Just wondering if anyone has had any luck with opening a bank account from abroad before arriving in Australia.

I wish to open a bank account with the ability to arrange credit checks to my bank here in Dublin to enable a morgage to purchase a property upon arrival in Australia, I have heard its possible but don't know which bank would suit for the best mortgage or how to go about it! Would be very grateful if anyone knew how to go about it.

Again, thanks to all replies,
Rob 'Dublin'

I am currently opening an account in oz through the HSBC before leaving, this process takes about 6 weeks. Hope this helps

How did you go about doing this, I noticed they also deal with home loans which is great. Just hope the packages are well defined and good value!

I know they don't have branches here in Ireland but could easily deal with the UK branch.

Thanks again,

Dub Rob

We are opening an account with HSBC in Brisbane. We bank with HSBC in UK and my bank manager has been an excellent help! It should all be sorted within a few weeks. We collect cheque books, credit cards etc from the branch when we arrive as we don't have an address yet in Oz.

Let me know if you need any contact numbers for HSBC etc

Thanks

Shell

hi

we opened a bank account the week before my boyfriend left last month, with the commonwealth bank. they were great - all the info arrived from london the day after i rung them to ask for it, and due to the tight timescales they hurried it through for him (as his job with the police was due to start a week after he arrived) and it was done and dusted in a week. he had an email of confirmation that it was open (the original was sent to me in uk) and he took the email to his local commonwealth branch and that was that - definitely recommend them for an initial bank account to start you off, we havent looked into mortgages yet so i dont know what rates they offer etc. they do a good deal on currency rates and will 'hold' rates if favourable for you so you can transfer lump sums at a good time.

I think I'll try HSBC as they are a big bank, have been told and checked the commonwealth and they are supposse to be very poor with mortgages and rates. Heard the National Austrailan Bank was good but got no response from either, I found a Dublin number for HSBC and will try to change over to them now as I have a great credit history that I hope tranfers to Oz well for my mortgage application.

Thanks for all your help, will keep you all posted with how it goes as I am sure most people will be doing the same.

Regards,
Rob Dublin

You can also open an account online at the ANZ. A friend of mine has already done so with no problems. You don't get a credit card, but it's a convenient account into which you can transfer any money you have. I've used TRANZFERSand it's very easy.

I opened a Westpac account from the UK a couple of months ago. I found all the information on http://www.westpac.com.au.

I like Westpac to be honest and am in the process of setting up an account, I hear from a reliable Australian friend they have great Home loan packages and are all very efficient. I think I will go with them.

Thanks for all the help guys and good luck in the future.

Regards,
Rob 'Dublin'

hi heres a link that you might like to try http://www.migrantbanking.co.uk

quote:

Originally posted by Loubee18:
I opened a Westpac account from the UK a couple of months ago. I found all the information on http://www.westpac.com.au.

Could you advise what type of account would be best to open - we are going to Perth for a holiday on 1st January so we can adhere to 30 days for identification, I'm just not sure what account.
Thanks

Hi Kev/Julie,
we landed in Perth on 27th Dec for a holiday, so just beat you to it. When we came home we opened an AUS account with HSBC. Very easy and if you are already a premier account holder they transfer funds for free. Guess you are sorted by now eh!