readytogo2016 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Hi all, New to the site (as of today) and we are very pleased to be here! We have recently had our visas granted (for permanent residency) and we are sssssssssoooooooooo excited!:wink: Now to get down to the 'nitty gritty'. We are looking at setting up an Australian bank account (from the UK) and so can anyone recommend which bank would be best and obviously are there any fees associated with these companies/transferring our money from the UK to Oz? We will have various other questions but this is a start..! Thanks all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CiderDrinkingCoder Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Congratulations and welcome to the site. I'm sure some of the guys will be along to give their tuppenceworth on banks and transfer services. Personally, as long as a bank does as it says and holds my money, I look at them all pretty much the same. In terms of transfers, I've used Transferwise very successfully and love their low charges. Might want to check them out. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT55 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Many congratulations!!! When we moved we set up our Oz current account with WestPac from the UK and they were pretty good to be honest. Personally I would never transfer money directly through the bank as you will get a much better deal using a currency broker. I have used both HiFx and Moneycorp both of which have been really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 A lot of our members use NAB and are very happy with them, you can set up your account online. If you tell them you are from Pomsinoz they will fast track your application. https://www.nationalaustraliabank.com/nabglobal/en/banking/migrant-banking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Priscilla101 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 You can set u nab online and it's really simle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 Hi all, New to the site (as of today) and we are very pleased to be here! We have recently had our visas granted (for permanent residency) and we are sssssssssoooooooooo excited!:wink: Now to get down to the 'nitty gritty'. We are looking at setting up an Australian bank account (from the UK) and so can anyone recommend which bank would be best and obviously are there any fees associated with these companies/transferring our money from the UK to Oz? We will have various other questions but this is a start..! Thanks all There isnt a "best bank" in Australia, any more than there is in the UK. All much of a muchness. Just pick one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjwilli Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 We have just opened both individual, joint and savings account with westpac. No fees for 12 months. Do id checks here so they can send bank cards to your UK address so you can access your money as soon as you land. I've also just transferred £9500 last week and got $2.02/£. I was haggling between a broker and the bank - the bank won! They kept beating the brokers next rate. We will have more money to transfer and I'll be doing the same again. Not literally took 10 mins to open the account on line. The bank then sorted out joint account and saving account for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winter1 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 I would recommend when you arrive you could transfer to a credit union there are some that are based on the industry or profession you are in similar to the Bank Vic link attached or Victoria Teachers Mutual. These institutions use the major banks to facilitate transactions and ATM withdrawals (which are often charged for in Australia however these are waived for their members) . They generally offer better terms with no monthly fees. I also bank with ING as well however I am not sure any of these can be opened whilst still in the UK. The links below are only for illustration of the services they provide. https://www.ingdirect.com.au/ http://www.victeach.com.au/ http://bankvic.com.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendylewis Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hi all, New to the site (as of today) and we are very pleased to be here! We have recently had our visas granted (for permanent residency) and we are sssssssssoooooooooo excited!:wink: Now to get down to the 'nitty gritty'. We are looking at setting up an Australian bank account (from the UK) and so can anyone recommend which bank would be best and obviously are there any fees associated with these companies/transferring our money from the UK to Oz? We will have various other questions but this is a start..! Thanks all Congratulations. We opened accounts online in the UK with the Commonwealth Bank and our cards were waiting at the local branch when we arrived. We used Transferwise to send all our money as we looked into Banks, Money Corp etc and compared their rates and fees and Transferwise was the best. This was last year tho. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adele244 Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 We have just opened both individual, joint and savings account with westpac. No fees for 12 months. Do id checks here so they can send bank cards to your UK address so you can access your money as soon as you land. I've also just transferred £9500 last week and got $2.02/£. I was haggling between a broker and the bank - the bank won! They kept beating the brokers next rate. We will have more money to transfer and I'll be doing the same again. Not literally took 10 mins to open the account on line. The bank then sorted out joint account and saving account for us. That sounds great. Although I thought you had to already have an address out there before you could apply (I must have got that bit wrong) Unless you already have an address? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjwilli Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 That sounds great. Although I thought you had to already have an address out there before you could apply (I must have got that bit wrong) Unless you already have an address? no just my UK address, certified copies of my passport and driving license. Just waiting for our cards to arrive now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 In Australia, deposits in all banks and credit unions are guaranteed safe up to $250,000. In Australia, there are four big banks - Commonwealth, NAB, ANZ and Westpac. They dominate the market, to the point where many Australians feel they don't treat their customers as well as they could (because they don't need to). So most Aussies would probably steer you towards one of the smaller banks or a credit union. However, it's not so easy to open an account with one of those banks while you are overseas, so one of the Big Four is probably your best bet. NAB is the one most PIO members used. Don't use a bank to transfer your money though - use Moneycorp or a company like them. Again, Moneycorp offers a special deal for PomsinOz members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickyNook Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 .... NAB is the one most PIO members used. Not sure how you can say that. Has there been some sort of survey of PIO members? I've never had a NAB account, ever. And I've lived in Australia for a very long time. I use Commonwealth Bank, very happy with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Not sure how you can say that. Has there been some sort of survey of PIO members? I've never had a NAB account, ever. And I've lived in Australia for a very long time. I use Commonwealth Bank, very happy with them. I meant as an initial bank when they arrive, and I'm sure a lot of PIO'ers do use them because they have a partner forum here and are recommended by PIO. I'm sure you know the Big Four banks are "on the nose" with a lot of Australians - do they still show those St George ads? As it happens, I'm with Commonwealth too, but if I wasn't old enough to get a Pensioner's account with them, I would've changed banks by now. No problem with the service, but many of the smaller banks and credit unions offer lower fees for transaction accounts. I don't have my savings in the Commonwealth because the smaller banks/credit unions offer better interest on those, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Not sure how you can say that. Has there been some sort of survey of PIO members? I've never had a NAB account, ever. And I've lived in Australia for a very long time. I use Commonwealth Bank, very happy with them. For new members coming over and who are on the forum I would say a large number sign up to NAB, maybe it's because they offer priority opening and service to Pomsinoz members and it is the only one of the big 4 banks that don't charge a monthly fee for having your money with them. Why banks charge you for having your money is something that I have never understood. Plus I suppose having the link here to just click on and open an account is easy https://www.nationalaustraliabank.com/nabglobal/en/banking/migrant-banking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booma Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 we opened our account with commonwealth & we dont pay any fees. they have been brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 we opened our account with commonwealth & we dont pay any fees. they have been brilliant. Is that because you have to pay in a minimum amount each month? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawka Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Hi, Congratulation for your visa ! I am client of HSBC and they have branches in UK and in OZ. It was pretty easy to open Australian bank account. Also they have global view for all your accounts and easy transfers between UK and Australia. Down side is that exchange rate is not as good as brokers however you can negotiate with bigger sums. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.