Westpac, NAB or Commonwealth Bank? Which one? Which one?

[Maggie2012]

So now we have 3 options for banks (we can open an account online), all look similar except Westpac has a branch in London. Which one do you use and how do you find their services?

[Incata]

We use the Commonwealth Bank which also have an office in London (where we opened our account). We have found them to be very good on the whole. They sorted us out with a mortgage within 3 months of getting here and are quick to solve problems.

 

I have no experience of Westpac, other than trying to open an account with them before we arrived. They did not respond to phonecalls or emails and did not send out the information they said they would. After three attempts we gave up and went with the Commonwealth Bank who have been excellent. We have not had any problems with them and were able to collect our cards the day after we arrived. Our flight landed in the evening which is why we could not get them the same day.

 

I think in the end that all three will be much of a muchness and in the end you should go with those which have branches or ATMs near where you plan to live/work as there are charges to withdraw money from other ATMS.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Incata
spelling

[Maggie2012]

We use the Commonwelath Bank which also have an office in London (where we opened our account). We have found them to be very good on the whole. They sorted us out with a mortgage within 3 months of getting here and are quick to solve problems.

 

I have no experience of Westpac, other than trying to open an account with them before we arrived. They did not respond to phonecalls or emails and did not send out the information they said they would. After three attempts we gave up and went with the Commonwealth Bank who have been excellent. We have not had any problems with them and were able to collect our cards the day after we arrived. Our flight landed in the evening which is why we could not get them the same day.

 

I think in the end that all three will be much of a muchness and in the end you should go with those which have branches or ATMs near where you plan to live/work as there are charges to withdraw money from other ATMS.

 

thank you for the info on Commonwealth Bank. My other question would be, when you transferred your funds from your UK current account, did it count as an international transfer or as between banks (free) in the UK?

[Peach]

I would say unless you are lucky enough to need 'wealth management' any one of them will do the job as adequately as any UK high street bank. Even tho you can open a NAB or Commonwealth bank from the UK, the account is still in Australia (and not active until you show ID in an Australian branch) so you need to use a Forex company to move money into it - using a bank to do the transfer is the expensive way.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Peach

[Petals]

We all bank with NAB always have always will. Do not like Westpac or CBA but that is because I dealt with them daily at work.

[Candygirl]

We went with the Commonwealth. We were very undecided. We had been with the Commonwealth previously many years ago, so we thought better the devil you know. I completed an online form and was contacted by phone from a migration specialist who opened the account for me. I was then contacted by the migration specialist in Perth who confirmed they had received our funds and they have made an appointment to meet with us to activate the account the day after we arrive.

 

We thought as long as we had an account to begin with, we could always open another one once we are over there if we feel there are better options.

[Parley]

NAB's bank account is fee free with no conditions. The other major banks are generally fee free if you deposit over $2000 per month (eg salary).

 

They are all pretty similar and if you can deposit the monthly minimum to avoid the fee then any will do, otherwise go with NAB who are always fee free.

[LizzyTinKnicks]

I went with NAB and they have been perfectly fine. Nothing special, nothing rubbish. Opened my account prior to coming over and picked up all the cards etc when I arrived, it was all straightforward. Annoyingly they didn't advise me that there was a block on my account for the first time doing anything (using the ATM, doing an internet transfer etc) which you have to go into the branch to get lifted. It was pretty inconvenient (and unexpected!) at the time but otherwise and since then it's been fine.

 

The main reason I picked NAB was because they have the PIO partnership with moneycorp for fee-free foreign exchange transfers, which has worked well for me. (I have no idea how competitive Money corp are, but that's another question). As I understand it, most banks generally charge a fee to RECEIVE foreign transfers, quite aside from any fees charges by the originating bank or forex, but with NAB/moneycorp they don't. I received from money from my parents using another forex provider and I got charged $24 by NAB, so it adds up I guess.

 

Having said that, I still use NAB occasionally but my main account is now with ING . I like that you can use any ATM for free (if you withdraw $200+ a time) rather than being tied to a particular bank, and I get a bit of cash back by using the wave and pay card. Worth investigating?

 

My feeling is that it's probably best to get all your accounts (current, savings, credit card etc) with one provider initially and then once you've got a bit of credit history you can shop around for the best deals. It would probably help when it comes time to arranging loans, mortgages etc as well

[LizzyTinKnicks]

Actually, I've just remembered that NAB can be pretty cavalier with other peoples money.... a couple of months ago I received a deposit of over $8,000 into my account from a random individual abroad (obviously someone who'd keyed in the intended account number wrongly). I notified NAB straight away but it took several lengthy phone calls and 2 branch visits to get it sorted and the money taken out of my account again. They didn't seem to care about getting it sorted promptly, even though the sender was probably out of their mind with worry about what had happened to the money and I'd complained that I didn't want this money in my account as it wasn't mine and I didn't want to spend it accidentally. It took a good couple of weeks for them to deal with it and overall I thought it was pretty poorly handled, actually.

[Incata]

thank you for the info on Commonwealth Bank. My other question would be, when you transferred your funds from your UK current account, did it count as an international transfer or as between banks (free) in the UK?

 

We did not use them as they charged high fees and got us lower exchange rates than we could get elsewhere. We used moneycorp to transfer our money as they don't charge pomsinoz members fees and had better exchange rates. Commonwealth Bank also gave us one years free banking which was great. We only opened it from the UK so that our cards would be ready on arrival and we transferred some money across before we came, so we had funds waiting and ready to go.

[kbounds]

My husband is already in oz and we opened up his bank account online from the UK before he went out. He is with NAB. All the other banks wanted a fee and it seemed you needed a set amount paid in every month. He just needed to go into bank to confirm his identity when he arrived and they issued him with his debit card. They also attached an isaver account to his current one with a good interest rate. Well worth a look at NAB :-)

also, i have transferred money from our HSBC account here and they charge £9.00 to do this

[Maggie2012]

I have LLoyds and hubby has Halifax. LLoyds wants £17.50 for a transfer on 10K ( for example) but the exchange rate they offered was 1.663. Hubby checked Halifax, they only charge £9.50 but the exchange rate they wanted to give was 1.635. What a difference! We both looked at it at the same time so the exchange rate is calculated at the same time.

 

On the other hand, Commonwealth Bank listed the exchange rate at 1.695!

 

We seen NAB offering totally free banking. We were just wondering if that was reflected on service, apparently it is not, which is a good thing :-)

[Alan Collett]

It would be impolite to use any bank other than the one that is involved with this forum ... :-)

 

Best regards.

[Maggie2012]

It would be impolite to use any bank other than the one that is involved with this forum ... :-)

 

Best regards.

 

Don't think it has anything to do woth politeness...if a bank is competetive and has good reputation yes. Not saying NAB doesn't. Also, my thread was moved out of the ACT forum and the question wasn't only bank specific but Canberra specific. I didn't think I had to add Canberra to the title to have it remain in the thread. So thank you moderators for moving the thread :-)

[Fisher1]

I opened an account with Westpac two years ago, in the UK. They answered my email enquiry promptly and phoned to give me details. I opened the account by mail, current and esaver, and went down to their branch in London to show proof of ID and get the cards sorted out. I went to London on my way on holiday (not to oz) and when I got home to UK my Westpac card was waiting for me.

 

We had six months free banking and thereafter have paid 5 dollars a month. (We are still in the UK, this is a non-resident account)

 

I transfer my money via xe currency traders online as I believe they give a better rate of exchange. They charge £12.50 for each transaction, but give a good exchange rate. I have been very happy with the service I got from Westpac but not convinced we get the best rate of interest.

[Rupert]

Don't think it has anything to do woth politeness...if a bank is competetive and has good reputation yes. Not saying NAB doesn't. Also, my thread was moved out of the ACT forum and the question wasn't only bank specific but Canberra specific. I didn't think I had to add Canberra to the title to have it remain in the thread. So thank you moderators for moving the thread :-)

 

There are no Canberra specific banks. Some states do have regional banks, Canberra does not. Banks are much of a muchness, pick one out of a hat and focus on more important things.

[Peach]

We had six months free banking and thereafter have paid 5 dollars a month. (We are still in the UK, this is a non-resident account)

 

I transfer my money via xe currency traders online as I believe they give a better rate of exchange. They charge £12.50 for each transaction, but give a good exchange rate. I have been very happy with the service I got from Westpac but not convinced we get the best rate of interest.

 

Two comments: 1.. Why is six month free banking preferable to unlimited free banking from NAB or ING? 2.. xe.com will only charge a transfer fee if you choose WIRE instead of ACH/EFT to send the payment - it's free if you use ACH/EFT.

[Blackhorse]

I went with NAB and have been very impressed, they've given a real personal approach to understanding a migrant's requirements.

[flatpack]

We opened a NAB account on our last holiday to Oz. I think all bank are there for their own ends first and yours last, so any bank will do! I chose NAB because to nab, is to steal and I thought that it's ironic for a bank.

[ABL275]

We did not use them as they charged high fees and got us lower exchange rates than we could get elsewhere. We used moneycorp to transfer our money as they don't charge pomsinoz members fees and had better exchange rates. Commonwealth Bank also gave us one years free banking which was great. We only opened it from the UK so that our cards would be ready on arrival and we transferred some money across before we came, so we had funds waiting and ready to go.

 

Ditto - we used Commonwealth Bank as they have an office in London and I was able to just wander down to London Circuit in arrival in Canberra and pick up a full set of cards and account numbers.

 

I've had no probnlems with CBA but yes, they do charge $25 plus the exchange rate difference everytime you transfer back to a UK bank (including CBA in the UK).

[Quoll]

Try St George, they're with Westpac now but we've been with them since they were the building society that gave us a mortgage. You don't have to go with he big names. We've had accounts with many of them for one thing or another over the years but keep coming back to St G.

[Incata]

St George repossessed our house from the previous occupants and despite selling it to us at auction, refuse to believe that the people they repossessed it from, no longer live here. Dealing with them is like banging your head against a brick wall. They even sent a letter threatening court action this week. We had to phone them up and tell them that they had already done that, repossessed the house and sold it to us.

 

Bright they aren't. I would not let me kids have a savings account with them, let alone our current account or mortgage.

[Maggie2012]

There are no Canberra specific banks. Some states do have regional banks, Canberra does not. Banks are much of a muchness, pick one out of a hat and focus on more important things.

 

Not about being Canberra specific but having a better coverage over the city. We want to have funds available on arrival but we do not know yet which part or suburb will we settle into. That is waht I meant by being Canberra specific.

[Maggie2012]

Ditto - we used Commonwealth Bank as they have an office in London and I was able to just wander down to London Circuit in arrival in Canberra and pick up a full set of cards and account numbers.

 

I've had no probnlems with CBA but yes, they do charge $25 plus the exchange rate difference everytime you transfer back to a UK bank (including CBA in the UK).

 

Have you used their London Transfer Account? Looking at it it is an inhouse solution such as Mon,Corp. Their rates are the same as well and they offer free of charge transfers over £5000.

[Quoll]

St George repossessed our house from the previous occupants and despite selling it to us at auction, refuse to believe that the people they repossessed it from, no longer live here. Dealing with them is like banging your head against a brick wall. They even sent a letter threatening court action this week. We had to phone them up and tell them that they had already done that, repossessed the house and sold it to us.

 

Bright they aren't. I would not let me kids have a savings account with them, let alone our current account or mortgage.

 

Wow, that's not good. They've been better on the ball with us than both ANZ and NAB in the past for us.