Bank account to Australia?

GoingToOz

Does anyone know, or have any experience of banking in Australia? Can I open an account here before I go? Are there Barclays in Oz?

Anyone - help!

creditcardking_2

GoingToOz wrote:

Does anyone know, or have any experience of banking in Australia? Can I open an account here before I go? Are there Barclays in Oz?

Anyone - help!

I live in Perth Australia, there are no Barclays Banks here but they have an arrangement with Westpac in Australia to reduce fees for overseas ATM withdrawals. You can open an account easy enough when you get there. You will need 100 points of identification, a UK passport (70 points) visa card (25 points) i think they will even take your plane ticket as ID, you would need to open your account as soon as possible when you get there to use the plane ticket. Are you going on holiday or moving permanently? Have a look at the Westpac site below it should show ID requirements etc. Almost all banks in OZ charge a monthly account fee. The Commonwealth Bank allows you to open an account from the UK. Have a look on the British Expats Forum there is plenty of info on there for OZ. The National Australia Bank has a branch in the UK. I prefer Westpac, the ANZ Bank is also ok. These are the 4 major big banks, there are many building societies and credit unions that offer fee free banking but it depends where you are living.

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/Content/PBTS+Apply+now#

http://www.commbank.com.au/personal/daybanking/MovingToAustralia.asp

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

bridiej

I recently set up an account with https://www.anz.com, you can apply for it in the UK and pay money in and once you get to Oz just go in with your passport to activate the account and start withdrawing money.

Alternatively you can open a bank account anywhere in Oz with just a passport, but you must do this within three months of entering the country otherwise you need the 100 points to open,

I've started a forum similar to this for Oz if you're interested - https://www.ozpiggybank.tk

GoingToOz

Thanks both for your responses - much appreciated.

Bridie - your forum is EXCELLENT - you have obviously put a hell of a lot of effort into it, congratulations. I have already registered, so thanks!

bridiej

GoingToOz wrote:

Thanks both for your responses - much appreciated.

Bridie - your forum is EXCELLENT - you have obviously put a hell of a lot of effort into it, congratulations. I have already registered, so thanks!

Thanks

Yes, it's taken time and it's been difficult to get regular members to post who are already in Oz but I'm going to be in an article in the Australian News in October which hopefully will boost the activity!

GoingToOz

Creditcardking I have sent you a pm.

V.Lucky

If you ask at your UK bank they should be able to arrange for a bank account to be opened in Australia (or any other country for that matter),and I don't think they charge for this service.

There is the 100 point thing to consider, as previously mentioned, but its quite easy to get that amount of points.