Australian Term Deposits.

[NONG CHOK]

Hi there, Recently I had to re invest money into my ME Bank Term Deposit account. So as usual I logged in and my account was deleted but the money had been transferred into my access account. It appears that AU term deposit banks are now using electronic devices to verify our details. Such as are we really residents of Australia and not using a friends address. Also a current drivers licence, even in some cases our Medicare number of which the majority of us expats have been deleted from Medicare. Even our passports can be scanned to see if we are Australia or not. My problem is now where can I invest money as an expat, I don't get the aged pension because I broke my residential status, so I'm looking for another income. I'm not interested in shares so a fixed interest investment would be ideal. Anyone got any ideas which is the best option for me. Thanks.

[ezzra]

I happen to be in the boat as you are with a hefty lump sum in an Aussie bank and last i talked to my bank the offers me like 0.8-1.5% PA if you continue to inject money into your saver account, so cut a long story long, while borrowers are now being slugged at much higher raters, depositors still getting peanuts for their saving...

[KhunHeineken]

What forms of ID do you still posses from Australia?

[NONG CHOK]

I have an Australian passport and one Australian savings account, nothing else. Thanks.

[KhunHeineken]

5 hours ago, NONG CHOK said:

I have an Australian passport and one Australian savings account, nothing else. Thanks.

I was going to suggest opening a high interest online account, which you can do over the internet, but you still need to send 100 points of ID.  A passport is only 50 points.  

 

Unless your Australian bank can do something for you, it appears that you have basically lost control of that money, so maybe best to move it offshore and regain control of it. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by KhunHeineken

[scorecard]

On 7/18/2022 at 9:50 AM, KhunHeineken said:

I was going to suggest opening a high interest online account, which you can do over the internet, but you still need to send 100 points of ID.  A passport is only 50 points.  

 

Unless your Australian bank can do something for you, it appears that you have basically lost control of that money, so maybe best to move it offshore and regain control of it. 

Have you asked if they will accept an official document with a photo issued in another country, e.g. Thai drivers license. I came across this when I did the 'proof of identity' for Centrelink. I was sitting with the C'link lady, I was going through my plastic cards; she said 'what's that?'  I gave her my Thai drivers license, she noted 'has clear photo, name and purpose is in English as well as Thai', then she said 'This is fine and she entered it into their system, all accepted. She explained 'where it was issued is not relevant, it identified you that's all that's needed.

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by scorecard

[NONG CHOK]

Firstly thanks for your reply, every term deposit bank requires the investor to be a resident of Australia. So there goes using a foreign ID such as you did with Centrelink.  Cheers.

[KhunHeineken]

On 8/20/2022 at 6:55 AM, scorecard said:

Have you asked if they will accept an official document with a photo issued in another country, e.g. Thai drivers license. I came across this when I did the 'proof of identity' for Centrelink. I was sitting with the C'link lady, I was going through my plastic cards; she said 'what's that?'  I gave her my Thai drivers license, she noted 'has clear photo, name and purpose is in English as well as Thai', then she said 'This is fine and she entered it into their system, all accepted. She explained 'where it was issued is not relevant, it identified you that's all that's needed.

 

I'm not the OP.

 

Not sure a bank would accept a foreign document that may have been knocked up on Khaosan Road. 

 

I think they also run checks on the document number with certain government data bases.  Main reasons, funding terrorism and money laundering. 

[KhunHeineken]

On 8/20/2022 at 8:50 AM, NONG CHOK said:

Firstly thanks for your reply, every term deposit bank requires the investor to be a resident of Australia. So there goes using a foreign ID such as you did with Centrelink.  Cheers.

Maybe contact another bank.

 

If they can open a bank account for foreigners, before they even arrive, surely they can do something for you.

 

https://www.anz.com.au/personal/bank-accounts/everyday-accounts/moving-to-australia/en/