Ideas for currency for a frequent visitor to Australia

wytco0

For many years I have been a regular visitor to Australia, I have always tried to ensure that I try and waste as little of my money as possible of paying fees to banks and credit card companies.

Recently I have been using Nationwide Flexaccount and Credit card on trips to both the US and Australia.

With the current uncertainty with the GBP exchange rate I decided to take advanatage of the exchange rate to buy some Asutralian dollars at the rate of 2.5055 which is a good rate. I know the GBP could strengthen before I get to Oz in December but I dont think I am likely to lose in a major way on this part of my plan.

I have arranged for the Ozzie dollars to be sent to a friends account in Sydney and this got me thinking....

Could I setup an Austrlian Bank account in my name and transfer the money there and then in future use this method?

I found an account operated by ANZ called the "Non Resident Access Advantage Account" and I am in the process of applying for it.

My plan is to put my AUD's into this account when its setup and then to use it for all cash I need while I am there.

But I have a couple of questions:

1) Have I missed something with this plan?
2) Has anyone else done something similar and if so do they have any advice?
3) Why dont other regular travellers do this sort of thing?

dzug1

Possible drawbacks:

Exchange rate fluctuations aside, it's more expensive than your Nationwide cards. There will be transfer fees (certainly) and a doctored exchange rate (maybe)

Australian banks are notorious for charging - check this carefully.

wytco0

dzug1 wrote: »

Possible drawbacks:

Exchange rate fluctuations aside, it's more expensive than your Nationwide cards. There will be transfer fees (certainly) and a doctored exchange rate (maybe)

Australian banks are notorious for charging - check this carefully.

dzug1 thanks for your thoughts very Interesting!

Re the exchange rate the rate I got for buying 4000AUD on Monday was 2.5055 and in addition I paid a £7 fee. That's a total of £1603.49 for 4000 AUD delivered to an ANZ account in Sydney. I think that a pretty good rate and I am more than happy with it.

In future I would plan to move money directly to my ANZ account in Sydney rather than via my friends account. I know I am taking a small gamble with the rate but 2.5055 is a good rate. I will still use my Nationwide cards although one of the downsides of using credit cards is that you dont know the rate you will be charged when you make a purchase.

Regarding the ANZ account and wheter its good value or not that s the bit I am far less certain about, However having a bank account in Australia would be very usefull to me and I am prepared to pay a small amount for that facility.

ck1987

wytco0 wrote: »

Regarding the ANZ account and wheter its good value or not that s the bit I am far less certain about, However having a bank account in Australia would be very usefull to me and I am prepared to pay a small amount for that facility.

Can't speak for ANZ accounts but normally Australian accounts cost around $5 a month to run.

bridiej

ck1987 wrote: »

Can't speak for ANZ accounts but normally Australian accounts cost around $5 a month to run.

Our account is with ANZ and yes, we pay $5 a month
Probably worth investigating any possible tax implications by having an Aus account before you open it, just in case.

alison74

I couldn't even open a joint bank account in Australia as I was on a tourist visa, even though I was applying with my boyfriend who lives and works there.

When I left AUS at end of May, I was getting 2.09 with Nationwide And now I see it's shot back up which hasn't been good for him who has been here this summer and was charged as high as 2.57 with his Wizard Credit Card (no Aussie fees OR overseas transactions)

It's all a gamble really, 2.50 is pretty good.

wytco0

Hi All thanks for the info.

Well I have sent off the application and I will see what happens, the account says its for people not currently resident and has to be validated in person in Oz, this has to be done by visiting a branch and showing my passport.

In the application info I have ticked the box 'Other' in answer to the question 'Reason for coming to Australia?'

It does not say anything about having to be resident or studying or about type of visa so I am assuming that although I will be on a tourist visa it will be OK. But we shall see.

$5 per months is fine I am happy to pay that.

If this all fails then it will be back to my Nationwide card and using my friends Bank account !

bridiej

If you're entering on a tourist visa be prepared that Immigration might be interested, we see it every week on Border Security, people being quizzed about possibly working on tourist visas and having a bank account is a flag.

wytco0

bridiej wrote: »

If you're entering on a tourist visa be prepared that Immigration might be interested, we see it every week on Border Security, people being quizzed about possibly working on tourist visas and having a bank account is a flag.

Thanks for the warning, I will be prepared. Hopefully it wont be a problem as we are frequent visitors and we always leave when we say we will.