Bank Account - International transfers

G

groperfish

Hey all, not sure of this should go in this sub-forum, but not sure where else to ask.

Wife and I have been secondered overseas for a few years (Netherlands, home of excellent cheese and many bikes). We have an IP in Australia, loan through CBA.

My wife gets paid into the CBA account, in Aus dollars. We then have to transfer the money onto our 28 degrees card (to avoid excessive CBA transfer/international withdrawal fees) and withdraw cash here & put into our Dutch bank account (the Dutch rarely take international credit/debit cards. From Jan, 28-degrees will be charging 3% on all cash withdrawals. We are already losing a lot & want to find a better way.

Does anyone have a better way? We have contacted my wife's employer who've advised they will not pay into an International Bank Account.

Have heard about a Citibank Plus account, but I'm thinking there may be smarter/better ways..

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Adam
 
Ah yes. The Netherlands. Did you know that Edam cheese is made backwards?

We have found Citibank the best of a bad bunch for transferring funds to a travelling daughter. She also has a St George, which has the advantage that we can deposit funds at the local branch and transfer so that she gets her money quickly. ATM fees can really eat into any international card.

NAB had a good product at one stage.
 
Can't really help. Does your wife pay tax in Australia?? If so then But a question for the accountants, if wife is being paid from Australia can the fees to be able to access her money from her now resident country be deductible as a "neccessary expense" ? I realise bank fees are. It deductible for regular employees , but maybe this situation is different?
 
Damn it, there goes the best travel card ever, I wasnt aware of them charging 3% on withdrawals, I guess they got sick of everyone loading up the card and using it as a debit card with no fees while overseas

Sorry I cant answer your question but thanks for posting this, you just saved me from a very ugly surprise next time I go overseas.
 
I have researched this to death.

You have few options.
First - if you can open an account in the country you move to it is best.

I have a Citibank multi currency account which is fine, however, the only way to access funds is to transfer. There is no debit card. You can link their plus account, however, that is only available in aud$. So you are holding ? transfer to $ and spend ? on your card.... Yay.
However they have no monthly fee and are typically converting at 3c better rates than the big banks. An inward Trf is $25 I think.
Plus transferring funds from the multi currency acct to the plus account can be a nightmare. The branch rarely answers the phone, and they can't list foreign phone numbers. Then when you get someone they often can't help (or don't want to) and everyone follows a different policy. You just need to hang up and try again (great when you are calling international). However you are still better doing this than transferring to your big 4 account, purely due to their v low exchange rates. At times I can save over $1,000 in a month just on rates difference between the banks.

I have not found an Australian bank who offers a foreign currency account with card access. Though most have foreign currency savings accts. hence why you need to open an account in your new country - which often isn't possible.
And don't even mention a FC credit card in Australia.

If you find a better solution let me know.
 
actually...

another thing to try is Virgin's global wallet.
it allows you to have up to 10 wallets in different currencies, and you can do some funky stuff with them

check their website for details.
 
Yeah, but you can still only load it with aud.

So you earn ? transfer to aud$ and transfer back to ?...

There is no benifit. I would also want to look closely at their conversion rates. I dare say they will be ratherly c***.
 
i thought the OP is earning AUD and the whole point was to transfer money to netherlands
you can also setup what the main currency is i think
 
Hey all. Fantastic responses, I have a bit of research to do. And yes, we both earn in Aus dollars (and are paying tax in Aus).

Have called Citibank three times in the past day, they are, for want of a better word, hopeless. Each person has different advice. I have applied for a Citibank Plus, but am still waiting to hear back (we are in the NL at the moment and cannot visit an AusPost or Citibank to verify identity).

Thanks again. I will keep this thread updated and let you know what I've found to be the best solution to us.

Thanks again. Hopefully I'll have some more to add within the next day.
 
Ah yes. We had the problem with verifying identity too. But that's a requirement under Australian law. My daughter was able to visit a citibank branch in South America to have her id verified but that took a bit of pushing.
 
Oh. My bad. Sorry I thought you were earning a foreign currency. If that is the case I wouldn't bother with Citibank at all. Pay the extra few % and get some decent service.

All I use citi for are to collect the FC and transfer it to my real bank in aud.

Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

Blacky

Oh, and don't get me started about trying to apply for a loc.
 
with virgin global wallet you may not need to verify your identity if you are a member of their frequent flyer program already. it's just a tick in a box to request it.

but then they probably wouldn't send the card to an overseas address...
 
You have a Dutch bank account. Can't you just do transfers in some way, as previously suggested?


Once upon a time I was able to cash a US cheque into an Australian bank account, for an appropriate fee.

What about through paypal? Direct transfer?
 
Same as above xe.com or better still

Open HSBC account here in Oz - Must be Premier

They can then open an account for you via their International team in Holland. Full account with automatic credit and debit card, they also take account of your Australian credit history should you decide to apply for other lending products.

You can do instant transfers using "Global View" within online banking.

As a Premier Customer no fees just the usual spread which is reasonable, if you are doing monthly transfers the savings on fees alone makes it worthwhile.

Regards

ScottyB
 
Qantas have just released Qantas Cash, maybe check it out on more detail and see if that's something you want to utilize, you can load it with other currency.

http://www.qantascash.com/

I just got mine the other day, haven't used it yet though but seems like a good idea especially for small purchases overseas.
 
+1 for HSBC premier. Very convenient to transfer money accross different account anywhere you have a HSBC account. If it is in the same currency, then there is no fee. You then make the transfert in your local bank, which is always cheaper.
 
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