Bringing Money To Australia

Slaanesh

What options/methods are available for bringing money to Australia. I have money that I would like to bring with me. I also have a bank account in Australia, it would be handy to transfer to the Aussie account. What charges are involved in doing this. I was in an AIB branch there but it seems to be tricks to transfer to an Aussie account, involving an MT100 form or something. I don't really understand how to do this.

As much as I would like to transfer the money before I leave, I need to present 100 points of identification when I arrive in Australia to have my account setup and my card issued. Wouldn't like to transfer money to an account that I can't access

Anybody else travelled to Australia ? How did you manage your monies ? When required to produce proof of funds can you just bring a statement issued from your bank ?

Thanks,

Slaanesh.

grumpytrousers

Can't really help with the main 'issue' but to tide you over, you could charge up your credit card here with a few hundred/thousand Euro and withdraw on it in Oz. AFAIK you don't get charged much in the line of fees if the credit card company owe YOU money...and you'll presumably just pay the bog standard conversion rate.

Mind you - yer fecked if you lose your Ccard...

conorb56

Definitely topping up your credit card is the most versatile way to go. It is also the cheapest possible way as long as you stay in the black.

Victor

Do an electronic transfer direct from one account to the other. That way if there is an issue with "who owns this money", it is quite clearly you.

How are the 100 points calculated and will you need proof of address?

The exchange rate on the CC might not be great and if you are taking out money piecemeal the charges might build up.

silverside

Take 500 dollars cash, take the rest out on your banklink card (200 dollars or so at a time - will cost you about 2 euro a go but is cheapest way without doing an elctronic transfer ).

You should be able to open an account in the Commonwealth bank without too much hassle, if you have a one-year visa.

If you are talking about the proof of funds requested by the embassy on your visa application, I don't think they are too fussy. You are unlikely to be asked for a bank statement at immigration.

Once you have your account set up in Oz, do an electronic transfer. Arranging it might be tricky unless you have someone you can trust back home to fill out the forms (Mammy/Daddy ?) Last time I did a cross-currency transfer through AIB it cost about £20 and took a few days. I guess Australia will be similar. You'll need to get an international bank number (IBAN) from your Aussie bank.

RainyDay

grumpytrousers wrote:

AFAIK you don't get charged much in the line of fees if the credit card company owe YOU money...and you'll presumably just pay the bog standard conversion rate.

Most credit card companies charge FX conversion fee between 1.5% and 2.75% on all non-Euro transactions. This fee is built into the FX rate you see on your statement, so it may not be obvious.

bringitdown

I did it using my credit card - keeping it in the black all the time - the CC company charged me nothing for widthdrawing cash and the rates on the statement were very favourable compared with those quoted at xe.com/ucc on the day of the widthdrawal.

Combine this with online banking and it is by far the easiest way to go...

fintan

travelers cheques

If you loose them, you get replacements ususally the same day and all you need is your passport to cash them in a bank.

I dont know if its the cheapest way, but definitely an option

dmeehan

put the money into your visa account

you can withdraw it from the ATM's there and it wont cost you anything
(as long as you stay in the black)