This was posted 10 years 1 month 19 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Money Transfer to AU from Lots of Countries for 0.5% Fee - at Mid Market Exchange Rate

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Money Transfer to AU from Lots of Countries for 0.5% Fee - at Mid Market Exchange Rate
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mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 16:39 transferwise.com (346 clicks)
Last edited 13/08/2015 - 15:17 by 2 other users

27/7 Transfers out in AUD are now supported, see here for more details.

I was looking to transfer some money from Europe to Australia and found this great deal which will be far cheaper than any transfer with your bank.

Transferwise is in my opinion the ideal solution to transfer even small amounts of money to an Australian Bank Account. I think of backpackers, tourists, expats and immigrants who still have foreign bank accounts and all look for a good solution to transfer some money - even small payments are possible.

I tried their system yesterday for the first time and my transfer from Germany to Australia took 1 day … wow … fast! And I paid just 4.95EUR for 1000EUR transfer (which is 0.05%). Very fair. The best is that they use the mid market rate (which you can find at google or yahoo finance) to convert your money - so not some "fake" - "rip off" rate which your bank or even credit card will charge (ok … exclude 28degrees). No hidden fee!

Unfortunately it does not yet work from Australia to other countries.

This is their standard pricing (so as I know our Ozbargain community … some may say it's no bargain … I say it is a hell of a bargain when you can use it!) It is in my opinion by far the cheapest and easiest money transfer system you can find. Not a deal for everyone … but I hope it is useful for some and you can save some money.

You can get your first transfer free when you sign up via a referral link: https://transferwise.com/u/d44738

Referral Links

Referral: random (1422)

Referrer receives £50 for every 3 signups, who must all spend at least £200 each on qualifying payments. Referee receives a discount on their first transfer, or they receive a free physical card (Keep clicking the referral randomiser until you receive the offer you want).

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closed Comments

  • chrism238 on 07/10/2014 - 16:41
    +8

    Excellent; now Nigerians will be able to more easily transfer the funds from deceased estates!

    • StewBalls on 07/10/2014 - 16:51
      +2

      But is there an easier way for us to get the taxes to Nigeria?

      • toristo on 07/10/2014 - 20:52
        +4

        I've found the Nigerians are the most accommodating when it comes to receiving payments. One was even happy if I wanted to send the $20,000 in cash to him in Australian dollars and he'd convert it once it arrived to pay the tax. Now that is service!

        Just imagine if our government was that accommodating and the ATO let you pay your tax by posting an envelope of foreign currency.

        The only down side to the Nigerians is their email is a bit flakey. After I sent the cash, I waited to hear how I'd get my $16 million back, but he's yet to reply.

        • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 21:26

          Maybe we should post that deal on nigeriabargain.com to help them out to get a better deal :-)

          Joke aside: At the moment these things are easy to spot … I just hope they don't become more clever.

  • Sweet3st on 07/10/2014 - 16:50
    +3

    Thanks OP. I need a transfer from people OS into my bank account, although I do have a Citibank Plus account which performs quite well on foreign transactions.

  • dasher86 on 07/10/2014 - 16:52
    +2

    There are similar companies that provide free currency transfers given a certain $ value.
    It would be wise to compare exchange rates rather than just look at fee.
    What spot exchange rate did you get?

    • adamren on 07/10/2014 - 16:55
      +2

      Who? OzForex? Their x-rate is way better than what most people here (in Australia) would use, Travellex. They are around 5% worse than the market rate, so they're printing money practically. Easy quick money. I think OzForex is around 3% difference of the market rate.

      • dasher86 on 07/10/2014 - 16:58

        ozforex is a good example though they do charge a fee for under 10k transfers I believe.

      • mshanann on 07/10/2014 - 18:04

        Yep used Ozforex to transfer money from US to AUD - and easily the best rate, plus they give you lots of transfer options if you want to hold off for a specific rate.

        For example, you can do the current market rate, or you can put in an order and request for a specific target rate for a certain window of time (similar to the options you would get when buying/selling stock); The order would only be exercised if the target rate is hit.

        If I were not so stupid, I would be converting all my savings to USD now, and wait for the AUD to tank to sub 80.

    • cooperdog on 07/10/2014 - 17:12
      +1

      I've used HiFX in the past which are also fee free, although I think they have a minimum too.

    • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 17:21

      That's exactly it … thats why I liked it that much … they charged the 0.5% fee and it was honest. I got the rate I could find on yahoo at the time. https://au.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EURAUD%3Dx&ql=1 (don't ask me how the rate is called … but I know that there is at least no mark up on it). So I got MARKET RATE!

      It was a very clever system. They estimated how much AUD I would get for my EUR and then after initiating the transfer they gave me even the option to halt/pause the transfer when the exchange rate changes more than 0.5%/1%/2%

      Most exchange rates I found at banks or other companies such as OZForex where up to 3% off.

  • A3Australia on 07/10/2014 - 17:03

    This is only for US$ and some European currencies. No Japanese Yen etc.

  • spendinghacker on 07/10/2014 - 18:46
    +2

    I've used a mob called Exchange4Free in the past.

    They are a global company based out of (and regulated from) the UK with regulatory supervision in a few other jurisdictions around the world (including by ASIC in Australia).

    They allow to transfer money both from and to Australia from many countries and don't charge a fixed transfer fee. Instead they 'load up' the exchange rate and this loading depends on how much money you transfer. The larger the transfer amount, the lower the 'loading' which means you get a rate closer to the official interbank rate you find on sites like XE.COM.

    The main reason why I used them is their 'rate beat guarantee'. They will beat any genuine quote with regards to the exchange rate. I have tested them on that several time and they were always able to beat any quote I gave them from a competitor.

    https://exchange4free.com.au/money-transfer-best-price-guara…

    Just my 50 cents on the matter…

    • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 19:11

      Just checked with them … right now I would get for my 1000EUR:

      at transferwise 1430.54 (Rate: 1.4377 Fee: 4.98 EUR)
      at exchange4free 1401.60 (Rate: 1.4060 Fee: 0.00 )

      So even with no fee they are a bit off …
      Even at 10.000 EUR they were still over 100$ less than Transferwise …

      But they definitely have more currencies and countries available at the moment.

      • spendinghacker on 07/10/2014 - 19:20
        +2

        That is the rate you get through their automatic quoting system.

        If you call their dealers and request a 'rate beat', they will manually override that rate and beat anything you bring from the competition. I have done it several times before.

        Granted, there is the extra time and inconvenience involved in actually having to pick up the phone and request a manual rate.

        Each to their own but I think for most people, the decision whether to bother or not will depend on how high the amount they are trying to transfer and what potential savings can be generated (i.e. $$$ return on time expanded).

        • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 19:32
          +3

          How about this: https://transferwise.com/cheapest-money-transfer-guaranteed

          And just in case you somehow do find a cheaper service, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll match their price without a quibble. In fact, even if you find a better price after using TransferWise, we’ll happily refund the difference in fees.

          I prefer the service with the fairest costs and prices upfront … and not after I need to haggle around and try to get close to the interbanking rate.

          But agree … each to their own. ;-) Competition in the marketplace is a good thing and all of these new companies might change the behaviour of our banks.

        • spendinghacker on 07/10/2014 - 19:39
          +2

          @mini_wombat: I like the fact you can get a price beat even after the deal is done.

          Will give them a try next time I need an inward money transfer from overseas. Thanks for the heads up OP :)

  • coolsteps on 07/10/2014 - 19:04

    how do all these mobs compare to the fee free citibank transfers? i think its fee free if you have a plus account and transfer to another citibank account overseas or any of the listed fee free countries?>

    • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 19:15
      +3

      Hehe … that's it what I am talking about. It's nearly impossible to find out even the price you pay at Citibank. They advertise fee free … which is correct. But what exchange rate do they use?

      I only found this:

      hen sending a Citibank Global Transfer to Australia, the overseas Citibank branch may charge a transfer fee. Please check with the overseas Citibank you are transferring funds from before transferring funds using Citibank Global Transfers Daily transfer limit applies. Funds are converted to the destination account currency at the exchange rate specified to you on Citibank Online before you confirm your transaction. This exchange rate includes a commission for the conversion service.

      Source: http://citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/Feesandcharges.pdf

      How do I hate these hidden banking costs …

      • spendinghacker on 07/10/2014 - 19:24
        +1

        Good on you. Was about to post the same.

        Citibank doesn't charge 'fees' on international transfers but they DO 'load up' the interbank exchange rate.

        This means that if you want to initiate an international money transfer, you should treat Citibank just as another paid money transfer service and SHOP AROUND for the best rate.

        From experience, their conversion rate is pretty poor and on the rare occasion that it is closely resembling something decent, the Exchange4Free dealers were always able to beat that for me.

  • tanastra on 07/10/2014 - 21:19

    What about PayPal transfer ? Isn't it safer and Cheaper?

    • moonwalk on 07/10/2014 - 21:28

      how wbout their exchange rates?

    • mini_wombat on 07/10/2014 - 21:41
      +3

      Paypal is definitely a safe and EASY way to transfer money. Safer … mhhh … Paypal is bigger but also has its problems and in my opinion is not much safer than other companies. A risk is always there … even with banks as the GFC showed us.

      But cheap … ? No! Paypal would be pretty expensive.

      They charge a little fee for international transfers and you get a bad exchange rate … in my example it would be 14$ fees and an exchange rate of 1.3780.

      So in comparison for 1000EUR I would receive in Australia (07/10/2014):

      with transferwise 1430.54 (Rate: 1.4377 Fee: 4.98 EUR)
      with exchange4free 1401.60 (Rate: 1.4060 Fee: 0.00 ) (you can call and are maybe able to get a better deal - rate gets better for higher amounts)
      with paypal 1364.00 (Rate 1.3780 Fee 14$)

      EDIT: I know that you can have multiple currencies on a paypal account … so when you leave the currency and don't convert it it is a fairly cheap way … but it's not the same. When you want to fin out about the currency conversion at Paypal:

      Log in to your account.
      Click Currency Converter next to PayPal balance displayed on your Account Overview.
      Select 'Balance conversion' or ‘Payment conversion.’
      Enter the required information under Currency Exchange and click Calculate.

      • tanastra on 08/10/2014 - 01:19

        AAA +++ for the explanation. !!

  • dryandra on 08/10/2014 - 06:48

    Worldremit is a lot quicker and cheaper.

    • spendinghacker on 08/10/2014 - 09:22

      supporting evidence please.

      Do you have an actual quote showing they beat transferwise & Exchange4free?

      My personal experience with them was that their rates are pretty ordinary indeed but that was a few years ago. Maybe they got better.

  • homersyd on 08/10/2014 - 10:11

    is there any ways to do the opposite for cheap? (ie. transfer from OZ to overseas)?

  • rmamila on 08/10/2014 - 12:42

    I too will face the same issue very soon. I have my house overseas for which I've been paying a bank loan overseas for past 12 years. I could never show it as an expense in Aus. But now I might stay here for permanently and need to sell that house and move the money here to settle part of my mortgage in here. It doesn't make any sense to keep a property at a cost while paying interest in here. The only thing I know is maximum $10k is the amount I can carry with me when I come out from Air port. Friends told me you can't trust some of those money transferring mobs for an amount over 50k. Never had any experience in doing this but scared to try as well.
    I thought it would be best to find some one who want to send money from here to the same overseas country and do the exchange with them. In that way you don't have a risk of loosing your money and it's practical as well. But is that legal??

    • mini_wombat on 09/10/2014 - 16:38

      No idea why it shouldn't be legal. But you really need to trust that friend … not sure if any safer with these high transactions.
      Definitely the cheapest option - no fees for both sides and win win situation.

    • Eeples on 14/10/2014 - 16:24
      +1

      There is, of course, no limit to the amount of money you can bring in your luggage to Australia.

      You do however have to declare if it is over 10000 aud.

  • EDIflyer on 27/07/2015 - 12:10
    +1
    Merged from 0.5% Fee for Mid-Market Transfer Rates from AUD with First Transfer of up to £3k Free

    Transferwise has been around for around four years now. It has supported transfers in to AUD for some time, however until earlier this year transfers from AUD to GBP were quite a pain and more expensive. I've recently had the need to transfer some cash back the other way to the UK and I was pleased to see they've now brought transfers from AUD into line with their other main currencies.

    You can see the full AUD info here - https://transferwise.com/support/customer/portal/articles/16… - from the UK I just used a debit card, but there's a 1.6% charge for doing this from Australia (see https://transferwise.com/support/customer/portal/articles/20…), however you can transfer the money for free from your bank account (they give you a BSB/account number/reference). Depending on your bank it might take a little longer for this to go through than it would with a debit card but at least there's no fee doing it this way.

    I used them when moving to Australia and found in general they transferred within around 48 hours - quicker than they were quoting at the time, although I see they now estimate payments within 24-36 hours. You can either pick the amount to send or the amount you want to appear at the other end (if you do it the latter way they take some extra initially to cover exchange rate fluctuations and then refund it back).

    Obviously you need to make sure you check rates carefully between the different major services, however when I looked an example transfer from AUD to GBP with the aim of receiving £3,000 at the UK end this was costing (as of midday today):

    $6,591.15 with AusPost/Western Union (2.1920) ($15 cheaper for first transfer)
    $6,478.80 with XE.com (2.1596)
    $6,473.89 with OzForex (2.1580) ($15 cheaper for first transfer)
    $6,430.30 with Transferwise (2.1326) [dropped further to $6,393.14 when doing an initial fee-free transfer]

    The XE.com mid-market rate quote at the time is 2.12974, so at that rate would expect to pay $6,389.22 for £3,000.

  • Moderatorhamza23 on 27/07/2015 - 12:41

    Deal updated to a long running referral only deal and wiki added.

    • EDIflyer on 27/07/2015 - 12:42

      Thanks - as per my post above Transferwise have now opened up to AUD transfers OUT so much more useful/straightforward than it was before! Feel free to use my referral link if you feel so inclined :D

  • Moderatorscotty on 27/07/2015 - 13:09

    I have added TransferWise to our referral system, added both mini_wombat and EDIflyer's referral code and remove the wiki page.

    • EDIflyer on 27/07/2015 - 13:41

      Much appreciated, scotty - thanks.

    • mini_wombat on 13/08/2015 - 21:50

      Thanks a lot scotty … :-)

  • Gavman on 13/08/2015 - 20:13

    Can you transfer money from international bank account to AUD - AUS bank account?

  • charmed_tiger6 on 12/09/2015 - 10:01

    Well I've just given it a whirl so we will see how it goes! I looked at XE and Ozforex but I only needed to send $650 CAD and all I had was an email address to send it to! This seemed to be okay with that so hopefully all goes smoothly and I get a refund of some kind! :) (opted for fixed amount so they took an extra 3% off me)

  • BlueSkyHarvest on 08/02/2016 - 18:13

    Joined off the OzBargain referrals link and got my first transfer free OK.

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