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Johnthepom · 29-01-2008, 11:32 PM

Hi there and welcome to PIO,

I can offer a suggestion for the Banking that may be hepful.

I am with HSBC (through First Direct) here in the UK and if you open an HSBC Premier Account this enables you to have combined accounts in the UK and Australia that can be operated on the Net and Phone etc. for maximum flexibility.

We are due to fly out in the next few weeks and already have an Aus bank account and Switch Cards / Cheque book etc. although they did advise waiting till we were in Aus before applying for the credit card as this can create delays in setting up the Australian accounts.

The only down side is that there are qualifying requirements for a Premier Account which means you either need to have £50,000 in the account to qualify for the account without fees, otherwise there is a monthly charge of £20 (or it may have been £25, I can't remember), but if you have a property to sell, then this may not be an issue.

Even if you paid the fee for a few months to get the accounts set up, it may be worthwhile to give yourself a credit rating and banking facilities from day one. Once you are settled you could change the account back to a standard one and save the fees.

Good luck
John

29-01-2008, 11:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
Johnthepom Junior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northampton England Posts: 27	Banking Hi there and welcome to PIO, I can offer a suggestion for the Banking that may be hepful. I am with HSBC (through First Direct) here in the UK and if you open an HSBC Premier Account this enables you to have combined accounts in the UK and Australia that can be operated on the Net and Phone etc. for maximum flexibility. We are due to fly out in the next few weeks and already have an Aus bank account and Switch Cards / Cheque book etc. although they did advise waiting till we were in Aus before applying for the credit card as this can create delays in setting up the Australian accounts. The only down side is that there are qualifying requirements for a Premier Account which means you either need to have £50,000 in the account to qualify for the account without fees, otherwise there is a monthly charge of £20 (or it may have been £25, I can't remember), but if you have a property to sell, then this may not be an issue. Even if you paid the fee for a few months to get the accounts set up, it may be worthwhile to give yourself a credit rating and banking facilities from day one. Once you are settled you could change the account back to a standard one and save the fees. Good luck John