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  #1  
Old October 26th, 2003, 09:54 PM
Dwayne
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Posts: n/a
Default Banking

Hello all,
I am a Canadian citizen (and a student) and I will be traveling to Australia
and New Zealand next week (my plane leaves Nov. 4th). I have a student
working holiday visa for both countries. I expect to be in each country for
at least three months (up to 12 months total). Can anyone suggest the
easiest way of accessing my money. Should I take it all as travelers checks
(if so in what currency/currencies) and try and get a "local" VISA or
MasterCard, leave all my money here and withdrawn as I need it at ATMs and
pay the fees, or take a little leave a little? I plan on using credit cards
as much as possible, if I cannot get local credit cards (this could be a
problem since I won't have a permanent address), I will need to keep some
money in my Canadian account(s). If travelers check are recommended, would
it be better to bring Canadian, Australian, New Zealand or USA? Is it
possible to open a Canadian currency account in Australia and New Zealand?
You recommendations are much appreciated.


Thank-you

Dwayne D. Chrusch


  #2  
Old October 27th, 2003, 03:01 AM
Raffi Balmanoukian
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Posts: n/a
Default Banking

in article WvWmb.192550$pl3.79441@pd7tw3no, Dwayne at u m c h r u s 1 @ c c
.. u m a n i t o b a . c a wrote on 10/26/03 4:54 PM:

Hello all,
I am a Canadian citizen (and a student) and I will be traveling to Australia
and New Zealand next week (my plane leaves Nov. 4th). I have a student
working holiday visa for both countries. I expect to be in each country for
at least three months (up to 12 months total). Can anyone suggest the
easiest way of accessing my money. Should I take it all as travelers checks
(if so in what currency/currencies) and try and get a "local" VISA or
MasterCard, leave all my money here and withdrawn as I need it at ATMs and
pay the fees, or take a little leave a little? I plan on using credit cards
as much as possible, if I cannot get local credit cards (this could be a
problem since I won't have a permanent address), I will need to keep some
money in my Canadian account(s). If travelers check are recommended, would
it be better to bring Canadian, Australian, New Zealand or USA? Is it
possible to open a Canadian currency account in Australia and New Zealand?
You recommendations are much appreciated.


Thank-you

Dwayne D. Chrusch



Greetings from Nova Scotia!

Believe it or not, it's cheaper to convert Canadian dollars to US dollars
and then USD to AUD than CAD to AUD - it's because, like it or not, we are a
tertiary currency and the exchange spread is preposterous.

The single cheapest way is to put your money in CAD into a credit card
account (visa, mastercard) and then withdraw it from an Australian ATM -
possibly over a series of days. You can open an Australian dollar account
at any major bank within a short time of arrival (30 days?) with just your
passport. Be aware that without an Australian tax number, you will have
half your interest remitted directly to the Australian tax office - at
today's rates, who cares?

In the alternative, get a draft at your Canadian bank in Australian dollars
and bring it with you - do NOT take it in cash, especially if you're taking
more than AUD $10,000 - you will be questioned VERY closely on arrival
(money-laundering laws).

Canadian Visa and mastercards are routinely accepted. You might do well to
get fresh cards if yours are getting old, as signatures are routinely
checked - unlike here. If yours is wearing off, get it replaced.

  #3  
Old October 27th, 2003, 06:06 AM
alfred
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Posts: n/a
Default Banking

Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:

The single cheapest way is to put your money in CAD into a credit card
account (visa, mastercard) and then withdraw it from an Australian ATM -
possibly over a series of days. You can open an Australian dollar account
at any major bank within a short time of arrival (30 days?) with just your
passport. Be aware that without an Australian tax number, you will have
half your interest remitted directly to the Australian tax office - at
today's rates, who cares?


I am looking closely at the best bank for travellers to use and it seems
to me that the HSBC Internet Savings Account is the winner. You need
$2000 to open an account, which will give you a 4% interest rate. More
importantly, you do not need to keep it at that level to attract a fee
free bank account - so long as you can restrict transactions to a) HSBC
ATM's (not prevalent), b) EFTPOS and Giropost (whatever that is) and c)
Five non-HSBC ATM drawdowns per month. The only thing I haven't worked
out is how to get money *in* to the HSBC, if you're in a region with no
branch.

Any other thoughts? St George and Commonwealth bank are looking to be
runners up - St George because of the ability to get your account up and
running on the spot.

  #4  
Old October 27th, 2003, 12:20 PM
Raffi Balmanoukian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Banking

in article , alfred at
wrote on 10/27/03 1:06 AM:

Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:

The single cheapest way is to put your money in CAD into a credit card
account (visa, mastercard) and then withdraw it from an Australian ATM -
possibly over a series of days. You can open an Australian dollar account
at any major bank within a short time of arrival (30 days?) with just your
passport. Be aware that without an Australian tax number, you will have
half your interest remitted directly to the Australian tax office - at
today's rates, who cares?


I am looking closely at the best bank for travellers to use and it seems
to me that the HSBC Internet Savings Account is the winner. You need
$2000 to open an account, which will give you a 4% interest rate. More
importantly, you do not need to keep it at that level to attract a fee
free bank account - so long as you can restrict transactions to a) HSBC
ATM's (not prevalent), b) EFTPOS and Giropost (whatever that is) and c)
Five non-HSBC ATM drawdowns per month. The only thing I haven't worked
out is how to get money *in* to the HSBC, if you're in a region with no
branch.

Any other thoughts? St George and Commonwealth bank are looking to be
runners up - St George because of the ability to get your account up and
running on the spot.


Let's see. 4% interest on $2000 is $80; if you don't have an Australian tax
number, it will be roughly half of that (assuming they're domiciled in
Australia and subject to their withholding rules - as I expect they are).
You're better off with one of the majors, or to use your foreign credit
card.

For the record, I opened an Australian dollar account (Westpac) when in Aus
for four and a half months - used it exactly once, and that wasn't something
I couldn't have circumvented. Then again, I wasn't earning an income over
there which would have changed the scenario (eg an employer doing automated
deposit, or a bank that wouldn't cash a paycheque unless you had an
account). Wish I had kept the account, though, the AUD was around 0.75 to
the Canuck buck at the time - it's now close to par!

  #5  
Old October 27th, 2003, 06:01 PM
Geoff Rait
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Posts: n/a
Default Banking

In s.sympatico.ca, Raffi
Balmanoukian wrote:

The single cheapest way is to put your money in CAD into a credit card
account (visa, mastercard) and then withdraw it from an Australian ATM -
possibly over a series of days. You can open an Australian dollar account
at any major bank within a short time of arrival (30 days?) with just your
passport. Be aware that without an Australian tax number, you will have
half your interest remitted directly to the Australian tax office - at
today's rates, who cares?


The above applies equally to NZ. If you were to open a local bank account,
as a non-resident your interest would attract NZ tax 15%. I'm not sure if
there's much in the way of restrictions on banking for short-stay foreign
students; however, while they might be fine with letting you open an
account, I imagine you'd have more trouble getting a credit card. Your best
bet for the length of time you'll be staying is probably just to use your
Canadian accounts (both regular and credit card). Before you leave, check
the rates your bank and credit card agency will charge for withdrawals from
foreign ATMs and for foreign currency transactions, respectively. Royal
charges $5 per withdrawal and 2.5% per Visa transaction. This might seem
expensive, but the exchange rate used for these transactions is the
wholesale one, meaning you'll come out ahead of exchanging cash or
travellers' cheques, especially if you make your ATM withdrawals in large
chunks. I've never had Canadian cards rejected in NZ by either machines or
people.

In the alternative, get a draft at your Canadian bank in Australian dollars
and bring it with you - do NOT take it in cash, especially if you're taking
more than AUD $10,000 - you will be questioned VERY closely on arrival
(money-laundering laws).


In NZ, banks typically require large drafts to be deposited into a local
account and remain untouched there for 30 days - regardless of your previous
history with the bank, other holdings, etc. (which I must say I was
unpleasantly surprised to find out when it happened to me). If you want to
have some extra backup in case you lose your cards, bring some travellers'
cheques.

Canadian Visa and mastercards are routinely accepted. You might do well to
get fresh cards if yours are getting old, as signatures are routinely
checked - unlike here. If yours is wearing off, get it replaced.


It used to be that NZ ATMs only accepted cards with 4-digit PINs, although
someone reported recently in this group using a 6-digit card with no
problems. If your current cards have 5- or 6-digit PINs, consider changing
them to 4 for the duration.

Geoff

--
Actually, I do have spots.
  #6  
Old October 28th, 2003, 01:56 AM
FREESPIRIT
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Banking

Theres not a lot of places in OZ that wont take credit cards. Only withdraw
cash out at atm's as you need it. travelling with large cash sums isnt
advised.





"Dwayne" u m c h r u s 1 @ c c . u m a n i t o b a . c a wrote in message
news:WvWmb.192550$pl3.79441@pd7tw3no...
Hello all,
I am a Canadian citizen (and a student) and I will be traveling to

Australia
and New Zealand next week (my plane leaves Nov. 4th). I have a student
working holiday visa for both countries. I expect to be in each country

for
at least three months (up to 12 months total). Can anyone suggest the
easiest way of accessing my money. Should I take it all as travelers

checks
(if so in what currency/currencies) and try and get a "local" VISA or
MasterCard, leave all my money here and withdrawn as I need it at ATMs and
pay the fees, or take a little leave a little? I plan on using credit

cards
as much as possible, if I cannot get local credit cards (this could be a
problem since I won't have a permanent address), I will need to keep some
money in my Canadian account(s). If travelers check are recommended,

would
it be better to bring Canadian, Australian, New Zealand or USA? Is it
possible to open a Canadian currency account in Australia and New Zealand?
You recommendations are much appreciated.


Thank-you

Dwayne D. Chrusch




  #7  
Old October 29th, 2003, 02:47 AM
Julie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Banking

Giropost is the Post Office.

Julie

"alfred" wrote in message
...
Raffi Balmanoukian wrote:

The single cheapest way is to put your money in CAD into a credit card
account (visa, mastercard) and then withdraw it from an Australian ATM -
possibly over a series of days. You can open an Australian dollar

account
at any major bank within a short time of arrival (30 days?) with just

your
passport. Be aware that without an Australian tax number, you will have
half your interest remitted directly to the Australian tax office - at
today's rates, who cares?


I am looking closely at the best bank for travellers to use and it seems
to me that the HSBC Internet Savings Account is the winner. You need
$2000 to open an account, which will give you a 4% interest rate. More
importantly, you do not need to keep it at that level to attract a fee
free bank account - so long as you can restrict transactions to a) HSBC
ATM's (not prevalent), b) EFTPOS and Giropost (whatever that is) and c)
Five non-HSBC ATM drawdowns per month. The only thing I haven't worked
out is how to get money *in* to the HSBC, if you're in a region with no
branch.

Any other thoughts? St George and Commonwealth bank are looking to be
runners up - St George because of the ability to get your account up and
running on the spot.



 




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