Transferring savings from UK to Australia

[HalfAJobBob]

Afternoon folks,

Me and my wife are planning to move to Brisbane on a permanent skilled visa around September 2025 and had a few questions regarding transferring our savings to an Australian bank account.

We will have estimated of savings of around £240k to transfer and wanted to know how what is the best and most competitive way to transfer money to an Australian bank account. I was thinking of using a company like Wise / Forfx to transfer the funds and potentially lock in a rate of exchange via a forward contract and then transfer the other half closer to the move date, to minimise adverse fluctuations in FX.

One other stumbling block I suppose is that we don't have a Australian bank account to transfer the money to before we leave. I've read online and you can set up an account in the UK, but would need to visit a branch in Aus to validate the account to be able to make transfers.

Would be really helpful to get some advise on what the best practices are.

Thanks!

[lothar]

I used Wise when I moved out in 2018 and now again when I moved back in June. As long as you own both accounts you're fine.

I am close to London so was able to go to the Westpac branch in London and set up and verify my Aus before leaving UK, and could start transferring even before I left, but even if you don't have access to an Aus account before you get over there is nothing stopping you leaving all your cash in 1 or more accounts here in the UK and then once over and you have an Aus account use the Wise app to transfer.

The only issue you would have is that when using the bank apps, your limit is like 25K a day so it takes a few weeks to get it all across. Either way I am lazy and both ways I transferred the money using the wise app and my daily limit

Just double and triple check you can access all your bank accounts online/phone and don't end up locking yourself out with 2FA when you no longer have access to UK number etc. For example I still have my aus number active just in case I need to get an OTP or whatever.

 

[lothar]

Sorry one more thing, the wise fees are % based so it doesn't matter if you send 100 or 1 payment you'll pay the same fees. Your main risk in doing it my way is the exchange rate which might vary over 2 weeks versus the 1 day transfer. 

Wise does allow you to send large transfers, but its getting them the money which is tricky as the banks usually need you to come in for large ones. Saying that you could pre load your wise account in uk, and then when in Aus do the "transfer"

With Wise your transfer looks like this:

UK Account -> Wise account (stored in GBP) (Can be done from Bank Branch while in UK)

Wise Account -> To Aus account <- it is at this point the FX rate comes in.

Edited September 3 by lothar

[HalfAJobBob]

Thanks so much for the tips and guidance it is really helpful! I've noticed wise are offering the most competitive rate of exchange at the moment.

When checking the major 4 banks in Aus, it seems like they all require you to visit a branch in Australia to validate the account. I've seen there is an account with Commbank that you can set up 14 days before we arrive, but even with that we can't make any transfers until we validate it in Australia. Do you happen to know if there are any that don't require aus branch validation? 

I suppose I could just transfer the money once I'm out there via my banking apps, but just worried the exchange could potentially drop.

 

 

 

Edited September 3 by HalfAJobBob
Typo

[lothar]

No sorry don't know. The regulations must have changed since we moved out in 2018 as I mentioned I did the validation in the Westpac Branch in London.

You're lucky with the rate at the moment  it really hurt us moving back to GBP the past 2 months. 

As long as we don't have another Brexit or Liz Truss in the next year you'll be ok

 

[paulhand]

38 minutes ago, HalfAJobBob said:

I suppose I could just transfer the money once I'm out there via my banking apps, but just worried the exchange could potentially drop.

I think you’re missing the point of Wise. Once you have done an FX transaction within your Wise account, the exchange rate is locked in. You can keep the AUD in your Wise AUD account until you have set up a domestic account in Aus and are ready to transfer the funds. You can do similar with Revolut or other multi-currency ‘new banks’. 

[ukbound]

I never dared to transfer a large amount. Last time I withdrew under 10K I got a phone call from the bank asking what I was wanting to spend my money on. They grilled me over the phone for over half an hour. They suspended my account and I had to go to the branch, bring passport ID and use their old rotary phone to call head office in Scotland. This couldn't be resolved over the phone. After a very long call with them my account was unsuspended. I couldn't risk transferring a large amount in Australia and then having it suspended again and them wanting me to visit the branch 9,000 miles away. 

[HalfAJobBob]

2 hours ago, paulhand said:

I think you’re missing the point of Wise. Once you have done an FX transaction within your Wise account, the exchange rate is locked in. You can keep the AUD in your Wise AUD account until you have set up a domestic account in Aus and are ready to transfer the funds. You can do similar with Revolut or other multi-currency ‘new banks’. 

Oh that's even better then, I was under the impression as lothar mentioned above, was that the FX rate only locks in once the money gets transferred to the Australian account.

If I can convert in the lead up to the move then happy days .

 

[HalfAJobBob]

2 hours ago, lothar said:

No sorry don't know. The regulations must have changed since we moved out in 2018 as I mentioned I did the validation in the Westpac Branch in London.

You're lucky with the rate at the moment  it really hurt us moving back to GBP the past 2 months. 

As long as we don't have another Brexit or Liz Truss in the next year you'll be ok

 

No worries thanks for your help, I really am considering what it was when trussonomics was introduced . 

[Marisawright]

4 hours ago, HalfAJobBob said:

When checking the major 4 banks in Aus, it seems like they all require you to visit a branch in Australia to validate the account. I've seen there is an account with Commbank that you can set up 14 days before we arrive, but even with that we can't make any transfers until we validate it in Australia. Do you happen to know if there are any that don't require aus branch validation? 

You're right, you can 'open' an account with them in the UK but all you can do is give them money -- you can't access your money or get cards until you go into a branch to activate it.  

I wouldn't bank with any of them anyway. The four major banks in Australia have a terrible reputation.  There was a Royal Commission some years ago which uncovered huge mistreatment of their customers. I'm sure someone will pop in to say, "I'm very happy with Westpac" or whatever, but that's not the point -- most people who were ripped off by the big four banks, had no idea it was happening.   I was amazed when I got two sizeable 'refunds' from the Commonwealth Bank a year or two after the Royal Commission, relating to my previous mortgages with them.  At the time, I would've said I was pleased with their service, but it turns out they were overcharging me all along.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_into_Misconduct_in_the_Banking,_Superannuation_and_Financial_Services_Industry

I suggest taking a look at HSBC.   If you open an account with them in the UK before you go, you'll then be able to transfer between your UK and Aussie accounts easily (you'll find you need to keep a UK account even after you're settled in Australia, it's handy for all kinds of things).  @FirstWorldProblems has HSBC accounts and can tell you how it works.

Alternatively, you could look at Bank of Queensland or Suncorp, as you'll be in Queensland.

    

[calNgary]

We opened an account with ANZ prior to moving over here and doing it worked well for us, if the exchange rate was up in our favour we sent funds across ready for our arrival. Activating once here was easy, we just went into a branch to show ID. It is definitely worth doing if you have quite a bit of GBP to send over.

          Cal x

[rammygirl]

If it’s easier to open an account with one of the big four just do it. You can always change later. 
Usually they let you transfer money in, as Marissa said you only need to validate to actually withdraw or get cards. However I don’t think you can open an interest earning account (at least we couldn’t) so your money will sit idle.. it might be worth considering this as interest rates are good at the moment for savings (at least here in Aus) and you could be losing money if it is sitting there for a long time. 

[Ken]

We opened an account with ANZ prior to moving and were able to transfer money in before visiting a branch to verify our identities. What we couldn't do is transfer money out until we had verified our identities by visiting a branch in Australia. 

There was a 10% withholding tax on the interest as we didn't have a TFN to give the bank until we had moved to Australia. That would have been the same whether we had verified our identities or not, but we wouldn't have been able to move our money to an account offering better interest so if doing that make sure you find one with a good rate in the first place!

Edited September 4 by Ken

[lothar]

 

8 hours ago, HalfAJobBob said:

Oh that's even better then, I was under the impression as lothar mentioned above, was that the FX rate only locks in once the money gets transferred to the Australian account.

Yeah as Paul mentioned you could do a FX transaction in Wise without actually sending the money to a bank account, I just never did it this way as I was already onshore when I started transferring. 

With Wise you will have a GBP Denominated account and a AUD denominated account (plus more if you want) then the transaction looks like this:

UK Account -> Wise GBP Account

Wise GBP Account -> Wise AUD Account <- it is at this point the FX rate comes in.

Wise AUD Account -> To Aus account.

 

 

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

7 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You're right, you can 'open' an account with them in the UK but all you can do is give them money -- you can't access your money or get cards until you go into a branch to activate it.  

I wouldn't bank with any of them anyway. The four major banks in Australia have a terrible reputation.  There was a Royal Commission some years ago which uncovered huge mistreatment of their customers. I'm sure someone will pop in to say, "I'm very happy with Westpac" or whatever, but that's not the point -- most people who were ripped off by the big four banks, had no idea it was happening.   I was amazed when I got two sizeable 'refunds' from the Commonwealth Bank a year or two after the Royal Commission, relating to my previous mortgages with them.  At the time, I would've said I was pleased with their service, but it turns out they were overcharging me all along.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_into_Misconduct_in_the_Banking,_Superannuation_and_Financial_Services_Industry

I suggest taking a look at HSBC.   If you open an account with them in the UK before you go, you'll then be able to transfer between your UK and Aussie accounts easily (you'll find you need to keep a UK account even after you're settled in Australia, it's handy for all kinds of things).  @FirstWorldProblems has HSBC accounts and can tell you how it works.

Alternatively, you could look at Bank of Queensland or Suncorp, as you'll be in Queensland.

    

I do indeed and I transfer money every month - however I use Wise to do so as HSBC offer a poor exchange rate. 
 

 

[Dimmo]

1 hour ago, FirstWorldProblems said:

I do indeed and I transfer money every month - however I use Wise to do so as HSBC offer a poor exchange rate. 
 

 

 

I do the same, HSBC also have a bonus saver where you can get 4.5% interest if you add at least $300 to your balance a month. They will withhold 10% tax as you are overseas. You will need to declare the interest on your UK tax return though.

The whole process is really simple and having an Australian account is really useful before you make the move. I used mine today to pay for a new car as we fly out tomorrow!

If you have an eSim capable phone I would also look to get yourself an Australian number with somebody like Amaysim.

Edited September 4 by Dimmo