Receive international transfer with Macquarie Bank

Sending or receiving money from abroad can be difficult and an expensive process if you aren’t sure what’s involved. Macquarie bank — a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited, allows its customers to receive money from abroad — but only through international SWIFT transfers.

In this article, we’ll guide you through what this means and introduce to you a smart alternative to receive money with Wise and Macquarie Bank.

Learn more about
Wise transfers

What is the fee for receiving an international transfer with Macquarie Bank

Macquarie Bank does not disclose the actual fees for receiving an international transfer. Macquarie bank does state that:¹

"The intermediary bank may deduct fees from the funds being transferred" and "This can result in the payee receiving a lesser amount than expected"

These fees are related to the use of the SWIFT network. Below we’ll explore the fee structure of SWIFT international transfers.

Fee Structure of international SWIFT transfers

The SWIFT network has its own fee structure relating to who is in charge of paying the associated transaction fees of an international transfer. SWIFT fees occur because the SWIFT network relies on a series of intermediary (or correspondent) banks to move the payment information on to its destination account. Each bank involved may charge a fee for their service in the transaction.

The options for who is responsible for the fees are usually expressed as 3 codes OUR, SHA and BEN and must be chosen when the payment is set up at the source.

This is what they mean:

• OUR means the sender is responsible to pay all associated transaction costs for the transfer
• SHA means the transaction costs are split between sender and receiver
• BEN means the beneficiary — or the receiver — is responsible for all bank charges associated with the transfer

It is essential that before organising a SWIFT transfer, you and the sender agree on who is responsible for the associated bank charges, so neither party gets any nasty surprises. So let’s check out a smarter way to receive money from overseas.

Wise as a smart way to receive international transfers

The key to being able to receive money from abroad with Macquarie Bank is to ensure that the money is in AUD. Wise can help with this. Let’s look at two ways to use Wise to receive an international transfer.

Ask your sender to use Wise to transfer the money to you.

By having your sender sign up to Wise, both you and your sender will know all fees upfront, including the transfer fee and the current mid-market exchange rate used to convert the money for the transfer. Once signed up, your sender will just need to have your bank details or email address handy, follow the subsequent transfer steps and pay a one-time low transfer fee to complete a transfer.

Wise has its own partner institution in Australia that receives the payment, so once received, this will be directed towards your Macquarie bank account.

Sign up for a Wise multi-currency account and get local account details.

Another smart way to receive money from overseas is by signing up for a Wise multi-currency account. If your sender resides in a certain region, they may be able to send you a local bank transfer. With a Wise multi-currency account, you will have your own local account details for several currencies including AUD, USD, GBP, CAD, or EUR (with others).

Once a transfer has been made and received into your Wise account, you can withdraw the money straight into your Macquarie Bank account with a simple local balance transfer.

Fees to receive international transfers with Wise.

Unlike SWIFT international transfers, to receive money from abroad with Wise incurs no fees for the receiver. This is the same when receiving a transfer into a Wise multi-currency account (except for a local wire or international SWIFT in USD). Check out what it would cost to make a fast transfer of 500 GBP to AUD below.

Sending 500 GBP to AUD with Wise

*Rates indicative of the 14 December 2021

As you can see, with Wise, the sender will pay a one-time transfer fee of 3.51 GBP, with the recipient receiving $923.16 AUD into their account — paying no fee to receive this transfer.

Macquarie Bank Exchange rates to receive money from abroad

Deposits can only be made in Australian dollars¹. This means that the incoming funds must be converted to be accepted by Macquarie Bank. It is not disclosed whether this conversion is completed by Macquarie Bank on arrival or at the responsibility of the sender’s source for the transfer.

Saying this, it is best you speak to the sender to convert the money at the source — and at their own bank’s exchange rate — before sending it to you.

How to receive international transfer with Macquarie Bank

The only way to receive an international transfer with Macquarie Bank is through the SWIFT network.

What details do I need to receive an international payment with Macquarie Bank?

You will need to send the following details to your sender¹

• The full bank name: Macquarie Bank Limited
• The bank address: 1 Shelley St, Sydney, NSW 2000
• Macquarie Bank SWIFT (BIC) code: this can be MACQAU2S or MACQAU2SXXX
• Your account name
• Your account number
• Your BSB number

If any one of these details is incorrect, this can result in a delay in payment or extra processing fees.

How long does it take to receive money from overseas?

SWIFT international transfer times can take 1-5 working days, depending on where it is sent from and the currencies.

Macquarie Bank contact details

Macquarie Bank can easily be contacted by²:

• Calling 13 31 74
• You can reach out to them on their social media via Facebook or Twitter.
• For general inquiries, contact 1800 806 310 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm — Sydney time)
• You can also access the Macquarie help centre online.

Wrapping up

Why pay extra transfer fees and be at the mercy of intermediaries when you don’t have to? Using Wise is the smart way to receive an international transfer as you avoid paying the fees associated with a SWIFT international transfer.

You also get access to the mid-market exchange rate on every transfer — ensuring peace of mind that you are always getting the best rate on conversions.

Have a go at our pricing calculator below to see how much you can save by using Wise to send and receive money from overseas.

Open your Wise account in minutes 🚀

Sources: