Slightly late to the debate, I thought I'd add: +0.5% to HSBC Premier.

I had a nightmare setting this up in the UK, before leaving for SYD. It took three (!) visits to branches, trying to get the paperwork in order, before I pretty much gave up and told the Premier Centre in Wales just this. Immediately the floodgates opened, and I had some guy in the Square Mile begging me to come in and true to his word, he sorted it out within a day.

One hint: if you are doing the paperwork, get a list of what you need from the Welsh office, and then guide your branch through it, doing the work for them. Each time I tried it, there were tiny errors, such as not stamping or signing each page.

Other than that, it works fine, and the Global View and Global Transfer are a dream: it doesn't cost a penny to ferry money back and forth, and its done in real time: the cash arrives within seconds. It can be quiet entertaining watching the interday rate, and seeing how much of a difference this makes.

The account was set up when I got here, but the rates are lousy, and branches in Australia are pretty hard to come by. There are no real perks, other than a once a year invite, but the Qantas Club's have just been decorated with Premier banners, and the guys on the desk in the Qantas Club did say that there was talk of giving freebie membership to the QP to Prems, just as there are for some other countries: if that's announced it would be a nice perk.