Cash to Oz

As I mentioned sometime ago,I shall be visiting Oz via Bkk and returning thru Sin in about six weeks time. Travelling with me will be my son and his g/f.

We will be spending about 5 weeks in Australia travelling around extensively in N.S.W., Queensland and the Northern Territories.

I have two credit cards and a debit card, but would feel happier if I could readily draw larger sums of cash "over the counter" at various banks. Leaving my credit/debit cards for hotel expenses etc.

Hence my question - does anyone know if it is possible to open a bank account for a short period of time in Australia and if so what is the best bank to use? I would not require a cheque book, but I would want a bank with the best coverage, especially in smaller out of the way places like Tennent Creek, Katherine and Jabaru.

Has anyone had any experience of doing this and is there much paperwork involved? I am thinking that some U.K. banks may have links with Australian banks which would obviously make things somewhat easier to set-up.

Any info on this subject would be much appreciated.

Regards,

shoreside

[Nottingham Nick]

Can't you just use your UK 'hole in the wall' cards, like you can in the US and most other countries?

Nick

I doubt you would be able to open an account in Oz for the duration of your trip - you would be presumably of no fixed abode and I suspect you would not be in a single place for long enough for the bank to do the identity checks that would be needed for anti money laundering / know your customer requirements. You would still have the problem of how to transfer a large sum of money into the new account from your UK bank account.

I can think of three possibilities:
1. Find a UK (most likely London) branch of an Aussie bank to see if they can help out.
2. Try one of the more "international" British or foreign banks (HSBC and Citibank spring to mind) to see if they have a product that will help.
3. Think about what you would actually be doing if either 1 or 2 came off. You would transfer a block of cash from your UK account to the "international" one (with a fee for both the transfer and probably the FX) and then draw on that in Oz. Why not leave the money in your UK account and draw on it via an ATM.

Almost no matter what you do, the bank will clobber you with a fee or a slightly unfavourable FX rate - there is no way you can do any of this without it costing you something. Somebody has to pay my salary!

The other alternative is Travellers' Cheques - more secure than cash.

BTW, since you are away for over a month, you will probably be due to make a credit card payment while you are away. If you don't have an automatic payment in place (probably direct debit for either the minimum or full amount), you will need to have some arrangement in place to pay the bill!

Hope this helps...

Your UK cards should work fine.

Although when i lived out there I arranged a bank account through Natwest for the ANZ bank whilst still in the UK, so it may worth be asking your UK bank what they can do for you if you must have an account out there.

For 5 Weeks it isnt really worth setting up an account
Your UK cards will work fine and you save on cash charges if you used your card (rather than draw cash)

Also you've just got time to set up a virgin CC that way you'll get FC Miles for your holiday spending!

(This wont apply to cash advances though)

I beleive Nationwide do not charge for use of debit card to withdraw cash from foreign ATM and opening an account with them is free.

I would presume that transfering funds to a foreign account would involve you in transaction and exchange charges.

I an not sure what you are going to gain by keeping your debit card for other transaction it may be the cheepest way of getting cash. If you don't have the money in the bank you going to have to use your credit card or rely on overdraft or loan.

We always ue our Nationwide card for cash. Only one word of warning is the availability of cash machine wich even in the mose civilised of places can be limited. We had problem finding a Visa cash machine in Niagara.

Tks for all your help and advice, I have taken onboard all that has been said and now realise the futility of attempting to open an Oz bank account.

I shall run with my present credit/debit cards and also open an account with the Nationwide. For emergency funds I plan to use an Amex Traveller Cheque card, (although not totally won over with the costings).

Shall top up my credit cards by a few/several thousand £££'s and leave sufficient in my current account to cover my debit card costs.

For the journey from Alice to Darwin I will carry a few hundred extra $$$'s incase of ATM probs.

All in all I expect it to be a rather expensive venture. I am "cheap to keep", but that cannot be said for my son and his g/f[:(][ii]