Purchasing Currency

About this Page

This page aims to provide tips and resources for those looking to purchase NZ currency. Your financial decisions are your own, so please be careful and confirm that the information here reflects the current day fiscal situation.

Summary

Specially for immigrants, you're going to want some of those sweet NZ dollars to survive on available before you arrive. While you can transfer from your current bank to your new NZ bank, you should know that the rates that banks give are not nearly as competitive as what a currency broker can provide you.

Currency Brokers

Hidden Fees

Good to know when dealing with currency brokers is that there may be hidden fees that are not well disclosed. Your broker may present you with a bill that includes how much you owe plus their fee, but the charges are not over. Here are some potential fees you may encounter if you are brand new to purchasing currency with a service like Halo Financial.

• Wire Transfer Fee: Your broker needs to receive the money, and often cannot pull the funds directly from your current bank account. Most can accept a wire transfer, but your current bank will likely charge a fee for this.
  • In the US, this can range anywhere from $15 to $40 USD
• Receiving Fee: What bullshit is it that this fee is not disclosed by your broker. They may charge you a flat fee or a percentage just to receive your funds.
• Routing Fees: Your broker may need to send the funds through 1+ financial institutions before it reaches your NZ bank. Each financial institution will take some small cut of your funds, and your broker may not know or provide how much they will be.
• Depositing Fee: Another fee that feels like bullshit if they don't disclose it. Your broker may charge you a fee to deposit your funds into your NZ bank account. This fee could be around $25 NZD.
• Your Bank's Receiving Fee: You'll have to check with your bank to see what their receiving fees are. This is out of your broker's control. Sometimes there's no fee at all from your bank.

Currency Brokers

There are a lot of options out there, and a google search will be your due diligence. Here are some recommendations:

• Wise
  • Incredibly easy to use App
  • Better exchange rate than with some currency brokers. Wise will also show you some brokers that are offering better rates than they currently have
  • After transferring funds for Wise to hold on to, you can use the Wise website to setup an automatic purchase of currency should the exchange rate reach an amount you desire
  • Able to pull funds from US bank accounts using ACH vs Wire Transfer. ACH transfer can have lower fees than wire transfer, and Wise will show your options before you purchase
  • Little to no hidden fees