International Money Transfers to Banks

[lovetravellingoz]

Hi All,

I need to pay a deposit on a trip. 1000 British Pounds GBP.

Which means is best to accomplish this at the cheapest possible cost (ie combination of various fees and FX rate)

Last time I did this it was via Amex as they had a promo running.

Thanks

 

[PLANT]

28 degrees credit card or Citibank Plus debit card!

 

[defurax]

Hi All,

I need to pay a deposit on a trip. 1000 British Pounds GBP.

Which means is best to accomplish this at the cheapest possible cost (ie combination of various fees and FX rate)

Last time I did this it was via Amex as they had a promo running.

Thanks

If you have to transfer the money directly into a bank account, then OzForex is the cheapest way to go.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

If you have to transfer the money directly into a bank account, then OzForex is the cheapest way to go.

Yes it is to a Bank Account.

Thanks

 

[defurax]

Yes it is to a Bank Account.

Thanks

Setting up an account with OzForex can be a bit of a pain (I think you still need to send some scans of your ID), but it's worth it! Exchange rates are live market rates +1% or less. Transaction fee is 10 or 15$ under $2000 and no transaction fee over $10,000.

I know expats who've lost thousands of dollars in commission/fees/awful rates using banks to transfer their money instead of OzForex.

 

[anat0l]

Setting up an account with OzForex can be a bit of a pain (I think you still need to send some scans of your ID), but it's worth it! Exchange rates are live market rates +1% or less. Transaction fee is 10 or 15$ under $2000 and no transaction fee over $10,000.

I know expats who've lost thousands of dollars in commission/fees/awful rates using banks to transfer their money instead of OzForex.

As someone who will be an expat very soon, thanks for this!

Before this I had no idea except for the obvious bank's telegraphic transfer (and some banks have more or less fees than the others). I will need to move some money back home to Australia as I will have some leftover debts to settle here, plus I'm not switching to local credit cards immediately either.

I'll definitely have a look at OzForex.

 

[Fifa]

I used my Citibank Visa Debit to transfer funds to a travel agent's UK bank account earlier this year.
Free international money transfer and the exchange rate wasn't too bad either.
Everyday Accounts - Citibank Australia

 

[PLANT]

How do you compare Citi, Ozforex and Westpac transfer to international rates please?

 

[RB]

I used my Citibank Visa Debit to transfer funds to a travel agent's UK bank account earlier this year.
Free international money transfer and the exchange rate wasn't too bad either.
Everyday Accounts - Citibank Australia

Was your example a case of Citi to Citi?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I used my Citibank Visa Debit to transfer funds to a travel agent's UK bank account earlier this year.
Free international money transfer and the exchange rate wasn't too bad either.
Everyday Accounts - Citibank Australia

Are you sure it was free?

I know it says "free", but under that thee is:
View the Schedule of Fees and Charges (Adobe PDF, 129kb)

And in that there is:



Outward Funds Transfer : To a bank
Overseas (in any currency) $25
When you transfer funds (in any currency) from your Citibank Australia Account to a bank account
overseas. Please note, any foreign currency conversion charges are applied by the means in which you
convert the currency and are not charged as part of the Telegraphic Transfer Fee.
All Inward Funds Transfers Nil When you or a third party transfers funds (in any currency) from an account in Australia

 

[lovetravellingoz]

How do you compare Citi, Ozforex and Westpac transfer to international rates please?

I have set up the OzForex account now.
As I have a Citibank Plus Card as well...when I need to transfer I will do two dummy bookings and see which has the best rate.

 

[Fifa]

Are you sure it was free?

It is definitely free, as are overseas ATM withdrawals.
If you check the fine print in the PDF you linked it states (my bold):
"Local & International Payments and Foreign Currency Services (Excludes Citibank Plus Transaction and Citibank Online Saver Accounts)"

I checked my account for the March transaction and the details are:

DIRECT FX RATE 0.5315 LESS $ 0 FEE

The VISA website exchange rate on the day was 0.538455.
RBA rate was 0.5376
So I'm very pleased with this product.
[h=4][/h]

 

[Happy Trails]

I had been using using Amex FX, with free transfers (for plat charge card holders) and decent rates until about six months ago when, for no explicit reason, they started requiring the use of an intermediary bank.
Since then I've been gone over to CurrencyFair (picked up from AFF) and been happy enough. Fees have only been $6 per transaction.
Good support too on the one occasion I needed assistance.

 

[Kolo]

I regularly transfer to the UK with Currency Fair and its costs gbp3.50. The exchange rate is always better than banks and they deposit in GBP from a British account so the receiving bank (in my case Bank of Scotland) does not charge a fee to receive the money.

 

[Fifa]

Was your example a case of Citi to Citi?

It was Citi to Barclays Bank,

 

[paulthegolfer]

Tried Ozforex for the first time recently - just a small transaction to test the waters - very happy with the result - was aware there would be a fee but the exchange rate was decent and the customer service was good.

 

[opusman]

I used to use OzForex and they were fine, but have switched now to HiFX as they have no fees.