which bank should i open an account with

[Lorna Beel]

Who are the best bank to open an account with in australia i emigrate to brisbane in just over 3 weeks and am hoping to have it all sorted for going over there any advice would be extremely useful

Thanks

[Mattt]

NAB have been helpful so far, and it's fee free unlike others.

[Jzombie]

Commonwealth bank has more ATMs inBrisbane from the looks of Google maps. Worth checking their website regarding fees. CBA gives free banking providing you're depositing your wages to the tune of about $2000 monthly and I believe they're offering 12 months free in any event. CBA also provide a London Transfer account, which makes things pretty easy for money transfers beforehand.

[proview]

Nab, very easy and straight forward to open acc.

[Rob64]

Commonwealth Bank, open your account when you get to Australia. All very straight forward.

[Xenon4017]

I think most banks allow you to open an account from offshore as a migrant. Then you just need to pop into a branch with your passport to confirm your identity. You'll need an address for them to send the cash cards out to, but this can be a temporary address.

For a personal/transaction account, we chose Nab. I guess the big 4 are all pretty similar really. One thing that's quite useful is a credit card, or at least a debit card with a 16 digit number. This will allow you to pay for stuff online, like bills or the bridge tolls. If you use a uk card then you'll get slugged for transaction charges and commision, even though the amounts of what you're paying for is small.

[parleycross]

NABs account is fee free with no conditions. The other majors require you to deposit at least $2000 a month to avoid a monthly account keeping fee.

NAB also has the lowest standard mortgage rate of the majors so if you intend getting a home loan that is worth considering.

Other than that they are all pretty similar.

[oxymore]

Am I reading correctly that you need to pay $6 to cash in a cheque from another bank??