Transferring money AUS -> USA

[Beverrlly 7]

Anyone have a good way to transfer money from Australia (Westpac) to the USA? My bank currently charges about $30USD per transfer. Has anyone found a better (cheaper) way?

[NJ93 6]

I use Xoom.com to send money. It's costs $4.99 U.S.

[Aldi & James 2]

In my experience, the lower the fees, the worse off the exchange rate. Be sure to verify that you're not costing yourself more by going to a lower fee and a lower exchange rate. Compare the actual exchange rates they offer. Banks, FX brokers, Paypal etc., all earn their money by charging a 'spread' on the FX exchange. The bigger the spread the less of the foreign currency you get for your home currency. Note that the exchange rates displayed on currency calculators show the 'mid-market- rate which is generally only available to those buying millions of US Dollars at a time. For transfers over USD 3000 the majority of the actual fee you pay is hidden in the exchange rate spread.

[Sukie 1,439]

I took care of this by having bank accounts with HSBC in Australia, the US and Hong Kong (where I lived and worked for six years). That way, I don't pay any FEES for transferring money - just the exchange rate - and intra-bank rates are pretty good.

However...I had to have my US account for six months before I could get reciprocal rights with HK and AUS.

I would also call WestPac to see if it has any US banking affiliations. You might catch a break there. Or check out Citibank Australia and Citibank US.

Sukie in NY

[Beverrlly 7]

Thanks!!

[N&S 32]

I'm using xe trade - they don't charge a fee but give you a slightly lower rate than the current market rate (as in the one you would see on a ticker). We looked at transferring some money yesterday from US to Europe - bank of america was charging only 35 USD but for the amount we wanted xe trade saved us about 200 USD overall. Might be worth checking out at any rate...