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Alpine Dragon
22-11-2006, 05:33 PM
Stupid question, but is it possible for a New Zealand resident who is not residing in Australia to open a transactional bank account in Australia?

OldRider
22-11-2006, 07:05 PM
Alpine Dragon:

Your question is not clear to me.

It is possible to be a NZ citizen living in NZ and to operate an Australian cheque account, into which can be directly deposited ASX company dividends. Cheques can be written and B-pay can be used as well I understand, although I have not done this. Internet banking can be used
making it easy to check balances order a cheque book etc.

Opening the account to start I am not sure about,
I have had mine for many years, opening it from here in NZ, but it appears that nowdays it is necessary to attend in person at a branch in Australia, though check on this as it may not be the same for all banks. My account is with NAB.

I understand that a Macquarie cash management account with cheque book, can be opened from here in NZ, but have not done this either.It pays higher interest as well.

An Australian account is a money saver for me, avoiding the fees for currency switches, account has no charges, but needs $1000-00 balance I think. Interest is paid monthly- annual rate 0.1%
won't make you rich.

pimpit
22-11-2006, 07:58 PM
yes you can, if you have a asb bank acc you can get them to open acc with comm w bank.It takes about two weeks.

arco
22-11-2006, 08:58 PM
AD

I opened a V2 account with ANZ when on holiday in Aussie a few years ago. It pays 5% as long as you keep over $5000 in the account, and can be managed using Internet banking.

Very handy for transfering backwards and forwards and for using when there. It came with a debit card for easy transactions and withdrawals in Aus.

More info here...............

www.anz.com/australia/persbnk/prdsrv/savings/v2Plus.asp


arco

Ricardo
23-11-2006, 01:00 PM
Doesn't make much sense does it Aspex.
I too found ANZ here totally in isolation from their Aussie operation.
You can do the preliminary work on ANZ's Aussie website, but have to front up in person to complete things.

Did the lot last trip with no problems, about 15 minutes plus queueing time of course.

arco
23-11-2006, 01:12 PM
Hi aspex

ANZ New Zealand are IMO perhaps the worst of the NZ banks.
I would not even consider dealing with them here.

Fortunately the NB do not seem to have been affected since the ANZ takeover.

I find ASB are an easy bank to deal with in NZ, but their Aussie owners? Commonwealth are an non-friendly bank IMO.

regards - arco

777
25-11-2006, 12:11 PM
This URL will give you the information on the CMT account with Macquarie. Latest interest rate is 5.14%

http://personal.macquarie.com.au/personal/products/cash/cmts/cmt/cmt_detail.htm

With all banking these days they want all sorts of proof on your identity but they do have branches in NZ to enable to present yourself in person. Don't give them a NZ cheque and ask them to convert it though. Their exchange rate on the day I did it was vastly inferior to what I could have done at the NB here, even after paying for a cheque. Once set up though you can send money direct to the account.

lucky
30-11-2006, 09:57 AM
I opened an ANZ account when last in OZ and all i needed was my passport which gave me the 100 points required . It is a savings account which has no fees,
ANZ in OZ is in no way related to ANZ NZ, or at least as far as your account is concerned.

patsy
22-01-2007, 03:54 PM
quote:Originally posted by 777

This URL will give you the information on the CMT account with Macquarie. Latest interest rate is 5.14%

http://personal.macquarie.com.au/personal/products/cash/cmts/cmt/cmt_detail.htm

With all banking these days they want all sorts of proof on your identity but they do have branches in NZ to enable to present yourself in person. Don't give them a NZ cheque and ask them to convert it though. Their exchange rate on the day I did it was vastly inferior to what I could have done at the NB here, even after paying for a cheque. Once set up though you can send money direct to the account.



If you have an account with Direct Broking, Direct Broking can open an account for you with MacQuarie with miminum hassle and fuss. If you send the application to MacQuarie directly, you have to go through a process to proof identity, but I think it's not that bad (e.g., produce passport plus a couple of other documents to proof address, etc.).

The MacQuarie account comes with one NZ-based cheque account and one Oz-based cheque account. You can make transfers from one to the other and you can also deposit NZD in the OZ one. WARNING = although the exchange rate they use is the wholesale rate, they apply all sorts of transaction fees. I'd NEVER EVER use their forex service between the account. It's better to get an AUD draft at your bank and pay the $25 draft fee than letting MacQuarie kill you with a barrage of unreasonable fees. On the positive side, the accounts have no maintenance fees.

The Oz one is great for having dividends credited directly (rather than the stupid system that ASB Securities has by which they only accept cheques into the AUD account, not direct credits, and if your dividends are more than AUD900, you have to wait for three weeks to clear).

The account is for NZ residents only. If Labour wins another term and you decide to emigrate to Oz, then you have to close it :D

Alpine Dragon
25-01-2007, 04:23 PM
Many Thanks for all your responses. I managed to get set up with MacQuarie. (GEAA and CMT).


quote:Originally posted by patsy
WARNING = although the exchange rate they use is the wholesale rate, they apply all sorts of transaction fees. I'd NEVER EVER use their forex service between the account. It's better to get an AUD draft at your bank and pay the $25 draft fee than letting MacQuarie kill you with a barrage of unreasonable fees. On the positive side, the accounts have no maintenance fees.


Hi Patsy, can you elaborate further on this? From my own knowledge. they charge a 0.5% fee for their "Seamless forex" (and of course a spread), but are you saying there are other fees involved?

Many Thanks.

Steve
25-01-2007, 08:07 PM
Probably the spread is a bit padded to cover the other 'costs'

patsy
27-01-2007, 07:55 PM
quote:Originally posted by Alpine Dragon

Many Thanks for all your responses. I managed to get set up with MacQuarie. (GEAA and CMT).


quote:Originally posted by patsy
WARNING = although the exchange rate they use is the wholesale rate, they apply all sorts of transaction fees. I'd NEVER EVER use their forex service between the account. It's better to get an AUD draft at your bank and pay the $25 draft fee than letting MacQuarie kill you with a barrage of unreasonable fees. On the positive side, the accounts have no maintenance fees.


Hi Patsy, can you elaborate further on this? From my own knowledge. they charge a 0.5% fee for their "Seamless forex" (and of course a spread), but are you saying there are other fees involved?

Many Thanks.



I think I mixed up two different type of concepts in my previous message. If you use the seamless forex, then according to the investment statement you pay wholesale rates plus 0.5% fee of the principal. I've never done seamless forex because I've always dealt with my bank manager, who has given me wholesale rates for a wire transfer directly into the CMT.

However, if you deposit NZD into the CMT, then they charge you two fees: one is charged by BNZ to convert NZD into AUD (apart from the spread) and wire the funds to Australia. Then when the wire is received in Australia, the NAB charges you another fee to have your funds into your account. I experienced this problem myself.

You can avoid all these fees by not letting MacQuarie deal with your NZD.

On the positive side, I've always found the call center (which is based in OZ) extremely knowledgeable and courteous. You can discuss with them any minute detail of their services and they answer on the spot - and better still, you can understand what they saying (not like for example Westpac or ASB that have 99% of Indians and Chinese with whom you can hardly hold a sensible discussion, let alone have your query answered straight).

Steve
28-01-2007, 09:03 AM
Patsy, could you please expand on the 'seamless forex'?

patsy
28-01-2007, 02:57 PM
quote:Originally posted by Steve

Patsy, could you please expand on the 'seamless forex'?



When you open an account with MacQuarie, you can opt to get two accounts: one called the Gilt Edge Access Account (which is a NZ account, NZD denominated) and another one called Cash Management Trust (which is based in Australia and AUD denominated). There is an option in the application form by which you can choose the "seamless forex" service - this service allows you to transfer funds (upon request over the phone) from the NZD account to the AUD account and viceversa at wholesale forex rates (plus a 0.5% fee as previously said).