Complete Guide to International Money Transfer with Ria in New Zealand
Send money worldwide with Ria Money Transfer: this guide for NZ residents covers how to send money overseas, Ria's transfer fees, and exchange rates.
Need to send some birthday money to a relative in Europe, or pay for a purchase coming from the US? Or perhaps you run a business and need to pay overseas freelancers or buy supplies. Whatever the situation, you’ll need a quick, secure and good value way to make international transfers
If you’re a customer of the Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) in New Zealand, you can send and receive international payments through your account. Here, we’ll look at how much it may cost you, including those ‘small print’ fees, how to make an international transfer and how long it may take.
💰 Wise provides you the mid-market exchange rate and low transparent transfer fees shown upfront. |
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Wise money transfers
Bank customers aren’t always aware of the full range of fees involved in international transfers. They’re often buried in the terms and conditions, plus charges can vary depending on the country you’re sending the payment and the type of bank account you have.
It’s really important to check out the fees as carefully as you can before hitting ‘send’ on an international payment, or you could find that your transfer is seriously expensive. Let’s take a look at the key charges you need to know about with ANZ international money transfers.
International Transfers | Regular fees¹ |
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Incoming international transfer |
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Outgoing international transfer |
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Additional fees may apply |
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Fees as seen on 19 Jan 2023
Let’s start with a hypothetical transfer. Let’s say you want to send $1,000 NZD to a friend living in the US in USD.
We’ll compare the cost of sending this sum with your ANZ bank account or with a solution like Wise instead, factoring in intermediary bank fees, exchange rates and other costs to see which is the cheapest overall.
Provider | Fee | Exchange rate | Total cost |
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ANZ¹ | $9 NZD using internet banking, $28 NZD in branch + correspondent bank fees | Exchange rate + markup | $9 + correspondent fees + exchange rate markup |
Wise⁴ | $5.16 NZD (Paying Wise by bank transfer) See pricing summary here | The mid-market exchange rate | $5.16 |
Fees as seen on 19 Jan 2023
ANZ’s price to send money via online self service is fair. However, Wise’s price is much cheaper⁴ and you don’t get charged additional intermediary bank fees like you would with ANZ. This means you know exactly how much your recipient in the US will receive with Wise. No surprises.
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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Before you send or receive an international payment through a bank, it’s helpful to understand a little about how exchange rates work in this process. Unfortunately, exchange rates are what can make global transactions a little more complicated and expensive than you might expect.
When you make a payment from a bank in one country to a bank in another, the money doesn’t always go directly there. There are often intermediary banks involved along the journey, and these banks can apply their own exchange rates to the payment. These rates differ from the mid-market rate you’ll see on currency sites like xe.com or a Google search.
Banks can add a mark-up on top of the mid-market exchange rate, pocketing the difference for themselves. As this means a poorer exchange rate for you – and possibly even a charge for the currency conversion – this makes your transfer more expensive overall.
Remember that $1000 NZD we're sending to a friend's US USD account in the fees demo above? Let's see how the exchange rate influences how much your friend actually received in their account – Sending fees not included in the calculation.
Exchange rate | ANZ NZ international transfer¹ | Wise⁴ |
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Exchange rate | 0.6278 | 0.6385 |
Recipient gets^ | 627.8 USD | 638.5 USD |
Type of rate | ANZ's own rate | Mid Market rate |
Rates as seen on respective calculators on 19 Jan 2023
^ ANZ additional intermediary/recipient bank fees not included - Wise sending fees not included
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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You can see that just on the conversion rate alone, Wise nets the recipient $10.7 USD more for the money you send compared to an International transfer done via ANZ bank. This adds up the more money you send.⁴
This is how the mid-market exchange rate Wise uses helps you make the most for your transfer, and eliminates this hidden fee used by most banks.
Use our pricing calculator below to have an idea of how much you get to save sending money overseas with Wise.
Like other banks, ANZ generally uses the SWIFT system for international transfers. This is a global financial messaging network, through which banks can securely send accurate information – such as instructions for your money transfer, for example.
With ANZ international money transfers through SWIFT, as many as 3 intermediary (also known as correspondent) banks could be involved. The number of intermediaries often depends on the origin and destination of the transfer.
It’s common practice for intermediary and/or recipient banks to charge flat fees for their involvement in the transfer. These can range from $20-$50 per transaction. While these aren’t fees charged by ANZ, you should still ask ANZ about correspondent bank fees before starting your transfer. Many customers aren’t aware of these extra costs when making international transfers, and it can come as a nasty shock.
International Transfers¹ | Additional Fees |
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Sending/recipient bank and/or intermediary bank(s) |
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Cancelling a transfer |
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Amending a transfer |
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Enquiry fee (where the recipient claims they haven’t received the funds) |
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Read more: Are international bank transfers safe in Australia? |
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One of the quickest and easiest ways to send money overseas is to use ANZ’s internet banking service. You can also make international money transfers (known in banking terms as an IMT) using the ANZ GoMoney app, by phone or in an ANZ branch.
Follow these steps to set up an IMT in ANZ internet banking:
You can also make international payments through the handy GoMoney mobile banking app. Follow these steps:
ANZ recommends using its online banking service or mobile banking app to make an international transfer, but you can also do it over the phone by calling 0800 269 296 or in a local ANZ branch. Make sure you have all the relevant details to hand and an ANZ assistant will guide you through the process.
To make an international transfer with ANZ NZ, you’ll typically need:
Great news – a friend or family member in another country wants to send you some money. All you need to do is provide them with a few key details. These can vary from country to country, so make sure you do your own research beforehand, but you’ll generally need to supply:
It’s also a good idea to agree in advance whether you, or the person sending the money, will be responsible for any charges relating to the transfer.
Read more: New Zealand bank account number format |
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Generally, it takes 2-4 business days for the money to arrive in the recipient’s bank account when sending internationally with ANZ. Some transactions happen even faster than that.
However, the exact time your transfer will take varies depending on where the money is sent from and to. If there are lots of intermediary banks involved along the route, it could take a little longer than you expect.
If you need help with your transfers, you can reach out to ANZ:
In this guide, you’ll hopefully have learned all you need to know about ANZ Bank international transfers. You know roughly how long it takes, the different ways you can set up a payment, plus the details you’ll need to provide to receive cash from abroad.
Crucially, you’ll now be aware of the kinds of fees and charges involved when making an international payment through a bank. It isn’t always the cheapest way to do it, especially when intermediary and/or recipient banks apply their own processing fees along the way.
But remember that you do have a choice when it comes to international transfers. ANZ, or another traditional bank, isn’t the only option out there.
Get a Wise Account and you can whizz money across the world with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate. You can convert currencies for low fees and even receive money from other countries for free.
With Wise, you’ll know the exchange rate your money will be converted at, the transfer fees and what your recipient will receive, before you commit to the transfer.
Register your Wise account in minutes 🚀
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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So if you’re looking for a way to simplify the process, Wise is definitely worth checking out.
Sources checked on 21-Dec-2022
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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