Hi there

Has anyone opened a bank account in OZ from the UK. If so who with and how they do it.

Thanks

Mark

You can with HSBC but the only branch is in the city so may not be too convenient.
We opened an aact with Westpac when we were over there last year and transfer money into it monthly.

Ali

Hi

We opened an account with the Commonwealth Bank. We did it via their webiste. I'm not very good at doing links but have a look under FAQ and there may be a link there. If not one of the mods may be able to help.

Mandy :bouncy:

Have moved this to general discussion, you may get more replies there.
:)

Hi

We opened an account with the commomwealth bank. They have a branch in London. We contacted them (I think we found their number on the web) and they posted an application pack to us. Filled all the forms out and sent the required documents, and they opened the UK account for us. They then send all the info to the Branch in King William Street in Adelaide and when you transfer your first amount of money, this activates the Aus account. When you arrive, you arrange a meeting and they explain everything and give you your debit card. They were very helpful, especially the migrant service this end.

Commonwealth aren't the cheapest bank for charges, but they have the most ATM's in Adelaide, so getting at your money is easier. We get 15 free transactions a month and after that you pay for each one ( think it's about $2.50). The London branch can send you the booklet with all the charges. We have overcome this by getting a credit card. Everthing goes on that during the month and then it's only one transaction to pay at the end of the month. And virtually everywhere excepts credit cards for purchases. You can set up direct debit for bills etc off the credit card, which is really convenient.

Lesley

We opened our account on line with ANZ bank, so far they have been fab ! I did put it up in the 'Recommendations' forum :D

I agree with you there Shaz as we have just closed our account with the Commonwealth as the charges were high. The ANZ don't charge a thing only the $5 monthly fee. Using your credit card can incur interest if you don't pay it off in full each month.

Julia. :D

Thanks for that guys, really appreciate it. Looks like Anz bank has the thumbs up. Would be spooky have to go back to paying bank charges.

Thanks again for your help.

Mark

I f you e-mail Ann at the ANZ she'll be more than happy to advise you, here's her e-mail

bayleya2@anz.com :D