If you’re transferring money from NZ to Australia or the other way round, your first port of call is most likely to be your bank.
I need to stop you right there. There is a better, faster and cheaper way to get your money across the ditch. And it does not require you leaving the house.
The service is called Transferwise and they offer a quick money transfer service with ultra-low fees and excellent conversion rates. I’m writing this Transferwise review because I love the service they offer and believe all Kiwis and Aussies should sign up.
I’m going to get into more detail below but if you just need a recommendation to send money overseas quickly, check out Transferwise here.
Transferwise Review: The Best Money Transfer Service for Expats and Travellers
Why is Transferwise so much cheaper than the banks?
In their own words “Money never crosses borders. When we’re exchanging euros into pounds (or in this case NZD and AUD), euros are sent into the TransferWise euro account. And when we receive that, we send the equivalent amount in pounds from our pounds account.”
Makes sense. I know I’m not alone in doing currency swaps when friends or family return from trips with leftover money. Taking it to the bank is just giving your money away.
Transferwise have just technified (is that a word) the process and made it safe and legal.
Which countries does Transferwise support?
TransferWise supports currency transfers between:
Euro, British pound, US Dollar, Australian Dollar, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar, Polish Zloty, Swedish Krona, Norwegian Krone, Danish Krone, Hungarian Forint, Czech Koruna, Bulgarian Lev, Romanian Leu, New Zealand Dollar, Brazilian Real, Singapore Dollar, Japanese Yen, South African Rand (SWIFT only).
It also supports transfers from these currencies to:
Indian rupee, Hong Kong Dollar, Malaysian Ringgit, Philippine Peso, Pakistani Rupee, Moroccan Dirham, Thai Baht, Emirati Dirham, Ukranian Hryvna, Indonesian Rupiah, Colombian Peso, Georgian Lari, Turkish Lira, Mexican Peso, Russian Rouble, South Korean Won, Chinese Yuan, Sri Lankan Rupee, Bangladeshi Taka, Vietnamese Dong.
If you’re currently using Western Union or another transfer service to send money home, compare the difference with Transferwise. I’m sure it’ll save you loads.
Other key facts and figures
- Transferwise was founded in 2010, launched in 2011.
- TransferWise employs more than 650 people from more than 50 nationalities.
- Customers are transferring more than £1 billion every month through TransferWise and saving more than £1m every day compared to using other providers.
- You can send money from 35 countries and receive money in 60 countries using TransferWise, adding up to total of over 650 routes.
- TransferWise has over a million customers
My personal experience with Transferwise.
As some of you may know, I lived in Australia for a decade before returning home to New Zealand. I still have bank accounts in Aussie and clients who pay me in Aussie dollars to those bank accounts.
When I lived in Sydney, my plan was to use my very healthy Australian income to save enough for a house deposit in New Zealand (which we did and 7 years later we are mortgage free!).
Initially, what I would do is send large lumps sums home when I could because telegraphic transfer fees from the bank were huge (around $30 per transaction) and the conversion rates were not great.
I gotta admit, waiting to save up a lump sum did not suit my lifestyle and I was always tempted to spend the money before I transferred it home.
Transferwise has changed all that. They have made it very affordable to transfer money to New Zealand bank account holders from Australia. Even small sums.
It works in reverse too. Now that I’m back in New Zealand, I occasionally use my Australian credit card for purchases in AUD (just to save on fees) and Transferwise is definitely the cheapest way to transfer money from NZ to Australia so I can pay my bills on time.
See the option below for sending $100 from NZ to Australia. The fees are minuscule and the rate is really good. It’s also a really good option if you need to send money to a friend overseas as it’s quick and secure.
Transferwise is great for using further afield too. My husband is Irish and he has an Irish bank account we use when we travel in Europe.
We also used Transferwise for international money transfer to keep our accounts topped up with Euro when we were living in Spain. It was simple to do online and the money always arrived on time.
It’s also saving us a bundle on gifts for the family in Ireland. It’s cheaper to send money overseas from NZ to family members so they can do what they like with it (because cash is the best gift!) than it is to buy something here and pay huge amounts for shipping.
If you’re thinking of sending money overseas, I strongly recommend checking out Transferwise. You can check their rates on the website before committing to anything.
