If you need to transfer money overseas, there's several ways you can do it.
- Take cash with you
- Wire transfer to your new bank account
- Western Union/MoneyGram
- Travelers cheques (are these still a thing?)
But now there's a new, better way!
TransferWise acts as an intermediary to your money movements. The process works a bit like this:
- Initiate the transfer process via their website or app. They give you a reference number to use in the next step, and tell you how much money is going to come out the other end.
- Bank transfer from your NZ bank account to TransferWise's NZ account. In my case, this was a BNZ bank account. No fees from your bank, as it's just a local transfer!
- TransferWise confirms the money has arrived in their NZ account.
- TransferWise transfers from their foreign bank account to your foreign bank account. Again, no fees as it's a local bank transfer!
TransferWise converts your money using the mid-market rate, which is the exchange rate you see when you look it up on XE or Google. They make their money by taking a 1% (or 0.7%, depending on how much you're transfering) cut of the converted amount. This lets you see exactly what's going to arrive in your foreign bank account, no surprises.
If you transfered via your bank you'll likely get hit by international wire transfer fees at both ends. Further, your money will be exchanged at the banks exchange rate, which will always be weighted in favour of the bank. Even if they advertise 0% fees for international transfers they still sneak their fees our by way of the exchange rate.
If you need to move money overseas, try TransferWise!