westpac or commonwealth bank?

[Guest vikkiann]

I've just spoke to Westpac on the phone and they have said they waiver the fees if you are registered with HIFX which we are but after reading some threads on her i'm dubious about opening an account with them.

Who is better Westpac or the Commonwealth bank?

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Vikki

[Guest caoimhe]

Hi Vikki I would be interested to know that as well

[Denise]

I can only advise from reading a past thread on this site , (can't find it now!!) There was someone from Westpac trying to sell their services and they got nothing but bad replies, seem to be full of false promises.

All I have read about Commonwealth is good stuff, very efficient and seem to do what they say they will do!

I was with Commonwealth when I lived in Sydney and they were great.

Have a look in the finance section for past threads, there is definatley a good one there somewhere.

[Guest Chelseadownunder]

Westpac are c*ap and Commonwealth bank are mustard.

 

My experience. Westpac took a month to give me bank details and we are negiotating the compensation now as I had the nightmare of having to extend my HiFX deals due to Westpac. It was okay as Hifx did it, but If it had been nearer to when we left the UK we would have been in the ****.

 

I have added more comments on the site with more details.

 

Hope this helps

 

Scott UK

 

Financial Adviser over here soon to be down under.

[Guest LOOBYLOO]

We have just signed up today with Westpac - told we will have account details sent through in the next 15 days. We are dealing with Hifx for transfers and so far so good. Will let you know how we progress.

[Guest vikkiann]

Thank you for your replies.

I'm a bit worried about signing with Westpac after reading your replies.

Can anybody tell me........... i've been on the commonwealth bank's website and the only current account i can see is 'streamline' , is that correct?

I never thought it would be this difficult trying to open a bank account!

 

Vikki

[Guest Ian & Diane]

We are with westpac and we opened the accounts from here in the UK and they have been really good no problems so far , but you pick a bank to suit your own needs.

 

ian

[Guest Guzzler&Sas]

I've just spoke to Westpac on the phone and they have said they waiver the fees if you are registered with HIFX which we are but after reading some threads on her i'm dubious about opening an account with them.

Who is better Westpac or the Commonwealth bank?

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

Vikki

 

 

Hi Vikki,

 

Can only comment on the Commonwealth, we opened the account via their London branch ( no need to go too London), no problems at all and when we exchanged our money they gave us the best rate beating HIFX and others at the time and also on a foward contract I set up, worth calling to see what they can do,

 

Guzzler

[Guest AKH5]

Hello, I agree that you must chose the right accounts for what suits you. Anyway, for what it's worth we went with Commonwealth Bank from London (very easy) and then activated the aussie account once we got here. It was very straightforward and we could transfer money across through them to the waiting aussie account. Comm Bank were great and have been great. We now also have a Westpac account and have had no issues with them, but it's different once you're here.

The Streamline account is a good current account to start with. Bear in mind that you get charged for everything here with regards to banking.

I would recommend looking at other accounts with other banks (other than the big 4) once you get here. Don't stress too much about it now.

For example BankWest have a fantastic current account with no charges as long as you transfer a certain amount of money into it each month. If you want to compare what they all offer then I would recommend this website : http://www.infochoice.com.au

Hope this helps.n Good Luck

[Guest Django]

We arrived here and went into the banks. Commenwealth bank welcomed us as we walked through the door and were ever so helpful expaining their different accounts. The others we walked in and walked out with a leaflet and there was no one available to talk to except the behind the counter staff who were tied up serving their customers. No prizes for guessing who we went with.

 

Pete

[Guest Devon]

Hi there. As said it is personal choice - only you can make the decision. If it's a vote I would say Westpac as there have been some stories regarding Commonwealth on this and the mustard site in the past where people have also had major probs and had to change banks. Good luck

[bill]

From what is being said, it looks like UK dwellers only have Westpac and Commonwealth as options for setting up an account remotely. My advice is to use whichever one appears to be getting the best feedback on this forum, then when you get here, to switch to a credit union (approximately similar to a UK Building Society) because the banks will do anything to sucker you in, but Australian banks charge nasty fees after a honeymoon period, whereas with a credit union, you can largely avoid fees by 1) using their ATMs and 2) carefully planning your ATM and EFTPOS usage.

I use Community CPS (Australia's 2008 top-ranked credit union), but others I know of are Australian Central and Savings and Loans.

HSBC bank have a very cheap (i.e. free) daily account if you use only their ATMs, but as a web search revealed only 2 of those in Adelaide, I wouldn't be tempted! Having said that, I think that maybe I've seen an HSBC ATM at Marion (can anyone confirm this?).

Also, I have a totally free account with Citibank - I pay bills and use ATMs all over Australia and in the UK, and they are all free. My account with them is actually an overdraft facility, but I'm sure they will have other accounts which might suit you. As they are an international bank, maybe you can even set it up from the UK.

For the record, I wouldn't touch any of the usual Australian banks with a barge pole - though my St. George/BankSA credit card has the lowest interest rate that I have found.

Just my opinion from experience, maybe others will disagree.

Cheers,

Bill

[Guest isandev]

Hi Vikki,

 

We have been here 7 weeks and opened account with westpac as recommended by hifx. So good so far, when you go into city to identify it does take a while but since then we just use our local one. Have been using one in Glenelg a lot , an Irish lady and Scottish lady really helpful. Telephone banking and internet easy to set up as well and we have got a debit card on our main account (choice) and can do unlimited transactions unlike other banks. Hope this helps

 

Fi x

[Guest LOOBYLOO]

We have just signed up today with Westpac - told we will have account details sent through in the next 15 days. We are dealing with Hifx for transfers and so far so good. Will let you know how we progress.

We received our bank account details yesterday. They are waiving account service fee for 6 months. No complaints so far.