[Ozobssesed]

Hello
Wondering if anyone could help reguarding banking in Oz,
I have narrowed my options, I was gonna wait till I get out to Oz, then open a bank account (Wespak), then have a friend in UK transfer my money.

But then i heard about Citi bank! that i can open it before i leave, and transfer money into it, but, after reading the terms and conditions, it only has 10 fee transactions, (Wespak - 15) you can't deposit cash, and it will still have to be officially opened in Oz with the usual identification before i can access money.

I haven't even looked at the rates of exchange for either method!!!!

Decisions Decisions!!!!
Has anyone got an opinion on all this, or perhaps a better sugestion!?!?
Please Help

x

[WONDERBUS]

G'day,

Use your own keycard ( from your bank back home ) if it's a 'Maestro Cirrus' card. You can take you own money out via the ATM in Australia. This might be a good way to atleast get down here, check out more banks. St George, National Australia bank ( NAB ), ANZ, Commonwealth bank and see what they offer. Not many people use Citibank down here compared to the other banks.
Cheers,

WONDERBUS

[Ozobssesed]

Hi Wonderbus
thanx for the advice, but i will be working in Oz for a year, so won't my employer need an Aussie account to deposit my wage into???

[WONDERBUS]

G'day

Yep, you will need to open an account for your pay, I just mentioned the Cirrus idea to tie you over until you set up your aussie account. It'll be a lot easier to open an account and sort everything out when you arrive. You'll also need to organise a tax File Number ( TFN ) otherwise they'll tax you the full rate.

ING seem to have cheap rates at the moment, worth checking out!

Cheers,

WONDERBUS

[Tim Uden]

Generally most banks have lower fees if you use their own ATMs, but charge you more if you use ATMs from other banks. Because of this it is best to bank with a bank that ATMs in all the places you will be travelling in.

Citibank only have a couple of ATMs in the biggest cities, but otherwise they don't offer much. Your best bet is one of the big four banks: ANZ, Commonwealth, National or Westpac. The larger small banks are also worth considering as they usually have lower fees and their ATM network is often quite strong in a certain area so you may want to look at Bendigo Bank (VIC & QLD), Bank of Queensland (QLD & NSW), St George (NSW), Bank West (WA).

It is much easier for a British backpacker to open an account in Australia than it is for an Australian backpacker to open an account in the UK so I wouldn't worry about opening your account in advance.

[Poppy]

Citibank has its customer service based out of the Phillippines or something like that. I would stick with Westpac where if you wanted help, you would be speaking to someone in the same country. Westpac is a bigger bank, it will have more ATMs and branches for you to access too.