Great Southern Bank international transfer

Great Southern Bank is one of the largest customer owned banks in Australia. Formerly known as Credit Union Australia or CUA, it offers many banking services including overseas telegraphic transfers.

This guide will run you through how to send or receive money abroad with Great Southern Bank, including the fees, rates and procedures. We’ll also see how Great Southern Bank measures up against Wise.

💰 Wise provides you the real exchange rate and low transparent transfer fees shown upfront.

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Great Southern Bank fees to send money overseas

There’re a couple of different fees for sending money overseas with Great Southern Bank. Here’s a comparison of how it might look if you were sending 1000 AUD to someone in the United Kingdom.

Keep in mind that fees change so it's a good idea to double check what you’re being charged before you finalise the transaction.

Great Southern Bank vs Wise transfer fees for a sample of 1000 AUD to GBP

Fees	Great Southern Bank³	Wise
Cost to transfer foreign currency overseas if staff assisted at branch	$20.00 AUD	N/A
Cost to transfer foreign currency if sent online or using the App	$0 — Intermediary bank fees may apply.	$5.14 AUD (see pricing here)
Cost to transfer AUD to an overseas account	$50.00 AUD	N/A

While online money transfers with this bank may look fee-less, you have to take into consideration the exchange rate you will be provided and any other fee other institutions may charge to process your transfer.³

Quoting Great Southern Bank’s fee schedule:³

Additional fees may be deducted by other financial institutions involved in the transfer. GSB does not have control over these fees.

Additional transfer fees

In their fee schedule, Great Southern Bank states that you might be charged additional fees by other institutions who are involved in the transaction³. This could include the recipient's bank and Western Union Business Solutions, who are Great Southern Bank’s partner for foreign exchange transations¹.

Great Southern Bank steps to take to send money abroad

There are two main ways to complete an overseas telegraphic transfer (TT) with Great Southern Bank. You can go through your Online Banking Portal or visit a branch in person.

Using Online banking

If you’re comfortable using internet banking services you’ll likely find that the Great Southern Bank online money transfer process is the most convenient option.

• Log into your Online Banking portal.¹
• Navigate to the section for foreign transfers.
• Follow the prompts and fill in the missing details to complete the transfer.

In person at a local branch

If you want to do a Great Southern Bank overseas money transfer in person, you can do it at your local branch.

• Complete the Request for International Telegraphic Transfer Form.¹
• Take the completed form and your ID into your local branch.
• After the clerk has identified you as the owner of the account, they’ll be able to assist you in completing the transfer. Keep in mind that the transfer form will be lodged by the bank with Western Union Business Solutions, who facilitates the transaction.

Great Southern Bank / Western Union exchange rates

Western Union Business Solutions provide the exchange rates used for customers of Great Southern Bank.

Great Southern Bank vs Wise — Exchange rate for 1000 AUD to GBP

Rates	Western Union Business Solutions (Indicative Rate)⁵	Wise
Exchange rate offered on the date you wrote the article. Source, superscript and screenshot please.	1 AUD = 0.53565 GBP	1 AUD = 0.53587 GBP
How much the recipient receives for this sample transfer	535.65 GBP when sent online, not factoring other bank fees.	532.98 GBP — No additional intermediary bank fees to bear

* Rate as provided on the 26th of November, 2021

The rates Western Union Business Solutions shows online are only indicative so you won’t know your actual rate until you’ve set up a transaction with Great Southern Bank⁵. This is because Western Union Business Solutions adjust the rate for different companies based on transaction sizes and processing costs.

With Wise, you always get the mid-market rate.

What recipient details do you need to make an international transfer with Great Southern Bank

When you make an international transfer with Great Southern Bank you’ll need to provide a few pieces of information about the recipient.

• The recipients full name, current address and phone number,²
• Their bank account number or IBAN,
• The reason for your transfer,
• The BIC, SWIFT or ABA code for their bank if applicable.

What details do you need to receive money from abroad into your bank account with Great Southern Bank

Great Southern Bank also offers an Inward Transfer service using Western Union Business Solutions. To complete the process you’ll need to carefully follow these steps⁴:

• Complete the online form. You’ll need to provide your bank details, full name and address, the amount of foreign currency you’re receiving, reason for the transaction, and the bank details, full name and address of the sender.
• After the form has been submitted you’ll be emailed a PDF of the deposit instructions to forward to the payee.
• Tell the payee to give the PDF deposit instructions to their bank, make sure money is sent in their local currency and double check the teller puts “CUA 01911-FI” in the bank reference field.

How long does the international transfer take with Great Southern Bank

Generally your funds will arrive in the recipients account within 5 business days.¹ If you use the Inward Transfers process to receive money, you’ll usually receive it within 2 business days.⁴

Great Southern Bank contact details

If you need to contact Great Southern Bank for additional support you can:

• Call 133 282 (within Australia) or +61 7 3183 3502 (Overseas),
• Visit a branch.

Wise as an alternative

After reading this guide you might be thinking that some of the processes at Great Southern Bank, including its reliance on Western Union Business Solutions, seem overly complicated.

In comparison, Wise strives to make the process of sending money overseas simpler, faster and more transparent.

(https://wise.com/au/account/)

With Wise you can exchange AUD for over 50 different currencies which can be sent to accounts around the world . There’s no lengthy forms and you’ll know the fees and the exchange rates upfront, before you make the transaction.

For the majority of Wise’s supported transfers, payout is made from an account in your recipient bank’s country — helping to avoid intermediary bank fees and speeding up your transfers.

So why not try out the pricing calculator today to see how Wise can make international money transfers easier for you.

Open your Wise account in minutes 🚀

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Sources:

1. Great Southern Bank Overseas Payments
2. Great Southern Bank Request for International Telegraphic Transfer
3. Great Southern Bank Schedule of Fees Accounts page 6
4. Great Southern Bank Inward Transfers
5. Western Union Business Solutions FX Rate Calculator
   Sources checked on: 26 November 2021