Anamws

Halo you all

Just a question for those of you who have taken the plunge. When transfering your moneys to Aussie, what bank did you use and why? Bank charges spring to mind :scared: as we don't have much to transfer and don't want to find that banks are taking gret chunks out of our small fortune.

Thanks.

rydel

We used the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, don't know if it is good as we have not used their service yet. We opened the account through the Singapore branch. The minimum amount of deposit was AUD$500 for the savings account (they have a few, can't remember the names). However, they charge a monthly service fee of AUD$5 unless you open a Cash Management Account with at least AUD$5,000 in the account, in which case, the service fee will be waived.

Sorry can't advise anything more as we have yet to relocate to Melbourne.

Anamws

ydel.

Thank you Rydel. Have also opened a/c with CW but was wondering whether to go with another bank if charges were too high.

Budgie

Seconding that question - where do you get the best exchange rates at the moment? Has anybody changed UK£ to Oz$ recently and what rate did you get?

We're due to go in January - but seriously considering leaving the majority of our money over here still as the exchange rate is so disappointing at the moment (from a UK point of view of course!)

PeteY

Its a delicate line to walk....

This is PURELY my opinion.

The historic exchange rate for aus dollars to pounds has been about 2 to the pound. In 99 it soared to 2.9 and has been falling since, with little sign of picking up.

THere is no real way of predicting exchange rates, but my feeling is that it will return to somthing near its historic rate. I do hope i am wrong, but that is definatly the way its been heading for some time now.

I am exchanging very soon.....and i will be happy IF i manage to get 2.5 (which is doubtful).

Budgie

I'd be happy with 2.5 as well!

Where do you intend to go to change, Pete?

Enzo&Chloe

mmmmmmm. leaving money over here , is a bit dubious, for the OTA. they will fixe a rate of exchange on the date you enter the country.

If the exchange rate then moves in your favour. ie you get more A$ for your £ , this will be classified as a capital gain and so be taxed at the the highest rate..ie probably at 48%. (Unless you leave it for over a year, and then you get 50% tax relief)

PeteY

Of course....the advantage is that when your over there, the stronger the dollar the better

As for who we are using Budgie.....the wife is an accountant, so she is dealing with that. I can't remember who she picked in the end, but i have a feeling we are using HSBC, as we bank with them both here and in oz. We are'nt sending a huge amount anyway, as we don't have a house.

Cheers

Pete.

Budgie

Thanks Pete.

We were going to start with HSBC for a quote as well - purely because we bank with them already.

Will just have to bite the bullet regarding the exchange rate, it's just the luck of the draw!

PADDAD

We opened up a Common Wealth Bank acc in the U.K. and I would recommend them only as a vehicle for exchanging pounds to dollars as their exchange rate is fairly competitive and the convenience factor for immigrants is a huge advantage. However their charges are astronomical. We have since opened up an HSBC account for day to day use and find their charges are very low or there are none at all. We shopped around at the Brisbane banks and HSBC came out tops.

owieb

I think you're probably right PeteY, it doesn't look promising at the moment.

We brought some over a few weeks back and only got 2.4082. Though it was really bad timing as the rate dropped dramatically on that day (we had to bring it over then as we needed it for a deposit). The next few days it went back up to about 2.46 so we lost over $3,500 in a couple of days (that's a months salary!).

bondipom

2 Things happened in the late nineties to change the exchange rate.

THe move by Gordon Brown to make the Bank of England interest rate decisions independant of elected officials boosted the pound. At that point the dot com bubble was powering through and interest rates climbed. High interest rates attracts foreign currency. The UK exchequer was also in surplus and inflation was lowering therefore making the GBP attractive.

Australia trades a lot with Asia and the Asian currency crisis of 1997 and 1998 decreased the value of the AUD but nowhere near as dramtically as some of the neighbours currencies.

Basically Australia has been running at a low compared to other currencies and the GBP has been running at a high. It is also hard to distinguish the long term trend from the monthly movements. Maybe 2.5 is the new natural rate!

The AUD is highly volatile and I would not want to bet on the currency going either way. I feel sorry for those transferring the value of their houses as you may as well go down the bookies.

Anyway the dollar dropped overnight and the GBP increased!! Do not make anything of that though as it is a reaction to a statemen by Bush.

MrsDagboy

For those that are considering the Commonwealth bank, my suggestion would be to shop around after you get here as Diana has done & find someone better. Commonwealth charge like wounded bulls & are completely & utterly useless. I have just spent 2 hrs down at the Commonwealth this morning arguing with them over discharging a mortgage. According to them, I had to deposit the excess funds left over after paying out the mortgage into an account in my maiden name. Pity all my accounts with them have been changed to my married name . And it had to bean account only in my name, not a joint account with my husband. WTF??!?!?! Finally she worked out that we would be depositing a large sum of money & the backflips started, the grovelling was pathetic to see. I even got a phone call when I got home to apologise for the run around I got, of course I can deposit in any account that I want blah blah.

Same bank that has continued to send statements & correspondance to our old address for the last 12 months, despite numerous phone calls, trips to the bank etc to rectify the problem. And they think they are competent enough to handle our money .... I think NOT!!

Looking for a new bank, anyone have any suggestions?

owieb

I'd agree with that statement! From the UK they're useful to get you started, but I think there is better choice once you settle down.

I'm giving Challenge Bank a go now, as we've just got a mortgage with them.

DianeOZ

We used a company called Moneycorp who charged $15 for the transaction. We were probably ripped off but it's done now.

Diane