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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Check any transfer limits and verification requirements before you need the money urgently — larger transfers often need extra verification that takes time to complete.
- Get an IRD number sorted before a large transfer lands, if you're newly arrived — some banks and services ask for one for larger or ongoing transfers, and it's a quick thing to arrange 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
- Funding your move before your first pay — how Navaroa's founders accessed their savings in the old country until their first pay arrived, and what to plan.
- International money transfers — Consumer NZ — independent guidance on transfer fees and exchange rate margins before you compare providers.
Frequently asked questions
- Are dedicated money transfer services safe to use?
- Legitimate ones must be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) and run an AML/CFT compliance programme — but registration alone doesn't mean FMA-licensed or regulated, so check a provider is genuinely registered and look for independent reviews before moving a large sum.