HiFX vs ASB on Exchange rates.
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Banks, Exchannge Rate & Currency Transfers
So, having opened up our US$ account, we needed to put US$10,000 into it.
For the past week, I have been watching the exchange rate, and using HiFX’s online system to check how much in NZ$ it would cost me to buy US$10,000.
I decided this morning after an overnight rise to make the move.
HiFX were quoting
NZ$ 12,632.00
I phoned ASB Global Markets (this is the branch that operates the Foreign Currency Accounts) and got a rate of…
NZ$ 12,618.00
That’s a saving of $14.00. Small but I will take it. Also, over the past few days – its come down from a more expensive NZ$ 12,744. So by waiting I have actually saved $126.
What bugs me though is that HiFX should not be able to be beaten by the banks. Because of the amounts I was looking at there were no fees with HiFX, and yet they still have a rate significantly worse than the bank was offering.
There is something seriously screwed up at HiFX these days. I wish they would sort it out, but given the snotty attitude last time I tried to talk to them about it – I get the feeling the can’t be arsed.
New Money Transfer company.
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:
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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