Recommendations for bank account

[bignige]

We are coming over in July and wondered what everyone suggest in terms of a good bank. It seems in Oz there isn't a common ATM network, is that an issue? 

[Vanessa]

Open up an ANZ bank account in the uk, dead simple, when you arrive here you go to the branch and get sorted with your cards, if you want to transfer money into that account I recommend TOR FX once again very simple.  Also plenty of ANZ ATMs throughout Australia

[NicF]

Any of the big 4 banks will allow you to open an account from the UK - Westpac, NAB, Commonwealth and ANZ.  You can use any ATM you like but you will be charged if you use one that doesn't belong to your bank or isn't partnered with your bank.  I don't find this an issue but if you were a bit remote you might want to pick a bank with ATMs near you.  Remember though that you can always switch banks once here and I would recommend at least looking in to some of the other options once here.  We started out with ANZ but switched when they started charging us a monthly fee on our account.  We moved to the Commonwealth because we have our mortgage with them.

[llessur]

We love NAB. No charges. For anything. Ever. They haven't put a foot wrong since we joined up with them a few years back.

 

Spent a couple of months with ANZ, wanted to pull my hair out at the end of it as everything that could have gone wrong did and all they seemed interested in doing was calling me to offer me credit cards and loans. Probably just bad luck in my case but could never recommend them.

 

 

 

[snifter]

We opened an account with Commonwealth before we moved over. We opted for them as husband was a returning customer and they waived the monthly fee on the account. We also have an ANZ account now too. No issues with either of them. I like Commonwealth if I need a bank in person as they tend to have a lot of branches in areas I visit during my work day and also when near home. 

 

[bignige]

Anyone got any experience of ING?

[snifter]

Not over here. Do they offer the ability to open an account before arriving in Aus? Not sure there are many branches or ATM's of theirs about but then I'd not be looking. 

I'd go with one of the big 4 here to start and then change if you want to at a later date. You'll probably have more options branch and ATM wise with them to get you going. 

[llessur]

I second that. If you go with a smaller institution then you'll be paying $2 pretty much every time you want to withdraw cash.

[NicF]

I have heard good things about ING over on Poms in Oz.  I believe you can use either all or some ATMs free of charge.  As they are an online bank you don't get branches but you can go and do various banking transactions at the post office.  I've considered them myself and probably would go with them if we ever moved our mortgage anywhere that didn't have an offset account.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

We started out with NAB accounts...which we still have.

Presently have Commonwealth accounts as mortgage is also with them. The Commonwealth online platform is really good and there's aren't any charges.

For money transfer I would recommend Moneycorp. Have an account myself and have received many transfers through Moneycorp...and they do a deal for Poms members too!