If you are visiting Australia, or maybe you are moving to Australia but are still in the process of arranging your ongoing finances and you are fast running out of funds, it will pay you to look around to get the best exchange rate. There can be quite a difference in the cost of money transfers in Australia between the different money handling organisations.
The availability of money transfers in Australia has changed a lot in recent years because of the evolution of online banking but some circumstances could still be outside the realm of online banking and if this is so you will have to look further afield to access your funds.
Bank to Bank
It is much easier to avail yourself of a money transfer in Australia from your home country’s bank account, to an Australian bank account if you are going to be in Australia for any length of time. If you are planning to migrate to Australia the best way to access your money will be to open an Australian bank account before you leave your home country. In this way you will receive a better exchange rate every time you transfer money from your home country bank account. When you sell up many of your assets that you can't bring to Australia, such as a house, and a considerable amount of money is involved, you will be in a far better position to negotiate a more reasonable exchange rate if you make the transfer between the two banks.
Specialists Money Exchange Organisations
If you don't want to use the services of a bank to transact your money transfer in Australia you can approach an establishment that specialises in money exchanging. A specialist organisation in money transfer matters will do all the arranging for you and electronically transfer the amount you require, often at a better exchange rate that that offered by a bank. But be careful here and only use companies which have a high profile, have been in the industry for a number of years and have a good reputation. Some of these organisation will allow you to make arrangements far in advance, this will allow you to take advantage of the exchange rate at that time, if you feel it is favourable, and there is a chance it may not be so favourable when the time comes in a year or two, to actually have the exchange take place. This practice can be dangerous however, as it could happen that the exchange rate between the two countries could worsen during that time and you may come out of the exchange worse off.
Taking Money Through Customs
You can, of course, stuff your pockets with cash and physically carry your fortune with you as you travel. If you do this you should remember that if you are carrying any more than the equivalent of $10,000 Australian dollars on your person, or in your luggage, you will have to declare it at customs or you might lose it. The good thing is that you will not to be asked to pay any tax on it. This will not last for too long however, as once you intend taking up residence you will have to register as a taxpayer, and any capital gain you make from the money you bring into the country you will be liable to pay tax on. This will also apply to any money you left in investments back home or in any other country.
Money you don't bring into Australia on your person will be costly however you go about it. There will be fees to pay on top of the exchange rate differences and this can be substantial. Some of the specialist establishments that are involved in money transfer in Australia include the following:
- Western Union. This company have been in business for more than 150 years and have 400,000 agents located in 200 countries scattered around the world. 5,000 of their agents are in Australia.
- MoneyGram. A global company operating in 170 countries with more than 100,000 agents.
- Ozforex. A part of Macquarie Bank, the Carlyle Group and Accel Partners.
Online
You can also create a money transfer in Australia by going online. Western Union has a website where you can go through the whole process yourself. But two of the most popular are PayPal and Google Check. Both these sites offer instant money transfers that can be sent to any country as long as the recipient has an internet connection and an email address.
Most banks will transfer money on the same day if requested to do so but there could be a delay because of time zones in regard to the different deadlines of different countries. You will need to ask the bank when the money can be collected at the other end to save disappointment.
Whatever way you choose to carry out your money transfer in Australia it will finish up being electronically transferred by some party. Your bank can save you much time and trouble especially if you are conducting the transfer between accounts with the same bank. PayPal is easy, especially if you have been using it yourself for other transactions when you buy products online, but your recipient will need to have an email account and preferably a PayPal account also.
