AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please)

[hawaiianorangetree]

Hi Fellow Aussie Pricescopers!

I am after some help / advice regarding wire transfer to the US for a diamond purchase.

Does any one have any good refs on where to get it done? (low/nil fee, better exchange rate)

The reason I ask is that i had a few minor hiccups the last time (and only time) I did it.

I mostly bank with the ANZ but their fee was $40, a have an old account with the Commonwealth so i went there instead, i think their fee was $36? Anyway i had to send around US$380 to ID (which came to about $450 Au with the fees) but ID only ended up with about US$340 in their bank account. Some of it was eaten up buy fees on their side. It didn't matter because Luanne just treated it like a discount but i would like to avoid this problem again this time around.

This time the amount is larger and going to BGD so i want to get it right as i will have to do another wire transfer in a few months.

So if any one has any advice or ideas on where to go it would be much appreciated!

 

[heliotrope]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

hey there

I bought my BGD studs a few months ago and paid for them by sending a TT (or wire as they call it in the USA) via online banking myself

I am sure it cost just as little as AUD22.00?? maybe it was AUD28.00?? certainly cost no more than AUD35.00

the bank helped me add in the ability to do so quite easily - I gave them a call to set it all up at the time

call your bank and ask them - you will need the codes for the account where the $$ are going - which BGD did have clearly written on my invoice to copy

in the end it was quite simple

good luck - I hope that the USD to AUD stays where it is now for you!! it's 0.9264 today and I am so excited as I will be there next week!!

 

[arjunajane]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

hey hawaiian,
I feel your pain, I really do - when I went to do wires with my banks, they seemed to not even know what they were doing -I was really nervous they were going to stuff it up.
plus there's the fees, and you have to go in in person

But I have a two word solution for you - Ozforex Exchange!
Another Aussie PSer put me onto it and I haven't looked back.

Pro's: all online, don't need to go anywhere
- much better exchange rates than the banks or paypal
- lower fees than the banks (~$15).

Con's: none that I've experienced.

and best of all, I think it is your first two transactions are fee- free.

I've used it now for 3 purchases, to both the US and NZ and everything goes 100% smoothly each time - plus they have much nicer CS than the banks

Its super easy, but here's a basics on how it works:
Once you create an account, you can get 'quotes' to buy the amount of currency you need based on the spot rates - you can get as many quotes as you want, and once you are happy with the exchange rate offered, you accept the quote and you are effectively 'buying' that amount of USD (or whichever currency).
You than designate who it is going to, just like a regular wire - once you commit, a staff member will phone you to check all the details are correct, and confirm you'd like the transaction to go ahead.
You than send Ozforex the money however you like, (I use BPay) and they forward the money on to the designated beneficiary, usually within 24 hrs.


I will never go back to using the banks for wires, and I usually use this method for anything ~1k or more, as the exchange rates are always more competitive than paypal (of course, I only suggest using wires where you know and trust the recipient, not for ebay etc!).

Hope this helps you and please feel free to ask any questions if you need.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Thank you so much helitrope and arjunajane!!

I knew i could count of fellow pricescopers to help me out!

Both seem like great options, sure beats having to physically go in to the bank to get it done.

I'm off to go investigate the both of them. I'm hoping to get at least one (if not both) up and running in time to make the transaction on Monday morning.

Thanks so much again ladies.

 

[Rixsy]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Check out Pennytel money transfer. They charge flat fee of $8 and I like that I can use my credit card initially so I get that extra interest free period. I think they use the rates and are backed by Westpac. I haven't had any issues for payment to US and it's gone through in 2-3 days. Have read of longer delays to other countries eg China

 

[arjunajane]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Thank you so much helitrope and arjunajane!!

I knew i could count of fellow pricescopers to help me out!

Both seem like great options, sure beats having to physically go in to the bank to get it done.

I'm off to go investigate the both of them. I'm hoping to get at least one (if not both) up and running in time to make the transaction on Monday morning.

Thanks so much again ladies.

you're welcome hawaiian - I'm not sure about calling the banks on the weekend, but I do know you can complete transactions with Ozforex whenever - it seems like they have staff on 24-7, as I've agreed to quotes late at night for example and had a staff member phone me shortly after to confirm.

I went through the process of using Ozforex with BGD, so hopefully Lesley will recall - bu all you need is the standard routing info they provide to each client, plus the address of the business.

Make sure you also ask your bank what exchange rate they are offering for the day, as it varies so much between institutions - personally, when I was going through the process of my wires with the banks, they couldn't even tell me a definite exchange rate, which was frustrating to say the least..

best of luck!


ETA: just logged into Ozforex - it says the system is closed for dealing until 7am Monday Sydney time (however you should still be able to create an account).
They are also currently offering 92cents to the dollar for US - I too hope that trend continues, as I have a purchase to make in the coming week!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Hi arjunajane,

Yes i signed up with Ozforex but unfortunately they don't do transfers under Au$2000 !! I'm only purchasing one half of my studs atm so it comes in under that. Very bummed about that as it is definately the best rate i have seen.

I was able to set up the International transfer on my internet banking but my pay anyone limit is only set at $1000 a day and it is not enough! It takes over 5 business days to have it changed so that is out too.

Looks like I may have to swallow the fee and bad exchange rate and have it done at the bank after all.

Thanks Rixy, i shall look into that one too.

 

[arjunajane]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Hi arjunajane,

Yes i signed up with Ozforex but unfortunately they don't do transfers under Au$2000 !! I'm only purchasing one half of my studs atm so it comes in under that. Very bummed about that as it is definately the best rate i have seen.

I was able to set up the International transfer on my internet banking but my pay anyone limit is only set at $1000 a day and it is not enough! It takes over 5 business days to have it changed so that is out too.

Looks like I may have to swallow the fee and bad exchange rate and have it done at the bank after all.

Thanks Rixy, i shall look into that one too.

hawaiian, did you phone them? As mentioned in my first post, that is the standard that automatically comes with the account - however, if you phone them they will change your account so you can do any amount.
This is what I did, and I can enter any amount I wish from a couple hundred to a couple thousand..

Trust me, just give CS a call!
I would tell them that, you would like to do a 'smaller amount' for your first transfer, just to try out the service - but that you plan on transferring larger amounts in future. But honestly, they didn't even ask me a reason..

That 1k limit on the internet banking was also the issue I encountered (plus the lesser exchange rates).

Don't give up, just give them a call...let me know how it goes.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Hi arjunajane,

Yes i signed up with Ozforex but unfortunately they don't do transfers under Au$2000 !! I'm only purchasing one half of my studs atm so it comes in under that. Very bummed about that as it is definately the best rate i have seen.

I was able to set up the International transfer on my internet banking but my pay anyone limit is only set at $1000 a day and it is not enough! It takes over 5 business days to have it changed so that is out too.

Looks like I may have to swallow the fee and bad exchange rate and have it done at the bank after all.

Thanks Rixy, i shall look into that one too.

hawaiian, did you phone them? As mentioned in my first post, that is the standard that automatically comes with the account - however, if you phone them they will change your account so you can do any amount.
This is what I did, and I can enter any amount I wish from a couple hundred to a couple thousand..

Trust me, just give CS a call!
I would tell them that, you would like to do a 'smaller amount' for your first transfer, just to try out the service - but that you plan on transferring larger amounts in future. But honestly, they didn't even ask me a reason..

That 1k limit on the internet banking was also the issue I encountered (plus the lesser exchange rates).

Don't give up, just give them a call...let me know how it goes.

Oh thank you for replying again AJ! That is great to hear, i didn't realise that the amount was reduceable with a phone call. I haven't called yet as they are not open on the weekends but i am planning on calling first thing Monday. I hope they can do it as i worked out the price difference between them and a walk in at the bank and it was over $50, which isn't a huge amount, but if i can save $100 over the 2 transactions for my studs well, better the $100 is in my pocket and not the banks. I will let you know how i go on Monday. I really appreciate your help with this!

 

[arjunajane]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

Oh thank you for replying again AJ! That is great to hear, i didn't realise that the amount was reduceable with a phone call. I haven't called yet as they are not open on the weekends but i am planning on calling first thing Monday. I hope they can do it as i worked out the price difference between them and a walk in at the bank and it was over $50, which isn't a huge amount, but if i can save $100 over the 2 transactions for my studs well, better the $100 is in my pocket and not the banks. I will let you know how i go on Monday. I really appreciate your help with this!

You're more than welcome H - just passing on the love, as I never would have discovered ozforex without another helpful PSer
Absolutely, just give them a buzz on Monday, they're open super early for us Perth-ites and I don't think you should have any problems, they were more than happy to reduce mine to whatever I asked.

Exactly, $50 or $100 is not just chump-change - and of course, it beats drudging into the city to spend ages sorting out a wire in person, right? I know I'm sounding a bit bill-boardish at the moment, but I'm just being honest that this company has very much changed the way I purchase my gems / jewellery (and saved me $$ and hassle along the way).

I hope you have a positive result on Monday

 

[j450n]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

fellow perthian here...!
tell me how you go as I will be buying something from Whiteflash pretty soon and these exchange rates are looking mighty attractive! 0.92 is a good price and i wanna do this sometime next week before it drops!
have looked at ozforex before and seem reputable... but needa do more research as to what fees etc and how they work...

tell me how u go hawaiianorangetee! thanks

 

[Rae~]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

This is a timely thread as I am due to make an overseas payment early this week as well - thanks AJ.

 

[Echidna]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

HOT, just wanted to say that our transfer to BGD through Ozforex went completely smoothly.We had more trouble transferring the money from our bank to them than from them to overseas!

 

[Supers]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

I've used Ozforex twice now, and it's been great - rates are better than bank, set up and service is easy!
I'm pretty sure when I used it they offered two free transactions, so not sure what their fee structure is like.
Once for BGD for my setting - it was under $2000 but once I called customer service, it was no problem.
The other transaction was with GOG - no issue there either.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

All done!

Thanks AJ, you were right, they were very easy to deal with and had no problems with me transferring less that $2000, they did ask if i would be transferring more later so i explained about it being for the one purchase of earrings over 2 transactions as i was buying the diamonds seperately (they asked what the money was for) and they were fine with it.

First thing in the morning they were offering 93 cents but i wasn't authorised to use it yet, I think i ended up with .9237, which is a lot better than the banks offer of 88 cents! The fee was $15 which i was fine with, still better than the banks and it was all completed in a manner of minutes and i just Bpayed the money straight out of my internet banking to them. So now all i have to do is wait for the money to get from OzForex to BGD, hopefully overnight.

There really were no problems with the whole process however I can see that i am going to become addicted to checking the spot price every 10 minutes before I accept one though.

So yes! Anyone wiring money, go with OzForex! It was very easy.

Thanks AJ and thanks Pricescope! What would we all do without this place?

 

[Supers]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

At 93cents I am so tempted to just buy something!

 

[arjunajane]

Re: AUSSIES: International Money Wire Transfer Help! (please

thats awesome H I'm really glad it worked out so well for you. You really have to wonder how the banks get away with offering a whole 5 cents less than proper spot
Glad I could be of help!