Bank account before we moved over. We could put money in but couldn't access it until we had an Australian address. That was 13 years ago so you shouldn't have any problems now.

Wol

We spent a whole day travelling up to London and eventually managing to set up a Commonwealth Bank account before we moved. After we arrived it transpired they had no record of it....
Did us a favour since we are not now part of CBA!

moneypenny20

We did ours with a phone call and forms through the post, no issues. Still with them, and had great service from them over the years although I know many people don't. Luck of the draw I guess.

spouse of scouse

I think they're great too