Opening Australian bank account from UK

[natandkev24]

We are due to land in Oz (Perth)in November and want to look at opening a bank account before we arrive. Does anybody have any knowledge on best banks to use and if it’s possible to set up without an address?

also best way to transfer money?

any information would be appreciated 

[calNgary]

We used ANZ when we set ours up, used our UK address and could transfer moneys in but not withdraw until we were here and activated the account. The big banks all do it Westpac, Commonwealth etc

Cal x

[DT55]

Do NAB still sponsor this site? Could ask them?

[rammygirl]

As above all the big banks do it. You set it up on your UK address and it is activated when you arrive in Australia and present ID.  

Just go on the websites and look at migrant banking. You can always change later if you want. 

[welljock]

Just to add, it was far simpler to open the account in the UK prior to moving than setting it up once you get here

[llessur]

We set ours up with NAB from the UK - no problems during the process or in the seven years afterwards. ANZ on the other hand... 

[Marisawright]

One thing to be aware of - Australia, like the UK, has big established banks (which often don't look after their customers very well, and charge excessive fees), and a variety of smaller banks and credit unions (similar to building societies). 

Naturally enough, the big banks want to snare you while you're still overseas, because they know you won't get around to switching banks once you arrive.  However, you will get a much better deal from a smaller bank.  Unfortunately most of them don't have the resources to offer a "sign up overseas" service, so you'll have to wait.  However, you can transfer your money into a Moneycorp account and then it's a quick transfer to an Australian account once you've opened one

We've recently had a Royal Commission in Australia which exposed how badly the four big banks (ANZ, NAB, Commonwealth and Westpac) have gouged their customers for fees.  They're all up for millions of dollars in fines as a result, but they can afford it and I doubt they will change their ways!

If you're happy with an online bank, ING is a great option as it has no international transaction fees, so it's handy when you need to send money back to the UK etc.  

Edited September 18, 2019 by Marisawright

[Loopylu]

If you do set up an account with one of the big 4 banks while in the UK, make sure you have a UK back-up account and credit cards in case you have any issues when you get here.  We signed up with Westpac over 11 years ago  and when we arrived in Brisbane duly went to see the branch to do the "simple" ID proof etc to get our bank cards issued.  We had a numpty deal with us and they forgot to send off the paperwork after our appointment and so we had no access to all of our money transferred to the Westpac account because the cards did not turn up as they were supposed to....

Fortunately we still had a Nationwide account with funds and a credit card with no international transaction fees to tide us over until Westpac did their job properly.

Marisa is right that the big 4 banks are pretty useless at customer service and not to be trusted.  After 3 years here we moved from Westpac to St George when we got a mortgage with St George and like Marisa we have recently also signed up with ING for the great low interest credit card and no international transaction fees.

[Marisawright]

We had the same experience with Westpac when we migrated, it took several weeks to sort out.

You should never, ever close your UK bank accounts anyway

[natandkev24]

Thanks everyone, great advice! I’ll have a look at ING and make sure I keep uk accounts open.