Where to put my money....

[***Beady***]

When I get to Perth, I'm going to open up a bank account. I was just wondering if anyone knew which would be the best bank? I have'nt a clue which one to go for. I've heard that some don't charge when you use an ATM machine, any ideas guys?

thanx in advance.....

[TUI]

hmmm Im not familiar with the OZ situation but I have an account with Westpac of New Zealand and I love the benifits, I never paid a fee for using the ATM, but thats NZ not OZ, sorry.

[Wyzfen]

Most of the Australian banks dont charge if you use their ATMs (AFAIK) - but they do charge a fair amount (not sure how much - never happened) if you use another banks'. Or rather, they might - some of them have a certain number of 'free' transactions with other banks / eftpos etc per month - THEN you get slugged.
I cant help with specifically Perth / WA banks - i can only list the national ones i can remember...

ANZ - www.anz.com.au
Westpac - www.westpac.com.au
Commonwealth - www.commbank.com.au
National - www.national.com.au

obviously any others don't have a good enough advertising scheme as i can't remember them.
personally, i use my states' bank. i assume WA has one. And dont forget about credit unions - they usually have a lot lower fees (cant recall of any aust-wide ones tho).

- Wyzfen

[echo]

I live in Victoria, but I'm assuming that the bank charges would be similar in Perth. I bank with the commonwealth bank and if I use a non-Commonwealth bank ATM I get charged AU$1.35. But there are heaps of Commonwealth ATMs around so it's not often that I have to, mostly in Petrol stations and Pubs. Cash out via EFTPOS is also another easy way of taking money out of your account and banks don't usually charge at all for that. Commonwealth Bank charges a flat AU$5.00 a month to their everyday (Streamline) accounts whether you make transactions or not, which is pretty excessive I think. My sister changed to the National bank because of this and she is quite happy with them. One of my best mates works at Westpac and from what she says, they treat their customers very well. But essentially, they are all out to make us much money from us as possible!! If you want a credit card, the best company is Virgin:- www.virgin.com.au there are no annual fees (for all others, it is $30 plus) and the interest rates are low, also you get to pick the colour of the card! (mine is pink )

Definately check out the other banks that Wyzfen gave links to, also credit unions and community banks (I'm not sure what the ones in Perth are, but it shouldn't be too hard to find out once you get there).

Have fun!! When do you arrive? And check out Margaret River if you like wine

[***Beady***]

Hey thanks guys!!!! You've hepled tons!!

[urOZm8]

hey beady. the banks dont charge for withdrawals from ATMs, but only if you do an over the counter withdrawal. but they charge if you withdraw from another banks ATM, like if you were with CBA and withdrew from an ANZ your would be charged.

I have been banking with CBA but now the bastards charge a 'account keeping fee' of five bucks a month