Banks in Australia

[Tiffani]

Hi all, I'm a newbie here! I'm American but moving in late Jan to Melbourne with my boyfriend who got a job out there.

We were wondering what are the best banks in Australia or Melbourne specifically? We have been online to look at the bigger ones on the web but we're having trouble navigating through it all. There seem to be lots of fees attached to the basic accounts, which seems strange (but even US banks who offer free checking accounts also mention fees for their legal purposes, etc, it seems).

Maybe we were spoiled here because every bank seems to offer free checking and savings, but what are the best banks in your experience for low fees and plenty of services? We are looking for a standard checking and savings account; nothing too fancy, but of course we want to have a VISA debit or something along those lines if possible!

Thanks!
Tiffani

[Sunnywa]

Hi Tiffani

All the banks here charge fees!!!!! Basically 6 of 1 and 1/2 dozen of another.
Bigger banks are Commonwealth Bank/National Australia Bank/ANZ smaller ones offer better deals such as St Georges and Bank of Queensland/Polices and Nurses and the Community Banks such as Bendigo Bank . Good Luck

[Akatrin]

Yeah they all want fees, but if you're a student you can usually get one without fees.

The main determinent (in fees and which account/bank you want) is the manner in which you want to access your money. For me, it was ATMs and Credit Cards so I chose a service with free ATM withdrawals from their ATMs. But then it'll have to be a major bank or you'll never find one of their ATMs :P

[Tiffani]

Thanks all. So basically they're all essentially the same, but they may vary slightly depending on what services you want? I think I'll probably use my visa debit more than cash if that's feasible there (is Australia a card-carrying culture, by the way? If not, I'll have to get used to cash again!) so I'll just have to check each one and see which is better.

thanks for the help

[Sunnywa]

Tiffani,

This is a mini America, so yes there is a card carrying culture. Cash is always still king when purchasing larger items....................
Regards
Sunny

[Tiffani]

Originally Posted by Sunnywa

Tiffani,

This is a mini America, so yes there is a card carrying culture. Cash is always still king when purchasing larger items....................
Regards
Sunny

a mini America? I don't know if that's good or bad

seriously though, thanks for the advice Sounds like it'll be pretty easy to adjust to the money aspect of living there

[tin0737]

Hi Tiffani,

I think you can check with HSBC. They have Online Saver account which doesn't charge you anything for everyday transactions, but you need a deposit of $2000.

[Tiffani]

Originally Posted by tin0737

Hi Tiffani,

I think you can check with HSBC. They have Online Saver account which doesn't charge you anything for everyday transactions, but you need a deposit of $2000.

HSBC is in Australia? I didn't know that. I thought they were only a British bank, but come to think of it, I think they operate in the US too. I'll look into it, thanks!

We'll definitely be moving some of our money over to Australia because we'll need a decent amount to start a new life out there, but the majority of US$ will stay in the US because the US$ is worth nothing right now, so to move it would be really stupid! I'm going to wait until my currency is back on the upswing before it leaves American soil LOL

[Spock]

Try bendigo bank, or credit unions.

[Tiffani]

Originally Posted by Spock

Try bendigo bank, or credit unions.

How do you go about getting hooked up with a credit union? I am a member of one here, but that's because I was an employee of my state for a while. Is it the same kind of thing over there? My boyfriend will be working at Monash University; does that make him some sort of public employee that would make him eligible for a credit union membership?