banking in australia

mygeorgie

hi,does anyone have any experience of banking/opening a bank account whilst working in Australia please?

KiKi

Five main banks:
NAB
Westpac
Commonwealth Bank
ANZ
St Georges

St Georges is smaller than the others, and newer.

IMO, they're all much of a muchness if you're just wanting a bank account for day to day banking, whilst on a short visa. Banking isn't free; you'll pay $5 or so per month. You'll also find that using their equivalent of debit cards isn't necessarily free, depending on the bank account you choose - there may be a limit of how many transactions you can make per month by card.

If you're on a short term visa it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to get a credit card. I've found that it's cheaper to make purchases on my PO credit card and pay online from a British account than it is to use an Aus debit card in certain circumstances!

I personally rate ANZ for customer service, helpfulness and ease of setting stuff up. Westpac and Commonwealth are terribly 'corporate' (think Barclays), and I found NAB to just be confusing! St Georges are a smaller business so more personal; however, they have fewer branches, and offer limited services to those who are not fully emigrating.

ATM withdrawals are not free between banks, either, in many circumstances (depends on your account) so you probably want to choose one that is close by to where you're staying, or use a bigger bank like ANZ or Westpac.

You can open an account from overseas, but they will all require you to go in branch within 6 weeks of arrival with your passport and other ID to access your funds.

HTH.
KiKi