New Money Transfer company.

July 3, 2009 by
Filed under: General Budgeting, Getting to New Zealand 

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a company called Currency Online, offering me the chance to become an affiliate and market their product. Of interest was the fact that they said they were part of HiFX, which is the currency transfer company I have always used and recommended.

So I took a look.

HiFX confirmed that indeed CO was now a part of them, and so I looked at the rates.

One of the reasons I really like HiFX is the lack of extra charges. So I was a mite miffed to find that CO were going to charge a whopping £12 every time I made a transfer from the UK. To cover the electronic transfer of funds. {Cough} BS {Cough}.

But hey I thought – the rates are supposed to be the best around – so maybe the rates are so good it will counteract the silly charge.

Um. No.

I’ve been checking these numbers for a few weeks now – and I can categorically say that HiFX still beats CO hands down. In fact the only benefit I can see to CO is that it is – well – online.

So – how did I compare the two?

Well, firstly – I made a spreadsheet to keep all the info together, and make it easier to compare. So at random times (like when I remembered) I would look at three things:

1/ The HiFX website charts which give you the current Interbank Rate.
2/ The current Currency Online price for £5000 to be converted to $NZD
3/ I phoned up HiFX for their current rate for the same trade.

But – you also have to remember the £12 it will cost you to transfer using Currency Online. So – to take that into account I took the amount of $NZ that I would get using CO, and divided it by 5012 (£5012) – which gives you the EFFECTIVE rate at which you are transferring. I then worked out how many $NZ I would get in real terms taking that charge into account.

I also made a note of the difference between the HiFX Rate and the Interbank rate and the CO and Interbank rates. What I got was this:

curr-online-chart

What this shows is that if you were to transfer £5000, you would overall get about $100 MORE if you went with HiFX, and today – when I actually made a trasfer, I came out better by a whopping $337.

Now – there are some advantages to Currency Online, and ill cover those in a separate blog.  But if the main issue is how many $$$ you get – I’m still sticking with HiFX!

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Related posts:

  1. Avalon’s Money Thread: Moving your money to New Zealand
  2. Is it worth moving money back to the UK right now? Part 1
  3. Watching the exchange rates like a hawk.
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Comments

4 Comments on New Money Transfer company.

  1. Nathan Cheeseman on Tue, 15th Sep 2009 1:32 pm

    2. Hello bloggers,

    I am the marketing manager for both Currency Online and HiFX in Australasia. It is great to see the service and savings that HiFX deliver spoken of with such reverence, thank you for your kind words and ongoing support.

    I thought it was important to explain where Currency Online fits into the family and some significant recent changes that should alleviate all of the questions noted above. Currency Online is not a new business, it has been in operation for nearly 25 years and was the first business in the world to deliver its clients with a 24 hour online transfer platform. The HiFX Group acquired this business in September 2008. Since that time we have invested a great deal of time and money transforming it into the leading online provider of currency services globally. Currency Online is complimentary to the more consultative and personalised HiFX service.

    Currency Online is committed to delivering its clients the best deal when transferring money via its simple, easy to use online platform. We are committed to delivering clients who prefer a DIY service with better rates and lower fees. As the final step in a global project only this weekend we launched our new website which includes a leading edge web tool to help clients get tradable quotes, compare us with our competition and understand the risk and reward of using market orders to get a better rate. We have also taken this opportunity based on market research to adjust the rates we offer ensuring we deliver the best deal to our clients, this includes the launch of a ZERO fee structure. Take a look for yourself at http://www.currencyonline.com

    HiFX continues to deliver the best value for clients who need assistance developing a strategy to maximise the return from their transfers via our dealing teams. I hope this helps explain the journey we have been on to date as a group, and the expansion of services we can now deliver new and existing clients alike depending on their specific needs.

    Regards Nathan Cheeseman

  2. Avalon on Tue, 15th Sep 2009 5:09 pm

    3. Cheers Nathan – it’s actually on my “list of things to do” to add a blog about they new “No Fees” after I got the email yesterday :)

    And to be honest – I’m actually really impressed with a compnay that seems to listen to its customers and improve the service. If only Immigration New Zealand did that :)

    Ill be checking out the rates this week.

  3. Vaughan Russell on Wed, 27th Oct 2010 1:10 pm

    4. Good to find this sight. I tried to move money through HIFX in 2008 and it cost me 70k. Thier dealer, Eleus, put my purchase of US$ thru as a SALE, depsite me telling him all about my move. Then they tried to make me settle it, when they finaly realised they’d buggered it up they refused to honour my original trade. I was told that I should count my self lucky..which I do, I could have lost a lot more to that bucket shop. Never deal with them, if they stuff up YOU wear the cost, I’m glad I live in the US now and will never have to speak to them again. morals don’t exist at that company.

  4. Avalon on Thu, 28th Oct 2010 11:05 am

    5. Thanks for letting us know your story.

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