Which Bank??? Sorry if this is an oooold question...

[WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

Sorry if this has been asked a billion times but I can't get the search facility to return anything for searches I have put in so could someone point me in the right direction please on this one???

I have been looking at opening a joint account for my partner and myself before we get to Adelaide and HSBC seem to have the highest interest for a normal current account without a charge.

I have also been advised Westpac are the best to go to although they have mixed reviews probably due to their size.

Also, I have been told we could just keep our UK accounts as our main accounts and transfer some money over to an Aus bank account when we need to for the first few months rather than transferring the lot in one go...

:arghh: Help!!!

[scooterdan]

hey!

we are in Westpac and have found them great so far...! I am sure most banks have had some bad press regardless of size!!

If you are on a perm visa then i think you have 6 months to get money to Oz or they you get taxed more.... not 100% though!

dan and steph

[Rob and Clare]

I personally think all the Banks here will charge you for anything, paying bills on line, direct debits, cheques, using ATM's. There is nothing they don't charge for, there are lot's of banks that offer some ways round this, but we went with a Community Bank with our mortgage and bank account, we don't pay any fees now, the interest is pretty good too.

One thing we did do with HSBC though is open a pound account in Australia, you can then have you money over here in Oz, and you can transfer it to $ whenever it suits you without the hassle of an international transfer. Other banks may do this too, but never investigated it...

[jd*]

Hi

banks here charge for all sorts of transactions, try looking at some of the credit unions - Savings & Loans are quite good. :)

For high interest accessible accounts without penalties have a look at Bank West Telenet Saver and Suncorp. :cute:

[WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

Hey, thanks for the responses. Westpac do seem to be very popular but I will look into the other suggestions too as we are not actually emigrating until next year so I am starting my "research" early since we were with ANZ when we stayed in Melbourne and I am not sure they were the best...

:)

[Angela]

There is a monthly charge for out account with WESTPAC its $5 & COMMONWEALTH charge $4 but it all depends on the type of bank account you have.

Hope this helps.