ANZ slashes money transfer fees to five Asia Pacific countries

ANZ has today reduced international money transfer fees for customers sending funds to five different countries across the Asia Pacific region, in a bid to make certain types of transfers more affordable for the Aussie families who use them.

Customers transferring funds to Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga with ANZ will no longer have to pay as much as $32 for the service, now that fees for these destinations have dropped down to $9.

The major bank’s Group Executive, Fred Ohlsson noted that some customers sending money to these particular countries are doing it for their loved ones back home.

“Many families and businesses in these five nations rely on friends and relatives who are living and working in Australia to send them money,” he said.

“This fee makes these money transfers more affordable for the people of these five nations, and the economies that need this financial activity.”

Foreign exchange services have become more accessible to Aussie consumers in recent years, with specialist providers such as CurrencyFair, TorFX and InstaREM ramping up competition.

According to Mozo Data, while some providers don’t charge their customers fees on each transaction, those who do apply charges generally set them from $10 to $22, making ANZ’s previous fees among the most expensive and their new fees some of the lowest.

But while transfer fees are worth considering when it comes to sending money overseas, the biggest expense and one that’s easily overlooked is the exchange rate margin. 

For instance, if you send $10,000 to the United States with ANZ at the current rate* of 0.7346 US cents for every Aussie dollar, the recipient will wind up with $7,333 USD in his or her bank account. However, opting to use the boutique specialist TorFX instead (offering the highest exchange rate on Mozo’s database) will give your beneficiary $341 more, or a total of  $7,674 USD.

Whether you want to send money to family in the UK or you’re relocating to Singapore soon, shop around at Mozo’s comparison hub for today’s best rates.

*Rates correct at time of writing