Set up currency exchange for your move

Moving money across a currency, whether it's proceeds from selling a home, savings, or ongoing income, usually costs less through a dedicated transfer service than through your bank's own foreign exchange.

How to do it

1. Compare your bank's exchange rate against a dedicated transfer service. Banks typically mark up the exchange rate significantly above the actual market rate; dedicated services generally use something much closer to the real mid-market rate plus a small, transparent fee.
2. If you have a specific date you need funds to land by — a settlement date, for example — ask about locking in an exchange rate in advance. Some services let you lock a rate for a short window, which protects you from the rate moving against you before the transfer completes.
3. Time larger transfers around your actual needs, not just convenience. If you're moving a large sum, even a small difference in exchange rate adds up to a genuinely large amount of money.
4. Check any transfer limits and verification requirements before you need the money urgently — larger transfers often need extra verification that takes time to complete.
5. Get a Tax File Number sorted before a large transfer lands, if you're newly arrived — banks and some transfer services ask for one for larger or ongoing transfers, and it's worth arranging ahead of time rather than under pressure.

Common mistakes

• Using your bank's default international transfer without comparing it to a dedicated service first — the difference is often larger than people expect.
• Not planning for a rate lock if your transfer is tied to a specific settlement or payment date.
• Leaving a large, time-sensitive transfer until the last minute, when any verification delay becomes a real problem.

Related tasks

If you're selling a property to fund your move, time this task around your actual settlement date, not moving day itself.

Useful links

• Moneysmart: sending money overseas — ASIC's own guidance on comparing exchange rates and fees, and what to check before you send a large amount.