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Transferwise - Transfer Your First £500 (or approx. $926AUD) with No Fee

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Transferwise - Transfer Your First £500 (or approx. $926AUD) with No Fee
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jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 21:54 transferwise.com (1419 clicks)
Last edited 12/10/2018 - 22:30 by 1 other user

Hi all,

This has been shared on OzB before but not for a while (from what I can see). I've been using Transferwise for a while now to transfer funds from AUD to USD and vice versa. I used to live in the States and currently use it to send AUD funds to my US account. It's definitely the cheapest and easiest way I've found to do it. They use the rate you see on XE or Google and then charge a small fee. Use a referral link to get your first transfer up to £500 (or approx. $926AUD as of 12.10.2018) with no fee. Thanks!

https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/167679/52713/screen_sh…

Referral Links

Referral: random (1415)

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

  • congo on 04/10/2017 - 21:55

    Anything good for NZD to AUD?

    • jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 22:02

      Current rate on their site is $1NZD is buying $0.91246AUD. If you transfer the full fee-free amount (500GBP) you could convert $924.56NZD to $844.03AUD. Hope that helps!

      • congo on 04/10/2017 - 22:21

        Thank you!
        I have a bit more than $2K, do you know if this would work if I sign up to multiple accounts?

        • jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 22:23

          I don't think so. I remember having to verify my identity early on (I think with a photo of my license? it was a while ago so I can't quite remember) but if they still do this then I think you'd be limited to one account. Possibly you could look into an extra account for a spouse or significant other to transfer funds on your behalf.

        • Robc on 05/10/2017 - 00:32

          @jollybeggar: if you can find three people to do it for you, you'll get a nice cash back on top. Referral is worth? 15? A sign up if they transfer 500 plus. I couldn't be arsed spamming my mates, but it works. Probably why the OP has the referral link above…. Everyone wins.

  • baldur on 04/10/2017 - 22:09

    apart from transferwise, what are the other ways to send money overseas? western union? direct bank swift transfer? which would make more sense for a 4 digit figure to transfer?

    • jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 22:16
      +4

      I've transferred a large sum via international transfer through my bank before but you end up paying a fee on both ends (the sending bank was I think $25 and then I paid again to receive the funds in the US - I think this was $50USD). On top of this, you are subject to the banks exchange rate which is usually not close to the actual mid-market rate (ie this is how they make the majority of their fee). This was also not clear when I transferred the funds as they told me it would be exchanged at the current rate when the funds arrive.

      Haven't used Western Union to do anything that big. I have transferred a 4-digit sum on more than one occasion using Transferwise and it was the best experience for me. Won't go back to using banks for international wires. Hope this helps!

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 14:04

        I tried sending 3 digits and lost 15USD on the way, so still looks like we pay fees on the other end?

    • Ethire on 04/10/2017 - 22:29
      +4

      Biannually I move from Canada to Australia and back and so am often transferring 4 digit sums in each direction. I always check transfer wise but in larger sums it can get quite a significant fee attached to it. Most commonly I find ozforex (I tend to go through INGs direct international transfer) often has the best rate which saves me a good amount of money vs bank rates. A fairly low fee or waived fee over 10k and if you bank with the same bank as them in the country transferring from there is often no wire transfer bank fee.

      Always worth checking as many options as you can with larger sums as I have had quotes that range up to $800 difference for amounts less than 10k.

      For smaller amounts transferwise has been handy.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 14:28

        Currently I'm finding TW having better USD than OFX, and the Recipient figure is higher.

        Are you still finding ING wire the best rate?

        A fairly low fee or waived fee over 10k and if you bank with the same bank as them in the country transferring from there is often no wire transfer bank fee.

        Could you elaborate, like do you mean need both exact same banks in both countries..?

    • murkywater on 04/10/2017 - 22:56
      +1

      There are other similar sites out there, e.g. Currencyfair, worldfx, etc, check out the rates. However, transferwise has a flat 1% fee generally, and it works out to be the cheapest still in my experience. Maybe when you go into the 5 and 6 digit range there are better options.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 14:30

        Have you used https://www.worldfx.com.au/ ?

        However, transferwise has a flat 1% fee generally,

        Has there been update since?

        into the 5 and 6 digit range there are better options.

        Did you have experiences with other options?

    • bchliu on 04/10/2017 - 23:07
      +7

      Citibank Plus account is your best bet:

      https://www.citibank.com.au/aus/banking/everyday_banking/cit…

      You transfer money to friends and family anywhere in the world for free.
      You withdraw money from any ATM overseas and are not charged a Citibank fee or FX transfer fee.

      • CacheHunter on 04/10/2017 - 23:13

        Citibank are great if you have accounts with them in both countries. Its a few years since I've moved any significant amounts between my USD and AUD accounts, but most of the time the exchange rates were decent. That said, it was always worth checking others, such as Ozforex because from time to time the Citibank-Citibank rates would become less competitive for some reason. The other Plus of Citibank is that transfers go through immediately.

        • tadinhah on 04/10/2017 - 23:34

          Do you know the reason the Citibank-Citibank rates become less competitive?

        • peterpeterpumpkin on 05/10/2017 - 00:52

          @tadinhah: My guess is they don't use the interbank rate but add a percentage to the exchange rate.

          They could still turn out the best option for micropayments (though I haven't tried).

        • CacheHunter on 05/10/2017 - 06:33
          +1

          @tadinhah: no, it seems random. Sometimes their rates are really good, especially for smaller amounts (<$2000), but less so at others. I've sometimes wondered if they aren't updated continuously like most Forex sites.

      • peterpeterpumpkin on 04/10/2017 - 23:47
        +3

        I think you, I or somebody should post this as a deal since information like this gets washed up in the chit-chat.

        As newdad points out, Citibank accounts in some destination countries are part of a global network (https://www.citibank.com.au/aus/banking/making_transfers.htm) that allows instant transfers, a feature which dumps on every other deal ("Transfers will normally reach destination account immediately, but in some cases may take 24 hours.")

        Sadly there's no way to force instant transfers to non-Citibank foreign accounts since normal clearance rules apply and you might be waiting 3-5 days…

        Despite having no firsthand experience like newdad, I just can't imagine any company being cheaper (except for when you have commission free deals like this one) unless they don't use the mid-market rate like transferwise does. I think they'll beat any other bank but not specialist companies like transferwise since Citibank would probably profit ~1.5% on the interbank rate (unlike the Mastercard Debit rate) despite claiming the transfer is free.

        Citibank Plus is otherwise a miracle worker. It's the Chuck Norris of the debit card foreign-banking world.

        • bchliu on 05/10/2017 - 02:09

          Not sure whether it deserves a "new deal" per se since there's previous deals that probably hasnt expired as yet. But was interesting to see this deal and was a "yawn" to me because I felt that Citibank was already doing this anyway for one of the best "International" debit cards on the market (even Netflix US accepts this card!)
          I've used the transfer function every time I go overseas and also to transfer funds to my relatives. I have overseas accounts that deals in AUD and its basically transferring AUD from here to there for free (but takes about 3-4 days to clear as you say). I then can use the money in the other account to use or send give to relatives easier.

          Rather use Citibank as more established bank myself. But that's a personal preference.

        • movieman on 05/10/2017 - 05:25

          @bchliu:

          Great info,

          How do you use this?

          Say I wanted to transfer $1000 AUD to a friend in another country. What is the process?

        • bchliu on 05/10/2017 - 07:31

          @movieman: Very similar to transferring to other accounts in Australia. You set them up as a payee with their Account details and their bank's International SWIFT codes (choose from a list - but make sure you confirm with their bank which ones given they have different ones for savings, investment etc). Select them in transfers (you will need to set up SMS/OTP authentication to do this) and then send. Should clear in about 3-4 days depending on when it was sent etc.

        • movieman on 05/10/2017 - 15:38

          @bchliu:

          Wow, that's really useful.

          Thank you so much.

    • tajid on 05/10/2017 - 07:12

      Depends on which country. Orbitremit charges $4 flat & can even waive if bigger amount & also has referral program.

  • nebula9 on 04/10/2017 - 22:14

    Does anyone know how these guys compare to CurrencyFair for larger transactions (30-50k)? The calculators on their sites don't always factor in everything making it a little hard to gather just which one is cheaper.

    • jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 22:21

      Sorry don't know for CurrencyFair. But Transferwise's super simple calculator on their homepage includes all fees (pretty much what you see is what you get). Because they use the current rate, I've only seen it change slightly when the rate has changed before I've processed my transfer. Once you've processed it, they guarantee that exchange rate for 48 hours provided you send them the funds within that time.

    • dcuksuop on 04/10/2017 - 22:30
      +1

      I've used Transferwise, highly recommended. The fee is percentage based, 1% or less, exchange is basically at market rate. The fee, percentage wise, decreases for larger transactions. I recall it being around .7% for a large transaction.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 14:53

        Has there been update since?
        Might be lower %fees now ..

    • toasty on 04/10/2017 - 22:57
      +6

      Best way I’ve found to compare international money transfer services is Monito - makes everything easy and they even went in to bat for me when the FairFX broker who called back tried to charge me a higher rate than FairFX quoted via Monito. Pascal, one of the Monito co-founders, made sure FairFX honoured the better rate.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:08

        That's not very fair of them.

        I don't any pages for FairFX on OZB, is there referral?

  • maddoglee on 04/10/2017 - 22:17
    +2

    Thanks! I might give it a go

  • doweyy on 04/10/2017 - 22:21
    +2

    Thanks for this, hadn’t heard of this company before and might come in handy.

  • BigLeviathan on 04/10/2017 - 22:25
    +1

    Thanks, been sending money to Indonesia using Kangaroo Service; this will be a good alternative

  • konji on 04/10/2017 - 22:36
    +3

    Used transfer wise a number of times. Always get really good rates. Thumbs up for me.

  • cheapy on 04/10/2017 - 22:40
    +2

    Ive used them to send cash to Korea this year. Worked well, and it was a great rate.

    • King Tightarse on 04/10/2017 - 23:06
      +1

      Me too.
      Was excellent for sending money to South Korea which can be tricky to get good rates from Aus

  • LANCASHIRELASS on 04/10/2017 - 22:43

    HIFX is another good company

  • enigma48 on 04/10/2017 - 22:49
    +5

    Can't recommend TransferWise enough.

    At first, I used the banks. They hit you with three fees: the sending bank's transfer fee (usually very visible), a poor exchange rate (hidden fee), and the receiving bank takes a hidden amount out from the transfer. Send $1000 and about 50-90 goes missing in fees. But very fast: usually done in hours.

    PayPal was better - set up two accounts with loca bank accounts. Not a great exchange rate plus fees: around $30 lost. Takes a few days to a week.

    TransferWise - had the best exchange rate (near spot). $7 cost, usually takes a few days.

    I wish I'd have signed up sooner!

    • baldur on 04/10/2017 - 22:55
      +1

      thank you. good to know this. so how does the recipient get the money? via bank or both sides have to have a transferwise account?

      • jollybeggar on 04/10/2017 - 23:06
        +1

        Bank to bank. TransferWise is just the go between. I use it to send funds between my aud and usd bank account but I could easily send funds to any other persons bank account (as long as I have their bank details).

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:24

      PayPal was

      do you send via Family&friends option?

  • abently on 04/10/2017 - 23:16
    +1

    When using Transferwise, I always have to go straight into the Transfer details after confirming the transfer, to manually change the tolerance they set for converting money from the default 3% to 0.5% otherwise you leave yourself up to being short-changed for the sake of getting your transfer done 6 hours faster etc.

    Even though some other companies offer $0 Fee on large transfers, check what rate they give you, every single time I've checked I was still better off with Transferwise… and I'm the type that would happily do a one off transfer with anyone else for the sake of a $5 saving.

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:33

      How do this??

      manually change the tolerance they set for converting money from the default 3% to 0.5% otherwise you leave yourself up to being short-changed for the sake of getting your transfer done 6 hours faster etc.

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 04/10/2017 - 23:19
    +1

    This 3000 GBP long-running referral gets you $5099 AUD off with Transferwise. Much better deal?

    https://www.icomparefx.com/transferwise-coupon/

    Question: Should I neg vote? It's against my voting religion.

    • peterpeterpumpkin on 05/10/2017 - 00:44

      Just wanted to point out that there are a tonne of affiliate deals beyond the above offering 3000 pounds (just google transferwise affiliate 3000) so referral promos aren't as lucrative for the newbies.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:37

        I can't see TW on there now.

        You could post as deals ! or forum at least

  • tadinhah on 04/10/2017 - 23:25

    Has anyone used Citibank Global Transfer to transfer money overseas? How does it compare to Transferwise?

    • bchliu on 05/10/2017 - 07:35

      Citibank are a little tricky to set up with their authentication etc. But once set up, relatively simple to do. See my message above. Not sure how it compares to Transferwise but Citibank doesnt charge International Transfer either.

    • Vortex99 on 05/10/2017 - 13:02

      You obviously need to have Citibank accounts in both countries, in your name. I've used it several times and the money appears within 2 hours. I've also found the rate to be great. Also using services such as TorFx, Ozforex, I would say Citibank around the same rate - but can't beat the speed of Citibank.

      • bchliu on 05/10/2017 - 23:27
        -1

        That's not true. You can transfer into any other bank in another country as long as you can confirm the Account codes and SWIFT numbers. It will be transferred via SWIFT but takes 4 days or so to clear.

  • letmesingh on 04/10/2017 - 23:25

    I used them before, Better exchange rate and low fee, but slow transfer

    • [Deactivated] on 04/10/2017 - 23:58

      I found if you send late evening you loose a day, seems to get sent with the next morning timing.

      • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:41

        I sent ~8pm AEST and it arrived there next business day :D

  • amsaini15 on 04/10/2017 - 23:26

    Just used Transferwise and paid $1 AUD fees only.

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:42

      How much did you send tho to pay $1 only?

  • googoogaga on 04/10/2017 - 23:41
    +1

    I just did a dummy transfer of $15,708.75USD from AUD and this is what i got;
    AUD20,115.04 with transfer wise
    AUD 20,121.37 with OFX

    so only a $6 difference between the two, but I get myerone points with ofx..

    • peterpeterpumpkin on 05/10/2017 - 00:36
      +4

      Firstly, you can get a better transferwise deal with the link I posted above.

      Secondly, you wouldn't use transferwise for large amounts since other companies become more competitive than the 0.7% (or 0.5% for over $10,000) fixed fee. Many companies waive fees for the first transfer as well. You can use https://www.monito.com for an idea.

      • Vortex99 on 05/10/2017 - 13:28

        Mozo also have a comparison website, and show the difference between Aussie based transfers and the banks..

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:43

      how dooya link MyerOne?

  • Jayphen on 05/10/2017 - 00:30
    +1

    Transferwise is great. I have been using them for the past 2 years as I have been living as a 'digital nomad'.

    They have Borderless Accounts, which gives you local bank details for EUR, GBP, USD. This means locals from countries using those denominations can transfer me money to what appears to them to be a local bank account. This is especially useful for business purposes.

    I can then transfer that money out to my AUD account (or my EUR account here in Austria, which is actually a Monese account, which is another story…) for a small fee (significantly less than any Australian banks).

  • neyo on 05/10/2017 - 01:43

    How do Transferwise (or even OFX, Western Union etc.) rates compare to Visa/Mastercard Rates?

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:46

      compare to Visa/Mastercard Rates?

      how to check?

  • icyoryal on 05/10/2017 - 02:35

    I've used Transferwise for the past year on a monthly basis from Australia to Singapore. It used to take 2 or 3 days, but the past few months it's just 20 mins! Crazy speed at low rates!

  • thriver on 05/10/2017 - 07:03

    I have used this service quite a few times and had no issues. I like their transparency in exchange rate, fees and referral bonus.

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:48

      wish they could have vision of intermediary bank fees on display too

  • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2017 - 08:10

    I switched from Western Union to Transferwise maybe 24 months ago, and will never go back; Transferwise is cheaper, faster, and way, way more convenient. I also know a few people who work there (in software development, fraud detection and management), it's a well-run company and one of the 'good guys'. NB - I have no financial interest in Transferwise other than highly recommending them.

  • congo on 05/10/2017 - 09:14

    The No fees only applies to "AUD to USD"?
    Tried NZD $800 to AUD and there is a small fee.

    • jollybeggar on 05/10/2017 - 10:16

      The no fee on your first transfer up to 500GBP is available by using a referral link (see top of this post) and there will be no fee regardless of which currencies you convert (up to the equivalent of 500GBP). Hope that helps!

      • peterpeterpumpkin on 05/10/2017 - 10:30

        For such small amounts the referral link is good enough. But an OzBargainer would be stupid to use a referral link above to send more than 500 GBP equivalent when there are thousands of affiliate links offering 3000 GBP online (e.g. https://transferwise.com/au/?utm_campaign=Icompfx-free&utm_m…) that have been available for a very long time.

        It's nice of you to post this deal but for many people sending larger amounts with transferwise it's silly and could cost them serious amounts of money. It only benefits OzBargain referrers.

        • cloudy on 05/10/2017 - 15:51

          I have a feeling OP Posted this again to get referral credit.

          The old post should be refreshed.

        • jollybeggar on 07/10/2017 - 21:59

          Good call. I wasn't aware of the affiliate deals when I posted this. Definitely a much better deal if sending more than 500gbp. Cheers

  • djprima on 05/10/2017 - 09:23

    Give bitcoin a try (or litecoin, or ether, or your favorite others) to transfer overseas.

    You'll need a foreign exchange that can convert to the local currency. Good as an experience to dip into the crypto world ;)

    • peterpeterpumpkin on 05/10/2017 - 10:21

      Using Bitcoin specifically for international money transfer is good for the experience but that's about it.

      It's value can and typically will change more in a few hours than fiat would in 3 business days, but this of course could work in your favour.

      Even without the volatility you expect to lose 1% or more on converting fiat to BTC and then again on the other side. Of course you could take advantage of P2P arbitrage but that's not a given.

      Then you have unpredictable average transaction fees assuming you want the transaction to go through in a reasonable time (or at all). It's back down to around $1.40 AUD equivalent now but had escalated well over $5 only recently. For micropayments PayPal doesn't look so bad anymore…and we could probably always beat Bitcoin for micropayments using Citibank Plus (excluding BTC growth).

      For transactions up to 3000 GBP the transferwise affiliate deals I mentioned let you transfer real amounts of money at mid-market rate with peace of mind.

      • Haters.Inc on 09/11/2017 - 13:52

        For certain use cases, bitcoin can be one of the most cost effective methods. E.g. sending large sums from the US to Aus.

        Ignoring the volatility risk (as you mentioned the BTC price could go up or down - nobody knows), you can make a few % from the arbitrage alone. Generally the price of bitcoin will be 1-3% higher on an Aus exchange than it's US counterpart. (comparing BTC/USD and BTC/AUD trading pairs on https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/#markets)

        And I would say the cost to convert fiat to BTC, then back again is ~1% in total, not 1% each way. US Exchanges (such as Kraken) charge 0.26%, and Aus exchanges (such as BTCMarkets) charge 0.8%.

        When I pay a 0.0005 BTC (equiv to ~$4 USD) transaction fee, it is normally processed within the hour.

  • Michael1983 on 05/10/2017 - 10:10

    Use transferwise to send money to Russia. Works well, sometimes money come to russian banks within 6-7 hours, so if you send in the morning - they'll be there in the afternoon.

  • harrribo on 05/10/2017 - 10:44
    +1

    One of the earlier posters
    Mentions Western Union

    I personally advice anyone NOT to use their service

    As they scammed me yesterday

    Make up your own minds reading their reviews

    On product review .com.au

    Not sure if I am allowed to post a link to them ?

    If not apologies ahead

    https://www.productreview.com.au/p/western-union.html

    • baldur on 05/10/2017 - 21:50

      thanks for the heads up.

  • jellykingdom on 05/10/2017 - 11:11
    +1

    Cheers mate, I was literally just needing to send some money. Now it was free! Woot!

  • coolsteps on 05/10/2017 - 11:54

    they want to charge 212.27 EUR
    to transfer 40 000 euro to 59,705.47 aud. rate is
    1.50060 so which others would work out cheaper with a good rate for a large amount?

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:53

      if sending large amount, you can call them up for discount?

  • lainey13 on 05/10/2017 - 11:58

    Transferwise was great when it worked. Not so great sending money to Mauritius, but most other countries it was fine.

  • SimbaTheLionKing on 05/10/2017 - 18:13

    Have any one used INSTAREM before? Apart from initial registration/verification struggle, they have good conversion rate without any fee.
    Google search says "Zero Transfer Fees, Get Joining Bonus AU $10. Coupon Code: WEB"
    https://www.instarem.com/transfermoney/transfer-money-to-usa

    • capslock janitor on 14/12/2020 - 15:55

      reminds me to take a look! but not to usa

  • resisting the urge on 05/10/2017 - 18:32

    IIRC they don't accept cheques.

    Transferwie is great otherwise.

    If you have, for example, a sizeable USD check (it is not 'Not negotiable'), what is the best way to change it? Call your bank and ask for a decent rate? Which bank? Lol…

  • BluebirdV on 05/10/2017 - 22:56

    Has anyone used Transferwise to send money to the Philippines?

  • deecasey22 on 24/11/2018 - 07:56

    Wow just sent £1000 (AU$1775) with $4.42 discount fee back to the UK and it arrived instantly! I knew the comments highly recommended but I wasn’t expecting them to be that good!

  • thatsthat on 29/03/2019 - 09:52

    This offer now seems to be 200 pounds not 500 pounds.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2019 - 10:11

    Should note it's single use

  • TDGS2 on 23/09/2019 - 09:20

    I forgot to use a referral link when I signed up. Transferwise said they will honour the referral if I provide the referees name and membership number. If anyone wants this referral just PM me those details!

  • mymumsaysiamhandsome on 04/01/2020 - 10:29

    Registered first without checking ozbargain, PM your invite link to me. First come first serve!

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