My wife and I hope to move to Oz (application in process). How can we get a credit history in Oz to help with references\mortgages etc.? We know HSBC have a presence in Oz, but we're underwhelmed with the alledged 'local bank' service.

Hi

You dont mention which part of Australia you are moving to? We arrived here in October 2003 and did find it odd adjusting to the way they do banking over here.

We moved into our own home in December 2003 with a mortage with HSBC. They gave us a mortgage based on my earnings (3.5 x what I was earning) and this was on evidence of a contract of employment only (I hadn't even started the job).

With the mortgage we were issued with a credit card so I guess that would have been the start of our credit history. I never got anything else on credit until about 8 months later and got that no problem.

So if my experience is anything to go by you should be OK.

Hope it helps a little

Sharon
www.immigrate-to-a-new-life-in-perth.com

Hi,

thnaks for the post. We'll be going to Sydney or Melbourne. I'm happy with my current UK bankers (allaince & leicester), but they don't have any relationships with Oz banks so I was considering moving my account to another UK based bank to smooth the 'financial' migration.