Receiving money from abroad with St. George. The fees, rates, transfer time.

If you're looking to receive money from abroad with St. George, the good news is that you can. However, finding and sifting through the information on what fees you may be charged requires a bit of digging.

This article will go through all you need to know when receiving money from abroad with St. George bank and introduce you to an alternative that may help you save money on international transfers.

💸 Receive payments from abroad with tiny sender fees and at the real exchange rate. Just like the one you see on Google.

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Wise transfers

What is the fee for receiving an international transfer with St. George Bank

You can receive money from overseas with St George bank. This can be to your account for a $12 fee or $38 if credited to an account not at St. George. These fees do not include any overseas intermediary bank charges.¹

Fee structure of international SWIFT transfers

The SWIFT network is made up of over 11 000 member banks across 200 countries that use the SWIFT system to make international money transfers (IMT). Each bank charges their own processing fee for incoming and outgoing SWIFT transactions.

SWIFT transfers have their own unique fee structure which incur fees after a transfer is initiated at the sending bank. These fees are generally referred to as correspondent or intermediary bank fees. Who is liable for these fees are determined when a SWIFT transfer is set up and represented as transfer codes OUR, SHA and BEN. Here is a breakdown of what these three codes stand for.

Transfer code	Liable for costs
OUR	The sender pays all transfer fees
SHA	All fees will be shared between the sender and the beneficiary
BEN	The recipient pays all fees once transfer is received

It is important to factor these hidden costs in as it can result in the sender transferring less than anticipated, or the receiver receiving less than was agreed.

St. George currency exchange rates to receive money from abroad

St. George converts international transfers into AUD with the exchange rate offered to retail customers on the day the transfer is received.¹ St. George also states in their terms and conditions that²:

“…with Foreign Exchange Transaction, we derive benefit by incorporating a margin into the contract rate.”

To see what this means in action, below we’ll show an example transfer using the St. George currency exchange calculator when receiving 1000 GBP to AUD. We’ll compare this with the same transfer made by the sender using Wise, an alternative option that uses the mid-market exchange rate and low transfer fees.

All your sender needs to do is open and verify their Wise account, then send a transfer to you through it.

Transfer*	St. George³	Wise	Savings with Wise
Transfer 1000 GBP to AUD	Exchange rate: 1 AUD = 0.5872 1000 GBP/0.5872 = $1703 AUD Receiving transfer fee: $12 AUD Total to receive = $1691.00 AUD	Exchange rate: 1 GBP = 1.7697 One-time, upfront transfer fee = 4.35 GBP (1000 GBP - 4.35 GBP) x 1.7697 Total to receive = $1762 AUD See price calculation here.	$71.00 AUD

*Rate indicative of the 23rd May 2022

As you can see, even with a comparative transfer fee, there is still a significant difference between what you may receive into your St George account and what you could receive using Wise for the same transfer.

How to receive international transfer with St. George?

To receive an international transfer, there are some things you need to do to make sure you receive your transfer correctly. The first is to get in contact with the person making the transfer to discuss what is required on their end. Here is a perfect time to discuss who will pay any extra fees that may be incurred on the transfer.

Then it’s about handing over the correct information that they will need to set up the transfer. Let's have a look at the exact details they’ll need from you.

What details do I need to receive an international payment with St. George Bank?

The details you need to provide your sender depend on what currency your sender is transferring to you. Here is what you’ll need to give your sender for most IMT transfers.⁴

1. Bank name of St. George
2. St. George SWIFT/BIC code: SGBLAU2S
3. The branch address of your St. George account
4. BSB number
5. Your 9 digit bank account number
6. Your account name

If your sender is planning to send USD from a US bank, you may also need to provide the Routing Number of 021 000 021.⁵

How long does it take to receive money from overseas?

SWIFT transfers can take anywhere from 3-5 business days to arrive in your account but depends on the currency routing, bank holidays and time sent .

Receiving an international transfer: Other things to consider

On top of knowing what the fees and transfer times are, there may be some other things you may need to know when receiving money from overseas. Let’s go through some extra information that might be important for your transfer.

St. George exchange rates

Exchange rates are subject to market movement which means they change 24 hours a day. The rate that can be checked through their currency conversion calculator, but should only be used an indication of what you may receive, as the total amount may be more or less.³

Intermediary SWIFT bank and receiving bank fees

St. George offers its customers who send money overseas no correspondent bank fees on outgoing transfers in specific currencies.⁶ Unfortunately, they do not disclose if this policy extends to receiving money from abroad.

St. George Bank contact details

If you need to contact St. George for any reason at all, you can:

• Call 13 33 30
• Call +61 2 9155 7800 from overseas

Wise as an alternative

Although St. George allows customers the ability to receive money from abroad, it isn’t the cheapest way to receive your cash. We briefly introduced you to Wise already, but let’s quickly check out some other perks that make Wise a great alternative for receiving money from overseas.

Wise offers more options to send and receive international transfers, including the ability to open a multi-currency account where you can receive certain currencies directly into your account balance. This means you don’t need to convert it into AUD to be able to receive it.

Open your Wise account in minutes 🚀

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Sources:

1. St George receiving fees p.10 & p.46
2. St. George foreign exchange margin p.9
3. St. George currency conversion calculator
4. St. George details to receive transfer
5. St. George receive USD bank transfer
6. St. George correspondent fees

Sources checked on: 23 May 2022