Access banking overseas

Discussion in 'Money Management & Banking' started by spider, 24th Jun, 2007.

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  1. spider

    spider Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    22nd Jun, 2015
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    Location:
    sydney
    My daughter has been offered employment in Canada and is unsure how to access her funds overseas that won't send her broke. The hiring company will deposit her salary into her nominated account. She has a Commonwealth Bank keycard account but is slightly worried about the fees that she might incur. She will be returning to Australia every 3 months (as part of the deal) and will need to access funds while she is here....

    Can anyone advise?????

    Thanks
     
    spider, 24th Jun, 2007
    #1
  2. spider

    spider Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    sydney
    Overseas bank account

    Anyone home??

    Thanks

    Liverpool St..........
     
    spider, 25th Jun, 2007
    #2
  3. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    How long will she be over there ?
     
    Simon Hampel, 25th Jun, 2007
    #3
  4. Gonzo

    Gonzo Active Member

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    I'm overseas. I opened Citibank (though HSBC can work) accounts in Oz and in other countries I have lived in. Through internet banking, it is very easy to transfer funds from one Citibank to another. takes about 24 hours for the funds to get there and it's minimal service charges. It's the easiest way I have found to maintain access and control over my banks accounts.

    We currently have Citibank accounts in Australia, Singapore and Japan.
     
    Gonzo, 25th Jun, 2007
    #4
  5. spider

    spider Well-Known Member

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    Location:
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    banks

    Thanks Gonzo

    Cheers/beers
     
    spider, 25th Jun, 2007
    #5
  6. spider

    spider Well-Known Member

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    Over there

    Sim,

    She has a job offer with Cirque du Soleil in Canada and will be there for at least 2 years with a further contractual option after that...It happened pretty quick. She went to the Commonwealth Bank and one of the tellers advised against staying with the Commonwealth Bank due to excessive fees, I think Gonzo is right you need one of the on line banks like ING, Citibank etc...

    Thanks
     
    spider, 25th Jun, 2007
    #6
  7. pjb89

    pjb89 Active Member

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    Location:
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    Liverpool St

    What we do is arrange for a local currency draw from my salary to be deposited into a local bank and leave the rest for depositing into our account in Australia. We have Westpac in Australia and HSBC in Qatar.

    We have set up a budget that we live to and simply draw additional funds from our Westpac account on the infrequent occasions that do not have sufficient funds locally. Note that this costs AU$5.00 for each transcation, but if you only draw very infrequently, this is not an issue. The trick is to manage your costs so that you do not draw money repeatedly, which simply means living within your budget. If our circumstances change and we want to increase/decrease the local currency draw, we just ask that the amount be changed to suit our living conditions....easy!

    With regards to transferring money between different currencies, be careful of the exchange rates applied as the Banks do not lose money....it ends up costing you a small percentage of the amount transferred.

    Pedro
     
    pjb89, 25th Jun, 2007
    #7
  8. sab

    sab New Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
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    Location:
    perth
    overseas transfers

    i use internet banking and occasionally send $1,000 to $10,000 overseas to an account in US with a swift code. I assume that a swift code is the equivalent of a BSB number in Australia?

    Last time i did this with westpac the exchange rate had a 1% premium and i was also charged $29.

    When i asked the receiver of my funds why it was short $29 they told me it was because my bank had sent it to the bank of america and it was a routing fee. This also happened to a friend of mine who had to do a second transfer to make up the unexpected $29 shortfall at the other end.

    The way i see it i was charged $29 because they can. My question is who charges the least for this type of transfer? If I open an account with Citibank what monthly fees will i incur?

    thanks in advance for any advice
    cheers from steve
     
    sab, 31st Dec, 2007
    #8
  9. naz__

    naz__ Member

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    Location:
    Sydney, NSW
    In addition to the bank account, she may also want a credit card. I know when I was looking at going overseas about a year ago, Wizard Clear Advantage MasterCards were by far the best - they don't add an additional percentage onto foreign exchange like most of the other cards (although they do have to pass on the mastercard charge). According to http://www.wizard.com.au/clearadvantage/clearadvantagecard/ other cards change 2-2.5%. Also if you have credit in a wizard card you can withdraw through any ATM in the world without any ATM fees (you'd want the money in there first though otherwise you'd have to pay interest on the cash immediately).

    As for a normal account, maybe have a look at Westpac. They won't change a $5 foreign ATM fee if you use ScotiaBank ATMs in Canada according to Westpac Internet -Accessing your accounts overseas
    You could look at Moving Overseas.
    I have no experience with Westpac or ANZ though.

    And wow Cirque du Soleil! I love them :)
     
    naz__, 10th Jan, 2008
    #9