[ Post a Response | The American Society of Sydney ]
**The American Society Board needs YOU! Want to get involved? Email Mary@americansociety.com.au for more information.
Posted by Heather on 10/13/2007, 9:39 am, in reply to "Re: Banking in Australia"
71.98.91.43
yeah, we did that too in the hopes it would make things simple. Sorry I didn't post earlier to save you the hassle. I'm sure they will charge you a fee for the wire transfer. I would talk to both Citibank and your credit union and see whose fees will be less for wire transfers, ATM withdrawals in Australia, and credit card transactions (if you have their credit card). Our US cards charge anywhere from 1-3% as a foreign exchange fee. We do most of our banking in the US (using internet and ATM's), although we also have a local account in order to write local cheques when necessary.
--Previous Message--
: Thanks for everyone's input!
:
: Heather - we actually went and opened up a
: citibank account and transferred everything
: there in hopes of it being easy in Sydney!
: Guess I should have posted this BEFORE!
:
: We also belong to a credit union. I never
: thought of using that - perhaps that would
: be an option for us.
: Do you know if Citibank charges to wire
: transfer between US and AUS? I need to go
: meet with them I think...
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: --Previous Message--
: My husband and I are relocating to Sydney
: and
: are looking to switch to a new bank. We are
: considering doing a CitiBank or Bank of
: America b/c they are both in the States and
: in Australia, but aren't sure if we should
: do that to get there and then open up an
: account at a local bank as well...? And if
: it's easy to use a CitiBank or Bank of
: America easily there - currency is
: translated etc...? Any suggestions would be
: much appreciated!!
:
: We tried to do this when we came and it did
: not work at all. We specifically set up an
: account at Citibank in the US, and the
: Australian branch looked at us like we were
: nuts when we suggested that they were the
: same entity and we should be able to access
: our money.
: So basically, we keep accounts in both
: countries and we do a wire transfer from the
: US bank to the Australian one when
: necessary. If you're getting paid in the
: US, you can access cash through an ATM in
: Australia. Just make sure your US bank
: doesn't charge you additional fees for using
: a foreign ATM. We use a credit union in the
: US. They charge a 1% currency conversion
: fee, but no other ATM charges. Feel free to
: email me if I can be of any further help
: with all this.
: The move probably seems overwhelming, but
: it's a great experience.
:
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread
Visit our main site at www.americansociety.com.au