Bank of Sydney international money transfers. Fees, rates and transfer time
Making international money transfers from Australia is a much easier process these days than in times gone by. However, with every bank leveraging its own...
Sending money overseas can be a complicated process. Every bank has its own requirements and fees, so not knowing the process can end up costing you money you didn’t plan on paying. Knowing the requirements will make bank transfers a lot less complicated - and can save you money.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about making an international money transfer — sometimes called a telegraphic transfer (TT) — to or from Australia’s St. George Bank.
💰 Wise provides you the real exchange rate and low transparent transfer fees shown upfront. |
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Wise money transfers
To understand better the fees charged for an international transfer by this St. George, let's demo a transfer of 1000 AUD sent to a friend's UK account in GBP. We'll see how it stacks up against Wise.
Regular Fees | St. George Bank International Transfer¹ | Wise |
---|---|---|
Outgoing international transfer |
| 5.14 AUD (See pricing here) |
Additional fees may apply |
| No SWIFT or intermediary bank fees, as the recipient is paid from Wise's account in the UK. |
As you can see from the table above, Wise turns out to be the cheaper option even when you don't consider the exchange rates used by St. George and any additional SWIFT fees intermediary banks may charge.
St. George Bank offers a few ways to transfer money internationally¹:
St. George Bank doesn’t offer international money transfers by phone banking.
At a St George Bank branch, a teller or cashier will help you complete your transaction. Know ahead of time that this is what they refer to as staff-assisted. And it’s nearly always more expensive.
Regardless, though, it may give you more peace of mind to go in person first. Just make sure you have all the information required - see below for more details - and let the teller/cashier know what you need.
To make an international transfer with St. George Bank, you’ll need:
Remember that 1000 AUD we're sending to a friend's UK GBP account in the fees demo above? Let's see how the exchange rate influences how much our friend actually received in their account (additional intermediary/recipient bank fees excluded).³
Exchange rate* | St. George Bank International Transfer³ | Wise |
---|---|---|
Exchange rate | 0.5137 | 0.53783 |
Recipient gets | 513.70 GBP | 537.83 GBP |
Type of rate | St. George Bank's own rate | Mid Market rate |
*Rates as seen on respective calculators on 25 February 2022
You can see that just on the conversion rate, Wise nets the recipient a whopping 24.13 GBP more for the money you sent compared to an International transfer done via St. George bank.
This is how the real exchange rate Wise uses helps you make the most for your transfer, and eliminates this hidden fee used by most banks.
St. George bank states that the limit for cumulative daily transfers to international accounts is A$50,000.² Keep this in mind as you may have to do multiple transfers spread out on multiple days if you need to send more than this.
Wise on the other hand has a per transfer limit of 1.5 million AUD. This should come in handy for those large amount transfers you may need to make.
With international transfers, often your bank isn’t able to send it directly from one country to another. In those cases, 1 or more intermediary banks are involved. And each of these banks normally take a chunk out of the money you’re sending. These fees can cost anywhere from A$20-$50 per intermediary bank.¹
St George Bank International Transfers¹ | Additional Fees |
---|---|
Sending/recipient bank and/or intermediary bank(s) |
|
Cancellation and return of funds |
|
Trace on a telegraphic transfer |
|
Amendment to payment details |
|
To receive money from overseas into your St. George Bank bank account, you’ll need to give the sender²:
You can log into internet banking to find this information, or visit a branch or call 13 33 30.
Here is a breakdown of the fees you'll pay if you receive money sent from abroad into your account.¹
St George Bank | Fees |
---|---|
Incoming international transfer |
|
St. George notes payments are typically processed within 1-3 business days but may take longer.³
The money you’re sending will be withdrawn from your St. George Bank account, and the fees will also be debited from the amount sent.
St. George Bank doesn’t currently offer a faster transfer for an extra fee.
St. George Bank doesn’t guarantee transfer times for any destination. Processing times will vary.
You can reach out to them via phone on⁴:
St. George Bank’s customer support offers multiple options for contact, but they’ll vary based on the service you need help with, so check their site for details.
One alternative to international bank transfers is Wise. Wise allows you to send money at the exact mid-market rate - the same rate you find on Google - with minimal, fair transfer fees spelled out upfront. For most of the transfers in currencies supported by Wise, your money never actually crosses borders, so there’s no international or intermediary bank fees unlike normal SWIFT transfers overseas.
Wise also offers its Multi-currency account, which allow account holders to send, receive and manage money in multiple global currencies at once.
Also, if you get paid in one country and live in another, Multi-currency account may help. You can get local bank details in the US, the UK, the EU, and Australia, so you can get paid like a local and avoid those international fees.
Give Wise a try and see for yourself how easy it can be to send money internationally.
Open your Wise account in minutes 🚀
Sources checked on 25 February 2022
This publication is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content in this publication. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its affiliates. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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