Can I set up a Bank account in Oz in readiness to send money

[immy21]

Whilst still in the UK? That way I will have a ready source of funds to rent a house when I get there.
Thanks for any advice

[Mark'n'Ju]

Hi immy,
try checking out he Commenwealth bank as tey do a migrants account ,but i'm sure others have followed suit.

[ABCDiamond]

If you bank with HSBC, you can open a HSBC Australia account.

HSBC Bank, International Branch Tel: 020 7991 7278 (Local High Street Branches may not know about it)
Account Details at: http://www.hsbc.com.au/personal/accounts/osa.html

The main Australian banks that facilitate overseas opening are:
Commonwealth Bank, Financial and Migrant Section, London EC4V 4HA, Tel: 0207 710 3990

ANZ Bank ANZ account details
and
Westpac Bank - Migrants page and Westpac account details

HSBC charge no fees, and pay 4.75% on their transaction account.

Commonwealth charge either $4 or $6 per month, depending on the account.

ANZ access accounts charge either $2 or $5 per month

Westpac charges $5 per month for their standard account,
but allow 2 accounts for that, one of them being a savings account, paying reasonable interest of 5.8% pa.

[immy21]

Thanks so much. I wonder if that means all my funds are available from Aus if they are still in UK or whether I have to pay expensive transfer costs. Stupid question I know but I am not clear on this

[sparky]

Hi Immy

We have just set up an account with a company called HIFX who specialise in converting currency,you can transfer a min of £5,000 to an account in Australia(we opened one with Westpac) they have excellant exchange rates and will pay all the transfer fees you may encounter.
It was really easy to open both accounts,not sure about putting the money in ,as have'nt gotten that far but i have spoken to a few people who have used HIFX and are now in Aus and they reccomend them highly.

Lisa, :)

[calNgary]

We set an account up with HIFX to pay the DIMIA fee ,they were recommended by our agent and now recommended by ME ,they have delivered top class service so far will definately use them for transferring large amounts (when the time eventually arises),,hope this helps
Take Care
Cal x


SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR !!!!

[ABCDiamond]

Originally Posted by immy21

Thanks so much. I wonder if that means all my funds are available from Aus if they are still in UK or whether I have to pay expensive transfer costs. Stupid question I know but I am not clear on this

Once your money is in an Australian Bank account, you CANNOT access it until you arrive.

When I transferred mine, I paid £10 in transfer costs, but got a better rate than an option that had no fees, consequently I ended up with more dollars in my pocket :) (But I did have to work for it)

HIFX is an easy option, and recommended by many for the transfer, but I assume you do need an Australian Bank account to transfer it to.