Rosa1035 Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Hi all,A word of advice please! Our PR visa was issued this week, and we would like to open bank accounts as soon as possible. In SA we bank with FNB, and are very happy with them. We would like a similar sort of bank (ie. technologically savvy, rewards programme, etc), as well as linked to PayPal (as FNB is). I currently do freelance work online, which gets paid in USD to me on Paypal. I then just transfer this money to my FNB account, but would like to start putting a small portion of it into my new Aus account, so we have spending money when we do our visa activation trip next year. Seems like a waste to convert from USD to ZAR to AUD, rather just do USD to AUD!More than likely we will be settling Adelaide or Melbourne - not sure whether certain banks have a better footprint in certain areas? Any advice will be most welcome.Thanks,Ros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 In my opinion the Australian banks are decades behind the South African banks in terms of tech savvy. I am with Westpac and the internet banking interface looks like a it was designed by a first year IT student who failed. After 7 years of being Aus they still dont have sms notifications on all transactions. I do not know if Westpac is Paypal connected but I do have Paypal connected to Aus credit card though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa1035 Posted October 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Thanks Jordy, I did notice that they looked somewhat 'dated'! Was hoping I'd stumbled upon cached copies of the websites from the 90's, but sounds like that is as good as it gets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Try ANZ, do not know about paypal with them, but I have not come across anything that I can not do online with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 I'm with NAB and have a Paypal account. My NAB savings account is linked to my Paypal account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benp Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 In Oz you can link any bank account to PayPal. In RSA you have to do it via FNB due to forex controls, no such controls in Oz. You will have to 'transfer' you paypall account to Oz though, or open brand new one using different email as pay pal account can not 'belong' to 2 countries, it will not allow you to set up Oz account against South African based paypal account. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Thanks Jordy, I did notice that they looked somewhat 'dated'! Was hoping I'd stumbled upon cached copies of the websites from the 90's, but sounds like that is as good as it gets! Which ones did you look at ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyskies Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 We are with CBA. While I agree that 6 years ago they were slightly backwards I believe they are right up there now. They are making constant improvement to their Internet banking and the mobile app is also great for on the run banking. I still have SA accounts so I do have a comparator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Another one for CBA here. They have improved dramatically in the last few years in both technology and customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsta Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 In Oz you can link any bank account to PayPal. In RSA you have to do it via FNB due to forex controls, no such controls in Oz.Also, the South African Rand is not officially supported by PayPal. FNB automatically do the conversion for you. That means you can see how many Aussie dollars you are paying a South African, but Paypal can't tell you how many Rands they will get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa1035 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Thanks all for your advice! Benp - that's great news - at least I won't be limited by who offers PayPal facilities. Monsta, I will bear that in mind, thanks. I have just emailed CBA now to confirm, however it appears you can only open an account 3 months before arrival, whereas WestPac give you 12 months. That might be a deciding factor at this stage, fortunately nothing is permanent, and we can always look for better deals after we arrive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn3 Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 I have applied to open an account with CBA, hopefully it gets approved and I can activate it in December when I come over. Just a question, if I'm transferring money directly from PayPal to my account in Australia will I be required to submit a tax return even if I am not officially in SA? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyskies Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Rosa, I don't think you have been correctly advised. We opened ours in August arriving the next January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa1035 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Thanks Sunnyskies, I will double check. When I enter my date of arrival I get the error message "Your arrival date must be in the next 3 months. Apply again closer to your arrival in Australia or if you need an account sooner, contact us on mfs@cba.com.au". Hopefully I will get a positive response on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa1035 Posted October 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 This is the response I got from Commonwealth bank, just for future reference for others...Hi Ros, Thanks for your email. Yes you can choose to open account online before your arrival. Our account fees varies from AUD $4 to $6 monthly, depend on the account you choose. I will send you more information in the follow paragraph of the email. You can choose to link your Pay pal account with your commonwealth bank account, this has to be set up via Pay pal. To find out about the types of accounts we offer please visit our website which also details the terms and conditions. Once you have made decision, you can apply for your new account at commbank.com.au/movingtoaustralia. Upon submission of our quick and secure online application, we will confirm your Australian account details within 24-48 hours. (This also include details for international money transfer) (IMPORTANT, we recommend you to open the account no sooner than 4-6 weeks prior to your arrival, as there may be fees and charges involved for the maintenance of the account therefore we would not want unnecessary fees to be imposed.) After you received account confirmation letter, your new account will be ready for international money transfer. Please note: There may be a receiving fee of maximum $AUD 11 per transaction (regardless of the amount and types of currency). Please be aware that your transfer might go through intermediate bank, if this is the case intermediate bank might charge you fees as well. Please confirm with your current bank for further details. Regardless of the type of currency you will be transferring, it will be converted into Australian Dollars when received in your new account. Foreign currency exchange rate varies; your actual rate will be based on the rate at the time we receive of the transfer. For current rates please check our website. International money transfer will take 3 – 5 business days before it arrives in your account. You will not able to access your money until you have arrived in Australia and have been identified in any one of our branches. (You will need to bring your passport when you attend the branch). If you have any questions and would like to speak to one of our staff please contact us. We look forward to welcoming you to Australia in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyskies Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 at least you are getting what appears to be full disclosure upfront.Does this suit your purposes? We simply placed funds in our account pending our arrival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa1035 Posted October 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Hi Sunnyskies, That is all I really wanted to do too, start saving up money before we arrive for our visa activation trip, but to be able to transfer money in from a PayPal account. Fortunately the PayPal side doesn't appear to be a concern, so we are free to go anywhere. Must admit to being very impressed with the service from all the banks I have approached in Aus! Hoping this is a portent of things to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.