Nic938

Hi

Can anyone tell me if there is a time limit on opening up accounts with either of theses two banks? We are not emigrating until Jan 08 but we wanted to open an account now and start transferring a little money over each month. Wasn't sure if you could only open it 30/60 days before you validate the account in person over there.

Thanks

Nic

Berena

HI

There shouldn't be any porblem with either of them. We opened our account with Westpac - by post/email at least 2 years before we arrived to validate. the only restriction is you can't withdraw money until you have validated it.



Peter

Nic938

Thanks Peter, much appreciated.

Nic

louie

We're buying a unit and will be letting it out. So will have regular rental income paid into a bank account (not opened one yet) and will have to pay strata fees, etc. We will be validating in Sep/Oct - is it normal not to be able to take out money until then? Any other suggestions how we are supposed to pay the bills?!

GaryKristensen

Go to the Westpac website for immigration matters and it does tell you how you can validate an account without visiting the branch in Australia. You have to get a form signed by a member of the banking community who has known you in the UK for 12 months or more. Shouldn't be too much of a problem to get your bank manager to sign it, if you have had an account with them for a while?

Here's the link to the Westpac acceptable referee form:

http://www.westpac.com.au/manage/pdf.nsf/FB23229FCA9F401BCA2570270009B245/$File/Acceptable_Referee.pdf?OpenElement

And the page it came off:

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/p...rseas+accounts

Nic938

Excellent

Thanks, Nic

sme

We used the Commonwealth Bank and found them excellent. They have a migrant bank branch in London and are very helpful.
Try seeing what bank has the most branches in the area you are going to live, you don't want to be with a bank where there is difficulty (or costs ) in accessing your money.

Techno Freak

I've just checked out the on-line banking demo's on both banks, I do love my internet banking and think Intelligient Finance in the UK takes some beating.

Westpac on-line banking looked to be absolutley superb, it seems as though you can access all of your other accounts and investments through it as well.

Commonwealth looked a bit lacking to be honest.

Can anyone tell me, if you open a Westpac account from here without activating it - can you activate the on-line banking part so you can easily see where your money is? Or is that only possible once you have officially opened your account?

Ta.

Berena

Hi
Yes we are delighted with the Westpac online banking and yes we were able to access it before we got here!
In addition to all the Westpac accounts - investment, current, etc we also access our UK bank account, airmiles,ebay,vodaphone,frequent flyers,online broking,mastercard,etc etc
It is very handy having access to all these on a one stop internet banking site.
We have avoided bank charges by selecting the accounts most suitable for our lifestyle and find the transfer of funds form one Westpac account to another free and virtually instantaneous. We pay most of our bills online too and have found the staff and service very good.
Currently we are transferring some private pensions into a superwrap fund and have been very pleased with the advice and help we have received from the Westpac advisor.

Peter

Techno Freak

Hi Peter,

That sounds great. I think Westpac has just won our battle-of-the-banks for me with that then.

Can you tell me though, how did you manage to set up internet banking from the UK? I have been on the migration site on Westpac and it says that you cant set up online access until you have been through the identity checks - either once in Oz, or via finding someone in banking that has known you for 12 months. It also states that you cant access your money until the account is active - you can only pay in. That's fine, but I would like to be able to access the account just to see that the money is there if you know what I mean.

Also, do you have yours set up as one joint account? If so, can you access non-joint accounts through it?

Thanks.

Berena

Hi again

Yes you need to fill in a form from their site getting somebody like your bank manager to provide a reference and Identitiy check then when you open your account they send you your personal banking number and your account number - all you need to open internet banking and follow your accounts.
We have a joint deeming account which we use as a current accoount, I have an investment account and my wife has an investment account called a Max-I account and because I know her personal number and account numbers i can automatically view and amend them all on the same pages of the internet banking. Once I have logged in in my own name - one click and I have all our accounts, hers and mine, from all of our various establishments on view together. I like to be able to see the overview and regularly check what goes in and out, and also what is happening to our shares etc.
I can then move our investments around to equalise our investment income and try to minimise any tax liabilities, etc.

Hope this helps - any questions just get back to me and I will try to help

Peter

Techno Freak

That's great info, thanks.

It's pretty much as I was hoping. So, basically, you could view and manage anyone's account through Westpac - so long as you have their log in details for that account?

It looks to be a superb system. I was beginning to worry about finding a bank with a good on-line system as there seems to be a lot of negativity on the boards regarding banking and general internet etc.

I think I'll start by just applying for a joint account for now. Take it from there. We'll probably have to wait until we're in Oz before we can verify our identity as I have never seen my bank manager. In fact, I've not set foot in a bank for about 10 years! Any ideas how I can get around that one?

Cheers.

Berena

Hmm not sure. Perhaps your bank manager could provide the banking/financial reference and somebody else could do the identity thing - commissioner of oaths maybe? Basically they have to view your passport and proof of address and certify that you are the person in the passport.

I think the negativity in views of Oz banks comes from the fact that you can get stung for all sorts of charges if you are not alert. Coupled with the fact that their systems seem to be a few years behind the rest of the westernised world. UK expats have generally been used to reasonably efficient and free at the point of contact services.
If you take the time over here to examine all the small print in relation to charges then it is quite easy to get an account that you can operate without charges - ie look at the number of free electronic payments you can have each month etc, also which banks charge for cash withdrawals from other banks machines or even charge for their own, some will even charge for providing a balance figure at the machines. Try to avoid going to the counter at your bank for anything other than a straightforward withdrawal as they often charge for counter assistance. We pay everything via internet banking or credit card which is automatically paid off each month, and earns Altitude points(their reward system). The only charges we have had in nearly two years has been for obtaining a couple of large bank drafts when paying for our house and cars.
If you haven't been in your bank for 10 years then you will be used to this style of managing your accounts and will enjoy relatively cheap and effective banking.
Our interest rates at present on our investment accounts are 6.05%(no penalty for withdrawals) and 6.25%(lose interest for the month in which withdrawal was made)
Shop around a bit but I think you will settle with Westpac.

Cheers

Peter

Techno Freak

Thanks again Peter, it all sounds good.

It sounds pretty much how we manage our finances at the moment, through Intelligent Finance - only with IF you are restricted to only their account online. Although, they do give you 3 current accounts, an ISA, loads of savings accounts, credit card and mortgage all within the same 'Plan'.

I use my Egg visa for all my monthly spending, then it's gets paid off in full at the end of each month. That maximises the amount of money in our current accounts to net off the mortgage interest.

I'll contact Westpac and see how we can activate before we go, It seems like a good plan you had there.

Thanks again for your help. Maybe if you're ever over Melbourne way, I'll shout you a Victoria Bitter.

Cheers.

Berena

will do. Cheers