ANZ international student account. What you need to know.

There are a lot of things to organise when moving countries. For anyone moving to Australia to study, opening a local bank account should be high on their priority list. Australia and New Zealand Bank or ANZ, is one of Australia’s big 4 banks and allows international students to open an account.

This article will explore what accounts are available with ANZ, the steps to open an account and introduce you to Wise, an alternative way to store and move money internationally.

💸 Hold over 50 currencies in your account and spend at the mid-market rate with the Wise card while studying abroad.

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Wise Account

Why you need a local bank account in Australia as an international student

There are plenty of reasons why you will need to open a local bank account as an incoming student. These reasons include:

• Send and receive international payments
• Make local purchases and pay your bills
• Transfer funds to your university for tuition payments
• Being able to get paid locally if working while studying.
• Receive a local salary if you decide to work

Opening a local account can make your life easier, and in many instances, can help save you from international transaction fees that your local bank may charge you if you use your account frequently in Australia.

ANZ international student accounts

ANZ offers two banking products to those moving to Australia to study including:

An ANZ Access Advantage account

This account is ANZs version of an everyday transaction account. Domestic or international students can benefit from a monthly fee waiver if they can prove they undertake full time study with an Australian institution¹.

The ANZ Plus account

The ANZ Plus account is a new branchless banking product offered by ANZ. ANZ plus operates in separation to all other ANZ products, and has its own app. Customers that open an ANZ Plus account get an ANZ Plus everyday transaction account and a multi-goal savings account at the same time.²

What are the features and benefits of this ANZ international student accounts

Let’s differentiate the features and benefits of the ANZ Access Advantage account and the ANZ plus account as these are comparable options available to international students that have arrived in Australia.

Features and benefits of the ANZ Access Advantage account

Some benefits that come with the ANZ Access Advantage account include²:

• Unlimited transactions
• Cashless withdrawals at ANZ ATMs
• Choice of three different coloured Visa Debit Cards³
• Access to the ANZ App
• Possible cashback rewards³
• ANZ fraud protections
• Personalised money reports

Features and benefits of an ANZ Plus account

With an ANZ Plus account you’ll get access to a range of benefits including²:

• No monthly account fees
• No ATM fees with eligible Australian ATMs
• Visa Debit card
• Digital wallets
• Digital statements
• Can earn interest on savings
• Access to interactive coaching workshops
• In-app messaging
• ANZ Falcon and Fraud guarantee protections

ANZ Plus customers also get smart features such as spend categorisation, upcoming payment predictions, custom tagging of payments and detailed spending reports.⁴

Running cost, fees that come with this account

Let’s now take the opportunity to compare how these accounts compare by going through some of the fees that you may run into. We’ll compare these fees with an alternative service called Wise, that specialises in international transfer services.

Fees*	ANZ Advantage Access - Student Account	ANZ Plus - Student Account	Wise Account
Account monthly fees	Monthly fee waived¹	No monthly fee²	Free to hold up to $23,000 AUD per month. 0.00437% daily holding fee for any amount over $23,000 AUD
International transfer fee (for a sample amount of $1,000 AUD to GBP)	Can only access through internet banking. Send: Fee from $0 to $18 depending on destination + potential correspondent fees⁵	Can only receive money from abroad. Anything over $300 will incur a $15 AUD fee⁷	Small payout fee + 0.45% variable conversion fee (e.g. for a transfer of $1,000 AUD to GBP paid by bank transfer to Wise, the total fee charged is $5.14 AUD). You can make a fee calculation here.
ATM withdrawals in Australia and abroad	No ATM fees with Australian ATMS Abroad = $5 AUD + potential fee from specific ATM operator + 3% overseas transaction fee⁶	No ATM fees with Australian ATMS Abroad = $5 AUD + potential fee from specific ATM operator + 3% overseas transaction fee⁷	You can take out money for free twice a month — as long as the total amount is under $350 AUD. After that, there is a $1.50 AUD per transaction fixed fee. If you take out over $350 AUD in one month, there is a 1.75% on the amount exceeding that. See card fees here. Note: Wise will not charge you for these withdrawals, but some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks.

*As seen on 10 February 2023

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

Read more: ANZ international transfers. All you need to know

What do I need to do to open an account? Requirements, documents and what to know.

Only customers that are already in Australia can open an ANZ Access Advantage account or an ANZ Plus account.¹ They should also meet these requirements:²

• Be an Australian resident with a valid residential address
• Be over the age of 12 years for an ANZ Access Account or over 15 years for ANZ Plus account
• Hold the relevant documents to open an account

The difference for these accounts is the process on how to open an either account.

How to open either ANZ international student accounts

Steps to open a ANZ Access Advantage Account

The ANZ Access Account can be opened online or through a local branch. If you apply online, you’ll need to³:

1. Click apply online
2. Fill in your personal details including current tax residencies
3. Submit ID documents
4. Review and confirm your application
5. Wait for the outcome

This account can be managed through the ANZ banking app or through the ANZ online banking portal.

Steps to open a ANZ Plus account

The ANZ plus account can only be opened through the ANZ Plus App. Once you download the app, you'll need to⁸:

1. Enter your personal details
2. Upload your identity document
3. Take a selfie to match your ID
4. Verify your mobile number

It is important to note that Australian numbers are only accepted.⁷

Which documents do I need to open an account?

To open an ANZ Access Advantage Account, you’ll need to have handy³:

• Your foreign passport
• Proof of Australian Visa
• Drivers licence

To open an ANZ Plus account, you’ll require²:

• Proof of an Australian address
• Your International passport

ANZ may ask you to provide further documents at any time.

Read more: International student bank accounts in Australia

Do I need to deposit money to open a ANZ student account?

For either account option, you will not require to deposit any money to open or activate the accounts.

What else do I need to know?

The ANZ plus app is only compatible with iOS 15.0 or Android 7.0 operating systems or higher⁴.

Read more: International student working hours in Australia

You can find out more by contacting ANZ here.

You can contact the team at ANZ by:

• Calling 13 13 14 from within Australia
• Calling +61 3 9683 9999 from overseas

Alternatives to ANZ

ANZ isn’t the only financial provider to allow students moving to Australia to open an account. You can find other account options at the other major banks such as Westpac, National Australia Bank (NAB) or CommBank.

Wise Account for students

The Wise Account is suitable for international students, especially if they need to make international transfers frequently to and from their home country.

You can use a Wise Account to easily pay tuition fees while saving money on currency conversions as Wise uses the mid-market rate, just like the one you see on Google.

With the Wise Account, you can get your own local AUD account details (with other popular currency account details too). This makes it easy to be sent money from home, or convert and send your money back home as well.

You can also order your own Wise debit card to be linked to your account, so you can spend your hard earned cash anywhere Visa is accepted.

Wise can also be used to send and be sent money internationally, at the mid-market rate and with low fees shown upfront.

Join over 13 million customers currently using Wise. It’ll only take a few minutes to register and see what’s inside.

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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

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Sources:

1. ANZ student accounts
2. ANZ accounts comparison
3. ANZ Access Advantage
4. ANZ Plus benefits
5. ANZ international transfers
6. ANZ Access overseas ATM fee
7. ANZ Plus T&Cs and fees
8. ANZ Plus sign up
   Sources checked on: 11 February 2023