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...
There are so many reasons why you might need to send money overseas. Maybe you have a home or family abroad, need to pay for an upcoming holiday or are setting yourself up to move to a new country. Whatever the reason may be, you’ll want the service you use to be safe, transparent and cost effective.
One option available to Australians is SingX. We’re going to take you through who they are, what they do and what it will cost you to use their services. We’ll also introduce you to Wise, another financial services provider who specialises in sending money around the globe.
💰 Wise provides you the mid-market exchange rate and low transparent transfer fees shown upfront. |
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Learn more about
Wise money transfers
SingX is an award winning Singaporean company that provides international payment services.³ Across their operations they offer the option to payout funds to over 180 countries and have bases in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
In Australia, SingX is authorised and regulated by the appropriate Australian authorities.
Knowing that ASIC and AUSTRAC regulate entities like SingX should give you peace of mind that your money transfer is secure.
SingX doesn't go into much detail on their website for how the back end of their system works, but essentially you send money to SingX and they convert it and deposit it into the recipient's bank account.¹
SingX does state that there may be times where an intermediary bank they’re using to complete a transfer charge a fee.⁴ What this indicates is that there are circumstances where transfers will use the SWIFT system to send your money abroad.
For international money transfers SingX charges a transaction fee of somewhere around 0.5%.⁴ It can be up to 5% depending on the circumstances. In addition to the transaction fee you could also be charged an additional amount for volatile or less traded currencies which is rolled into the fee.
To know what the current fees are you need to use the calculator on their website. As an example, here’s a comparison between sending $1000 AUD from your Aussie account to a GBP bank account in the United Kingdom.⁵
Provider* | Fee |
---|---|
SingX⁵ | 9.00 AUD |
Wise (on transfers paid via bank transfer to Wise) | 5.31 AUD (See pricing calculator) |
* As seen on 28th June 2023
Just like Wise, SingX uses the mid market exchange rate.¹ The mid market rate is the midpoint between the buy and sell prices for currencies being bought and sold on the international currency market. SingX endeavours to provide this rate without any mark-up or hidden fees.
Here’s the exchange rates and what the recipient would get for that $1000 AUD you were hypothetical converting to GBP and sending to a UK bank account.⁵
Provider | Exchange Rate | Recipient Gets |
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SingX | 1 AUD = 0.5218 GBP | 521.80 GBP |
Wise | 1 AUD = 0.52246 GBP | 522.46 GBP |
* As seen on 28th June 2023
For Australian customers SingX supports 22 currencies.²
For some of these currencies you can send them to destinations that aren’t the country that produces them. For example, it’s possible to transfer USD to a country that isn’t the United States of America.
The first step to sending money overseas with SingX is to sign up for an account. Once you’ve done that you’ll need to follow these steps to complete a transfer.¹
SingX will then complete the currency conversion and deposit the funds into the recipient's bank account. Once the transaction is completed, you’ll get an SMS and email notification.
To send money to someone using SingX you’ll need to add them as a recipient.¹ To do that, go to ‘Manage Receivers’ then select ‘+Add’ and enter these details.
The transfer limit for a single transaction varies with SingX depending on the currency and country it’s being sent to.²
Here’s some of the limits that apply when you send funds with SingX.²
Country and Currency | Limit |
---|---|
CNY to China (Receiver must be a Chinese National) | 3,000 USD equivalent per transfer. Max of 2 transfers per day and 50,000 USD equivalent per year |
EUR to Europe | No limit |
GBP to the United Kingdom | 550,000 GBP |
INR to India | No limit |
NZD to New Zealand | 1,000,000 SGD equivalent |
USD outside the United States USD to the United States USD to Singaporean Dollars | No limit 700,000 USD No limit |
As you can see the limits vary quite a bit so if you’re planning to send a large amount of money you may want to check with SingX first.
Currently the only method for Australian customers to pay for their SingX transfers is to send funds to SingX’s Australian bank account.¹ Cheques, cash, credit cards and debit cards are currently not being accepted.
The money you send is paid out to the recipient's bank account.¹ The only exception is the Philippines where it’s possible for the recipient to be paid out in cash.
Taking it all in, here’s some of the pros and cons of transferring money with SingX.
Pros | Cons |
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SingX uses the mid-market exchange rate to complete currency conversions¹ You’ll know any fees upfront and can check them anytime using the calculator on the SingX website Processing times are generally quite quick so the recipient has the funds within a few days of you sending them² | Cash payouts are only available in one country, the Philippines¹ At this stage you can only fund a transfer using an Australian bank account, no credit or debit cards allowed Since SingX use a percentage based transaction fee, rather than a flat rate fee, it can get quite expensive if you’re sending large amounts of money⁴ |
The processing times for SingX depends on the currency, country and whether the funds were sent on a business day or non-business day. Here’s how long it takes for five of the transfer routes they support.²
Route | Business Day | Non-Business Day |
---|---|---|
CNY to China (China Pay) | 9am to 5pm: Within hours 5pm to 9am: Next business day | 1-2 business days |
EUR to Europe | Before 5pm: Next business day | 1-2 business days |
GBP to the UK | Before 5pm: Next business day | 1-2 business days |
INR to India | Before 5pm: Within hours | 1 business day |
NZD to New Zealand | Before 5pm: Next business day | 1-2 business days |
Keep in mind that the times on the SingX website are their processing times and it may take a little more time for the recipient's bank to credit the funds to their account.
To speak to SingX directly you can try calling their Australian office on +61 3 9917 4319.
Sending money with Wise is safe and easy. You can send money to 160 countries, at the mid-market rate and with low fees shown upfront.
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.
Join over 13 million customers currently using Wise. It’ll only take a few minutes to register and see what’s inside.
Register your Wise account
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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information. |
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Sources:
Sources checked on: 28 June 2023
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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