Today in the mail we got our UK bank account Visa cards and a cheque book for the account. Now that will come in handy very soon - we have a deposit to pay on accomodation and they don't have credit card facilities.
So HSBC came up with the goods, just as they said they would. The account is open, the cards came to us here and there's nothing more to be done. I'd definitely recommend it to other Aussies wanting a bank account in the UK. Well worth the $200 fee to not have to do anything more.
We are two Australians who lived the dream and spent 20 months as liveaboards on narrowboat Parisien Star. Life before.... during.... and after.
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Friday, 8 June 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
HSBC UK account update
We went to Melbourne today to sign up for our UK bank account and open an Aussie one too. It was all dealt with quickly and efficiently - we were very happy with the service.
There was one thing that I'd either mis-understood or hadn't been clear in my questions on the phone the other day when we did the phone application. It turns out we can have a Visa/Mastercard on our UK account without having to apply for a separate credit card account. So.... we had one less account to sort out.
As a bonus for the day, HSBC South Melbourne had a brochure on their counter saying if you opened an everyday account (or whatever it was called!) you will get two Gold Class movie passes. Excellent!
There was one thing that I'd either mis-understood or hadn't been clear in my questions on the phone the other day when we did the phone application. It turns out we can have a Visa/Mastercard on our UK account without having to apply for a separate credit card account. So.... we had one less account to sort out.
As a bonus for the day, HSBC South Melbourne had a brochure on their counter saying if you opened an everyday account (or whatever it was called!) you will get two Gold Class movie passes. Excellent!
Friday, 18 May 2012
Bank account comments
Thanks for the comments everyone.
The reason we chose to go ahead with HSBC despite the fee they charge is so we can have the accounts set up now. We want to start transferring money and we have 4 months until we go. Plus we have a huge amount to do between now and when we leave so we're happy for them to deal with the paperwork.
It will save us having to mess around sorting out a bank account once we get there. I'll do some investigating when we're there and we could change banks at some stage if necessary but this will get us by for now. Once the cards have arrived I will change the address of the UK accounts to a friend in the UK so that by the time we get there we will have 3 months of bank statements with a UK address. That should make it easier to change to another bank if we choose.
The reason we chose to go ahead with HSBC despite the fee they charge is so we can have the accounts set up now. We want to start transferring money and we have 4 months until we go. Plus we have a huge amount to do between now and when we leave so we're happy for them to deal with the paperwork.
It will save us having to mess around sorting out a bank account once we get there. I'll do some investigating when we're there and we could change banks at some stage if necessary but this will get us by for now. Once the cards have arrived I will change the address of the UK accounts to a friend in the UK so that by the time we get there we will have 3 months of bank statements with a UK address. That should make it easier to change to another bank if we choose.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
HSBC bank account
I rang HSBC's international department on Monday and they took our application over the phone for a UK bank account. The pre-filled application form was then emailed to us. Now we print the form, sign it, and take it to a HSBC branch with our identification and to pay the application fee of $200. We will also need to open an Australian HSBC account at that time and we'll be able to transfer from our Australian account to the UK one.
Once the accounts are opened, I don't see why we can't just use Ozforex to transfer to the UK account.
During the conversation with HSBC I discovered a major difference between Australia and England's banking. We can have a Visa or Mastercard as a debit card on an ordinary transaction account in Australia. HSBC said you can only have a card for use at an automatic teller machine on an ordinary account. If you want a Visa or Mastercard it has to be a credit card. This used to be the case many years ago in Australia. So, we also applied for a credit card account in the UK as well.
It's all been easy so far. The cards will be sent here to us in Australia in the next month or so. We will have to go to Melbourne to take the paperwork to a branch. There isn't a huge number of HSBC branches in our state and all of them are in Melbourne. We have another item on our list almost ticked off!
*** See update 22 May 2012 ***
Once the accounts are opened, I don't see why we can't just use Ozforex to transfer to the UK account.
During the conversation with HSBC I discovered a major difference between Australia and England's banking. We can have a Visa or Mastercard as a debit card on an ordinary transaction account in Australia. HSBC said you can only have a card for use at an automatic teller machine on an ordinary account. If you want a Visa or Mastercard it has to be a credit card. This used to be the case many years ago in Australia. So, we also applied for a credit card account in the UK as well.
It's all been easy so far. The cards will be sent here to us in Australia in the next month or so. We will have to go to Melbourne to take the paperwork to a branch. There isn't a huge number of HSBC branches in our state and all of them are in Melbourne. We have another item on our list almost ticked off!
*** See update 22 May 2012 ***
Monday, 23 April 2012
A bank account in the UK
After reading of Paul's problems with trying to open a bank account (click here), I made it my mission today to find a way for us to open an account before we go.
I spent an awful long time on the phone but finally have a resolution. HSBC will open an account for us now. We'll have an account in Australia with HSBC and an account in the UK with HSBC. There is an initial fee of $200 for them to process the application but no ongoing account keeping fees.
The UK account comes with a Visa debit card and a cheque book if you want, but there is a minimum monthly deposit requirement of £500. If you don't maintain the minimum deposits the account could be downgraded to a basic account which it seems doesn't have the cheque book facility and the card provided is a basic ATM card.
We will wait until our house is sold before we open the account, but at least we know it will work out.
I spent an awful long time on the phone but finally have a resolution. HSBC will open an account for us now. We'll have an account in Australia with HSBC and an account in the UK with HSBC. There is an initial fee of $200 for them to process the application but no ongoing account keeping fees.
The UK account comes with a Visa debit card and a cheque book if you want, but there is a minimum monthly deposit requirement of £500. If you don't maintain the minimum deposits the account could be downgraded to a basic account which it seems doesn't have the cheque book facility and the card provided is a basic ATM card.
We will wait until our house is sold before we open the account, but at least we know it will work out.
Saturday, 3 September 2011
A bank account in GBP
A friend mentioned to me the other day that HSBC now have a savings account in Australia that you can hold in a foreign currency. These types of accounts that I've investigated in the past have had quite high fees and little or no interest so really weren't meant for saving. I've done a little research on the account HSBC offer and the interest rate is extremely low, just .5%. But, the bank charges can be kept at nil if you keep within the rules - minimum average monthly balance of AUD 1,000 equivalent and no more than 10 withdrawals in a month.
I have contacted HSBC to ask if this account could be used on arrival in the UK and will update when I hear back. The other thing is that the account does not offer Visa or Mastercard access. Still... it's worth considering.
http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/savings/foreign-currency
I have contacted HSBC to ask if this account could be used on arrival in the UK and will update when I hear back. The other thing is that the account does not offer Visa or Mastercard access. Still... it's worth considering.
http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/savings/foreign-currency
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Banking for Australians in England
We've heard all sorts of stories about how difficult it is to open a bank account in England. It's something we take for granted here in Australia. You walk into a bank, show them sufficient ID and you have a bank account. Not so, it seems, in England. It isn't so straightforward if you don't have an address and a job - something people like us planning on cruising the canals won't have.
We would want an account with internet banking and with use of a Visa or Mastercard debit card. We would prefer to open the account before we leave Australia so we can transfer the money we'd need to buy our narrowboat into the account at a time (and exchange rate) convenient to us.
I've asked lots of questions and searched the internet and discovered a couple of options.
The easiest would be to use a service such as Work Gateways. You pay for the service, provide the necessary documents, get some extras and the work is done for you.
Workgateways.com
HSBC offer an account designed especially for people new to the UK. It is offered for an initial 12 month term at £8 a month. Once the 12 months is up you could then open a regular bank account because you'd have a banking history.
HSBS Passport account
If anyone knows of other banks who will open a UK account before you leave Australia, please leave a comment and I'll investigate and post an updated blog entry.
We would want an account with internet banking and with use of a Visa or Mastercard debit card. We would prefer to open the account before we leave Australia so we can transfer the money we'd need to buy our narrowboat into the account at a time (and exchange rate) convenient to us.
I've asked lots of questions and searched the internet and discovered a couple of options.
The easiest would be to use a service such as Work Gateways. You pay for the service, provide the necessary documents, get some extras and the work is done for you.
Workgateways.com
HSBC offer an account designed especially for people new to the UK. It is offered for an initial 12 month term at £8 a month. Once the 12 months is up you could then open a regular bank account because you'd have a banking history.
HSBS Passport account
If anyone knows of other banks who will open a UK account before you leave Australia, please leave a comment and I'll investigate and post an updated blog entry.
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