Idlewood

Hi all,

I'm registering a new bank account for us with Westpac prior to our move to Perth in August (). The money will be transferred into the account at the start fo August for us to then go and activate teh account 2 weeks later when we get there.

Question I have is in regards to the proof of identity when we go to the branch to activate the account. The booklets I have from Westpac say they will want to see proof of identity and proof of address. proof of identity is easy (pasports) but the address one is trickier; we are staying with some friends for the first week, then they arecoming here to the Uk for 4 weeks and we will be house sitting for them.

Thus, we will have no lease agreements etc with our names and address on them to present to the bank. I rang Westpac today and the guy there said no problems, the address will come up as a valid address when we give it to the branch and it will be fine.

Is that correct? if so, I could give any valid address in Perth and they'd say fine.

Can anybody advise me of what happens in this case or their experiences. I don't want to have a fight when i get there to try and get my hands on our money that's then stuck in their bank becasue we don't have a valid address.

Cheers for a very long ramble,

Idlewood

scrubbedexpat055

Yes it will work fine..... I know I 've done it, albeit in Melbourne.

Opened account in UK, TX some money with HiFx, went into bank on 2 or 3rd day, showed passports.... bingo account opened.

BUT, it can take a few days to get all cards and everything sorted. Some seem to have cards waiting for them, others it takes a week or so.

If the later happens to you, make sure you have a working credit card or UK bank debit card so you can pay for things in the first week or so.

Which reminds me.... DO NOT CLOSE your UK bank account.

Now...Option B is as follows....

Open Westpac account, and request proof of ID form. (Its a pdf). Print this, fill it in and go to your UK bank, for them to witness your signatures. Send this document to Westpac in London, where they will check it and send it to Australia. Your account will now be unblocked. Call up telephone banking, and request online access. They will issue you a temporary password and a customer number. Use these to access your account and prove it works, then change the password.

Now, email or call Westpac London and request cheque book and debit card. They send form (pdf), fill it in and return it to London. London will order your cards and cheque book for you and despatch these to any Australian address.

Having done the first way and now having done Option B (yes I am ping ponging) it will be nice to have these documents ready from the moment I arrive.

Another tip (just for comfort), once you have online access to your account, send £20 from your UK bank just to ensure all is ok before Tx larger sums.

Hope this helps

Pete

Red_V_Roger

Westpac were very relaxed about it - just passports were enough and we took with us the documentation regarding the opening of the account that we received whist still in the UK.

However, the cheque books, bank cards etc that should have been waiting for us at the branch were not there and they had to order new ones for us.

Overall I've found Westpac to be very good and now have a mortgage with them too. Their online banking as also pretty fast and well structured.

MarkMC

We also use Westpac. Just rocked up on our first day with Passports, then cards were ready later that week. I just called thwem once we had arranged a rental to tell them our address

moneypenny20

If you want to take some sort of proof of where you're living, ask your friends to write a letter confirming that you are staying at that address for however long. We were with Commonwealth but they were happy with that.

twizzle

As with everyone else, we opened ours with just our passports, didn't need proof of address, just to be able to give them an Australian address (for statements etc.)

Our cards were sent, pins sent seperately, and it took about a week before it all came through. However, you can withdraw money from the counter with passport, and you can get set up with online banking immediately.

sr71

The identity checks aren't as strict I think if you have been in the country less than 6 weeks I think - they don't need to do the full 100 points - you only need your passports.

Idlewood

Many thanks all, I registered online last night and as the last post says, if you're in country less then 6 weeks all they need is your passports for proof of identity.

We're also going to take some in cash with us, and leave our accounts here in the UK open just in case. Will see about organising for the cards etc to get the ball rollingon that one tho rather then wait a week for it all when were there.

Cheers for the replies , as ever this website is a life saver!!

Idlewood

Twinset

When you turn up at Westpac, give them your address in Oz, get them to print out a letter confirming your account opening with the address on it, and you will have another form of ID........all helps!

Idlewood

Cheers Twin, thats a good idea!!!!!

vicki78

You shouldn't have any problem, as long as it is an address, I don't think it would even matter if it's an address of a hotel for example.
Westpac is really good, laid back and they specialise in migrant banking anyway so they quite relaxed about it all.

Griffangus

Hey guys,

Please bear with me as I am still in the recent VISA grant glow

Advice from the wise please - is it worth setting up the bank account on the validation trip - even if I won't actually be making the move for another 6 - 9 months? Just thinking that it would be good to do when we are actually in country so to speak. Plus the address should be unchanged as I will be with my folks for the first few months after arrival in any case.

Thanks in advance

vicki78

Yes it is possible, but I think you have to have a certain amount in your account, otherwise they charge you fees to keep it open. But it also depends which bank you are using.

Griffangus

Ok thanks. Was planning to use Westpac on the basis of the threads I have read and it is who my folks use.

I guess I will have to look into the fees side of it and go from there.......

Thanks for the response.

Idlewood

Hi,

I think the minimum fee is $3500 or else you incur a charge but I odn't have the paperwork in front of me to confirm that.

We've opened our account online with Westpac and to be honest so far they have been excellent with communication and help.

We're doing our currency transfer with Hifx and again their help has been excellent. Made it very easy to set up the whole thing and explain how it works and how to organise it all online for ease of future use.

Hope that helps,

idlewood