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Which Australian Bank would you recommend before emigrating?


Karlthecamper

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We have also now opened an NAB account. Seems the best option when opening from the UK- especially as we have no Aus address as yet. We contacted their migrant banking dept and a lady called Micaela Duncan who answered a million questions without being pushy. The email we have been corresponding on this email: Migrant.Banking@eu.nabgroup.com if useful to anyone. With regards to transferring money, we plan up look elsewhere than moneycorp- possibly transferwise- as we think we can get a better rate than moneycorp offer. We'll see though...

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I ended up thinking thinking that if it's anything like the UK, banks are much of muchness. A few people I know who moved over switched to another bank after a year or so.

 

I suspect this may well be the case and we are all over thinking a bit - in fairness, trying to prepare the best we can for our long distance move. :daydreaming:

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@vickyplum - indeed. I dare say I could have found the 'perfect' solution, but all the other things there is to sort out, I just picked some options and got it out of the way. I admit I just went with nab in the end cos it's the easiest to open an account online from the UK. Hopefully they won't be too sh#t [emoji90]

 

A few people said bankwest are good.

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@vickyplum - indeed. I dare say I could have found the 'perfect' solution, but all the other things there is to sort out, I just picked some options and got it out of the way. I admit I just went with nab in the end cos it's the easiest to open an account online from the UK. Hopefully they won't be too sh#t [emoji90]

 

A few people said bankwest are good.

 

I'm sure they'll be fine, and if not, you can change to one of the others that have been discussed on the various threads :)

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Once our transfer went through I tried to register for online banking but it didn't work. This was just to check the money was there ok. They were supposed to send an activation code to my phone, but it never came (maybe because we are in the UK at the moment).

 

 

I just registered for internet banking and it worked OK - I got the code on my UK mobile.

 

The SMS didn't actually get sent until I had entered the "NAB identification number" and started the process.

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I just registered for internet banking and it worked OK - I got the code on my UK mobile.

 

The SMS didn't actually get sent until I had entered the "NAB identification number" and started the process.

 

really? I tried that and it didn't come. I'll have another go. I just wanted to check they have our $$loot after the moneycorp transaction :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just checked my Commonwealth Bank account and they charge 'up to $25' for each receipt from overseas - that could add up to a lot if bringing money over in tranches - Are people saying that this is fee free with NAB/HSBC/Citibank? I really like the idea of one bank two currencies - transferring between TSB and Commonwealth a nightmare, plus TSB restricts amount transferred so not sure how you would transfer a large amount (suspect you would need to be in UK)

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Guest AltyMatt
TSB restricts amount transferred so not sure how you would transfer a large amount (suspect you would need to be in UK)

 

You are usually given a few days to transfer funds once a deal has been booked. My UK account has a 10K limit so I moved blocks of 10K each day until deal was cleared.

The exchange rate to move money via a retail bank's UK & Australian entities will be very poor compared to a dedicated forex service & you won't pay fees to the sending or receiving banks, as to them it will be processed as a local transaction.

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You are usually given a few days to transfer funds once a deal has been booked. My UK account has a 10K limit so I moved blocks of 10K each day until deal was cleared.

The exchange rate to move money via a retail bank's UK & Australian entities will be very poor compared to a dedicated forex service & you won't pay fees to the sending or receiving banks, as to them it will be processed as a local transaction.

 

So if I transfer 10 K per day using Oxforex/Moneycorp I don't pay a receiving fee with Commonwealth? That makes sense....

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Guest AltyMatt
So if I transfer 10 K per day using Oxforex/Moneycorp I don't pay a receiving fee with Commonwealth? That makes sense....

You shouldn't do (may have to transfer over a certain amount to avoid fees).

I used https://www.internationalmoneytransfers.com.au and there were no fees, as essentially there are 2 local transactions at each end.

1 You transfer GBP from your UK bank account to the Forex firm's UK account.

2 Forex firm changes GPB to AUD & places in their Australian account.

3 Forex firm transfers AUD from their Australian account to your nominated Australian account.

 

If you do this via a retail bank the exchange rate will probably be 2% or 3% poorer.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I'm going with Commonwealth Bank. They opened an account for me over the telephone in the UK (they've a branch on The Strand), and have also helped with an account with Afex, who will sort out transfers without any fees. I pick up my debit card when I'm over in Australia (where they'll do final ID checks).

 

Importantly for me, Commbank has the best app for any Australian bank and apparently the online banking system is very good. They even have Android Wear support (and let me pay with my phone, which sounds complex and pointless!); and my partner banks with them and recommends them.

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