When you're overseas, sending money to and from is a bit of a mystery bag, as you are usually tempted to use your ban, but don't know what fees are like. If you're like we were, we just withdrew using our ATM cards, and got hit with fees everytime. If you're on your way home, you might be selling a vehicle, or transferring some savings home (Ha!), so it probably pays to find the best deal possible.
To this end, CanAussie has partnered with an Australian owned company, OzForex, and their Canadian branch, CanadianForex, to get you a deal on transferring money from Aus to Canada and back again, as well as most other civilized nations like England, Scotland, most of the countries in Europe and the US, plus a bunch of others. Just not New Zealand… just kidding. These guys are Australian owned and the pick of the bunch when it comes to transferring cash internationally.
The deal for CanAussie users is:
- Better exchange rates than banks and pretty much anyone else (see the example below)
- First two transactions free, then CA$12 from then on. Their normal fee is CA$15
- No transfer fees above AU$10k
- Minimum CAD$100 transfer, rather than their usual minimum of CA$2000
To get this deal, use this link to go to the OzForex site, their software recognises you've come from here and will sort things out appropriately.
www.ozforex.com.au/partner.asp?id=524
Why don’t I just use my bank?
Using ANZ for example, you can do international transfers through their internet banking, or over the counter, but you do get socked with a few fees for the privilege.
Their standard fee for doing an international transfer is $32, where with CanadianForex you’ll get the first two free, then its C$12 from then on for transactions under $10k.
So that’s what you pay on ANZ’s end, but in their terms and conditions document (http://www.anz.com/documents/au/feecharge/TelTranTC.pdf) they put in the option that they may (probably) use an external “correspondent” to do the actual transfer, and these correspondents have the right to remove commissions, fees or other charges from your transfer. So basically that creates a mystery as to how much you may get charged on the other end for the transfer.
Previously I’ve done several money transfers to New Zealand from Australia using ANZ, and those were usually hit with $25 to $50 costs. This was hard to explain to the people I was transferring to, as I was usually paying them for car parts and tried to transfer the exact cost to them, which ended up being $25 - $50 less.
On top of this, it pays to have a look at the rate the bank will give you when transferring money with them. On the day of writing, the rate ANZ gave for transferring to Canada was 0.8862, whereas with CanadianForex the rate was 0.893. While it may seem small, this can make a difference.
So what does this all mean?
Basically, the banks (ANZ in this case) will hit you up with a bunch of fees, because they feel like they’ve got a trapped market, whereas if you do it through another entity, you’ll probably save yourself a small percentage. Using the figures above, for a transfer of AU$2k you could save yourself CA$71.
Here’s a table to show the example:
|
| Example Bank | OzForex |
| AUD to transfer to Canada | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Rate | 0.8862 | 0.893 |
| CAD to receive | $1,772 | $1,786 |
| Transfer fee ANZ | $32 |
|
| Correspondent fees | $25 |
|
| Total | $1,715 | $1,786 |
| Potential savings using OzForex |
| $71 |
Even with the C$12 fee in there, you’re still CA$59 ahead, which is better than a kick in the teeth.
How do I do it?
Basically it’s pretty simple. You register on their website and then log in. From there you can get quotes, and whoever it is you’re sending money too (probably yourself, right?!), and then you can book the transfers you want. After you register a representative from CanadianForex will give you a call and a) make sure you’re real, and B) work out how you want to do the transfers, making sure the system is set up properly and you’re money goes where it should.
Because OzForex and CanadianForex are owned by the same bunch of Aussies, you can basically do it like a bill transaction, through BPay in Australia and a similar system in Canada for selected institutions, including most credit unions, and most of the big banks.
Also, unlike the banks, you’ll get to talk to real people, and get professional advice on transferring your cash. If you’ve just sold your car in Canada, you’re heading home, and you’ve got $10k to transfer back to Aus, you’ll probably want to chat to these guys about getting the best rate. They’re available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week too, so it doesn’t matter if you call them at 3am in your underpants, they’ll be there to answer your questions.
So why is CanAussie partnering with these guys?
Basically, we’re like you, and we need to transfer cash too. After dealing with the pirate banks, it’s nice to find a bunch of people who can look after your cash and be up front about it. Plus for every transaction done by folks who use our referral URL to get to their site, CanAussie will get a little kickback from these guys, which will help with running the site. Now, who would you want your commission to go to, a bank, or Aussie Battlers?!
Just make sure you click on our partner link when you sign up for an account, then you'll get the deal as mentioned above.
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