A friend is now going to be getting an overseas pension paid into their account here on a monthly basis. Around $A1000, Presently with BankWest, but the fees are high and the exchange rate doesnt seem to be good.
Any suggestions on better banks to have this regular pension deposited.
Thank you
CommBank is $10, but it depends on who is sending the money from overseas.
Check every bank's fees and charges, here's CommBank (scroll all the way to the bottom):
https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/international/transfer-…
Thanks Commonbank seems higher than Bankwest $11 vs $10
But The major diffference as Bightaussie mentions maybe the exchange rate used, and I am looking for advice on that as well.
Cheers
As far as I remember Bankwest charged me $10 and then $15 on top of that was charged by the correspondent bank. But that was only my case.
I suggest trying different banks to find out the one that works better for you in terms of fees.
It is actually $11, however, I would check it with by making an actual transfer since there might be an additional payment from the correspondent bank. Just saying that in my experience NAB was the only one charging me $12 in total. Might be a different fee for another case.
Good point. I will suggest they look at NAB as well as Citibank. But fees are only one part the Exchange rate is also important
However trying different banks is a pretty slow process and also difficult, as each time they change banks they will have to let the US government know so the payments can be redirected.
Each change of bank needs a form filled out and sent back, so that will add to the issues. They have no other OS funds so they cant test any other way.
This is why I thought maybe others here have experience rather than reinventing the whole process again.
its US Social Security and the Australian Governemnt forces them to access this as we have reciprocal pension rights. Unfortunately the Aust Govt doesn't make any allowance for fees that are incurred, so while the funds received are processed at a dollar for dollar basis (They lose $A1 for every $A1 of US Social security received), no adjustment is made for the fees paid in processing. Plus the rate that Centrelink uses is set each month and doesn't take into account different bank rates, so the better exchange rates affect my friends pocket.
What about Citibank deposit there withdraw here?
Good idea but they have to be OS to open the account, or do you know a way to do that from here
Sorry no, I'm also interested if that can be made to work without going OS.
Pretty sure you can't without visiting the branch overseas. HSBC are similar, you can set everything up from here, but you need to visit a branch in the other country to activate the accounts.
May be incorrect based on the below. Hadn't considered posting the copies of documents.
Citibank Plus account. No fee, better exchange rate.
Last time I tried Citibank Plus for an incoming international transfer, the amount received was $25 less than the payment sent. They claimed that the charge was made by the correspondent bank, which might be true although NAB did not have such fee from the correspondent bank.
I've never been charged any fees for incoming international payments.
Received $15 less on a transfer from a friend in France to Citibank Au .
Used Paypal once since. Worked.
Payal works, but I'm pretty sure the exchange rates are terrible.
Along with the big 4 banks, I got the Citibank accounts.
Citibank usually works best for me, especially for doing emergency transfers and quick transfers. Got account with it in 3 countries, all linked via the same login web portal.
My friend swears by HSBC though.
Got account with it in 3 countries,
Looks like Citi is one way to go, but how do you open accounts in 3 countries from here. My friend isnt going to be travelling OS anytime soon.
thanks
I went online on the websites and applied on the respective countries websites (citibank.com.au, online.citi.com, online.citibank.co.in).
Opened bank accounts online. All of the ones I opened have $0 minimum balance requirement, and have no fees.
Then I nominated Australia as the domicile / country of residence.
Sent certified copies of IDs via snail mail (for KYC) to the overseas addresses on their website.
Once all were opened, I linked them up after logging through the Au online Citi web portal.
Guess it's a similar process for most international banks.
Wow, that seems like it might just work. Thank you for the detailed process
BTW which account type did you set up for citi.com that was fee free
And who did the certification - that being what class of person was acceptable for citi.com eg JP/Doctor
@RockyRaccoon: Citibank (Plus Transaction, Online Cash Manager, Online Saver Account), India (NRE/Savings, NRO), US (Savings Plus). Opening in US can be an issue unless a resident/work related.
At time of opening, all accounts were Nil fees (except intl transfer fees). Suggest checking prior opening.
Certification was a JP (for a small donation in the jar)
Citi call centers are helpful. Find their numbers on their websites on their respective countries:)
It would be good to have a debit or credit card like 28° set up in the other country, have the pension going in it and then use it here to pay for everything. Not sure if feasible though.
Seems your question is focusing on two points:
1.
Does your friend have to have the money sent to the bank from the organisation they work for or can they transfer it by other means. XE.com and currencyfair.com are much cheaper ways of depositing money into a foreign bank account. XE.com generally has a marginally better exchange rate than banks, and no fee. currencyfair.com you can set your own price and then pay a $4 withdrawal fee.
The best way to make international transfers is to use a company such as OZForex or Transferwise. You will generally get the true exchange rate that the banks get not something that is about 5%+ less. Plus you pay 1 fee normally around $12 or free if its larger amount.
Transferring through your local bank will incur a transfer fee. Receiving Bank also charges a fee. Plus the rate they give you will be about 5%+ less than the true exchange rate. I use OZforex and the amount they say I will receive is what I actually get !. Once set up its as easy as making a bill payment to make a transfer and will generally appear in your account overnight.
Thank you. I called Ozfx and spoke to them. The only issue is that the funds are coming from the US Government (Social Security) and Ozfx, said the US govt won't send funds like that to a 3rd party (them). They are different from a bank, where you have an account they can directly transfer funds to. Its the way that Ozfx works.
Worth trying, but no solution here.
I agree with brispaul about using a company that is specifically for money transfers. I have used hifx.com.au Their standard fee is $15 but you could discuss with them for regular large amounts.
Just a note, for transfers to India, try online services Remit2India, Click2Remit and Money2India. Each of them are competitors and backed by major banks. Either one has a better conversion rate and one of them has no transfer feesor service charges applicable.
Update - they have gone with Citibank plus, as it appears that US social security payments come from Citibank in the UK (Weird!) so that these should be citibank to citibank and reduced fees if any wil be paid
Thanks for all the help.
Overtime when the visit the US again they will look at setting up the US bank account with Citibank
Ok, so we are talking about two things here:
I can't speak for the first thing, but I know for sure that NAB has one of the lowest fees for incoming international transfers: $12. Other banks have roughly it at $15-20.