International money transfer limits with Australia banks. An overview

Whether you are sending funds to family abroad, making payments for overseas investments, or managing international business transactions, knowing whether your bank’s transfer limits will become a bottleneck is important.

This article delves into the limits set by leading banks in Australia. With this information, you’ll have a bird’s eye view of which banks offer limits that accommodate your plans. Let’s jump right in.

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Are there limits to how much you can move internationally in Australia?

In general, there are no limits set by the Australian government when it comes to sending or receiving money internationally.

Declaration of cash and non-cash forms of money – such as traveller’s cheques, cheques or money orders in Australian and foreign currency – is required if the combined value is AUD $10,000 or above and you’re¹:

• Travelling with it into or out of Australia
• Sending or receiving it from overseas in physical form. For example, by courier, freight or mailed

That said, each bank will have their internally set maximum transfer amount and that’s what we’ll discuss in this article.

IMT – International money transfer limits with Australian banks

Here below is a list of the biggest banks in Australia sorted by household deposits held.

Banks	Transfer limits
Commonwealth Bank of Australia²	Commbank’s default online international transfers via NetBank/app are set at $5,000 AUD max per day. The limit can be increased by reaching out to Commbank support at 13 2221. The max limit support is able to provide you is $50,000 AUD
Westpac³	Westpac’s daily limits for IMTs sent via Online Banking or the App is $750 AUD.³ The limit can be increased up to $2,000,000 AUD per transaction. You’ll need to be registered for Westpac Protect SMS code to increase the limit up to $200,000 AUD. To send over $200,000 AUD, you’ll need to call 1300 655 505 and get a SecurID Token.
NAB⁴	NAB’s daily limits for Internet Banking or App IMTs are set to $5,000 AUD by default and you must be registered for SMS security. You can request a higher limit by contacting NAB directly.
ANZ Bank⁵	With ANZ, the daily limits for international money transfers sent through Internet Banking vary – from $1,000 to $10,000 AUD. The ANZ Shield security app gives you access to transfer up to $25,000 AUD. There’s no transaction limit if you send transfers via ANZ Phone Banking, so this is the option to use if you need to send amounts larger than $25,000 AUD.
Macquarie Bank⁶	Macquarie Bank sends IMT, which it calls Telegraphic transfers, from **Cash management Accounts **only. For transaction accounts, you’ll have to organise your international transfer through a third party provider. For a third party money transfer provider like Wise, you can pay for your IMT by local bank transfer. In this case, the limits Macquarie Bank sets for local AU bank transfers are the ones to consider Local limits are set at $2,000 AUD per day. With the Macquarie Authenticator app your daily transfer limit goes up to $100,000 AUD across all your eligible accounts. You can send one off payments over $100,000 by using a special request form.
ING Bank (Australia)	ING Australia doesn’t not support international money transfers in Australia. They advise you to use a third party money transfer provider.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank⁷	Bendigo Bank telegraphic or international money transfers need to be registered on the phone or by visiting your local branch. When registering, you’ll be asked to nominate a daily limit. On the phone, you can request a limit up to $30,000 AUD.
Suncorp Bank⁸	Suncorp Bank international transfers sent via Internet banking have the following limits (subject to your daily limits): A max of $100,000 AUS within a 48 hour period You can send up to $20,000 AUD anytime except on public holidays You can send up to $50,000 between 8am and 6pm AEST Monday to Friday except on public holidays
Bank of Queensland⁹	BOQ’s international transfer limit is set at a maximum of $250,000 AUD or equivalent in foreign currency. There are different tiers of payment limits. You can request increases via Internet banking with a 2-day delay or get an immediate increase by visiting a bank branch.
HSBC Bank Australia¹⁰	HSBC Australia allows you to send up to $50,000 AUD per day or $100,000 AUD if you are a Premier customer. You can send unlimited amounts by visiting a bank branch.

As seen on 27 September 2024

What to keep in mind

Most banks have daily transfer limits mostly for security reasons. This limits the amount that can be lost by a client in case of fraud. As you noticed in the list above, you’ll have higher limits depending on the security protection levels your account is signed up to.

For very high amounts, reaching out to the bank by phone or going to a bank branch is required.Once a large transfer is sent, it’s advisable to lower those limits back down to defaults.

Transfer money the Wise way

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With the Wise Account, you can get your own local AUD account details (with other popular currency account details too). This makes it easy to be sent money from home, or convert and send your money back home as well.

You can also order your own Wise debit card to be linked to your account, so that you can spend your hard earned cash anywhere Visa is accepted.

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Sources:

1. Moving money internationally AUSTRAC
2. Commbank IMT limits
3. Westpac IMT limits
4. NAB IMT limits
5. ANZ IMT limits
6. Macquarie Bank limits
7. Bendigo Bank IMT limits
8. Suncorp IMT limits
9. Bank of Queensland IMT limits
10. HSBC Bank Australia IMT limits

Sources checked on: 27 September 2024