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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checks (if so in what currency/currencies) and try and get a "local" VISA or MasterCard, leave all my money here and withdrawn as I need it at ATMs and pay the fees, or take a little leave a little?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
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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checks (if so in what currency/currencies) and try and get a "local" VISA or MasterCard, leave all my money here and withdrawn as I need it at ATMs and pay the fees, or take a little leave a little?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
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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
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Banking
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#5
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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 $10,000 - you will be questioned VERY closely on arrival (money-laundering laws). In NZ, banks typically require large drafts to be deposited into a local account and remain untouched there for 30 days - regardless of your previous history with the bank, other holdings, etc. (which I must say I was unpleasantly surprised to find out when it happened to me). If you want to have some extra backup in case you lose your cards, bring some travellers' cheques. Canadian Visa and mastercards are routinely accepted. You might do well to get fresh cards if yours are getting old, as signatures are routinely checked - unlike here. If yours is wearing off, get it replaced. It used to be that NZ ATMs only accepted cards with 4-digit PINs, although someone reported recently in this group using a 6-digit card with no problems. If your current cards have 5- or 6-digit PINs, consider changing them to 4 for the duration. Geoff -- Actually, I do have spots. |
#6
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Banking
Theres not a lot of places in OZ that wont take credit cards. Only withdraw
cash out at atm's as you need it. travelling with large cash sums isnt advised. "Dwayne" u m c h r u s 1 @ c c . u m a n i t o b a . c a wrote in message news:WvWmb.192550$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
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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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