Our top picks are a selection of money transfer services based on our commercial relationships with partners and our extensive research. The top picks are designed to help users make decisions faster, but they may not always be the most suitable option for you.
Finder's top picks highlight brands that are a good fit for specific categories. Be sure to consider your own personal objectives, needs and circumstances before making a decision using our top picks.
6
Top pick categories
12
Features taken into consideration
26
Companies compared
Companies compared include both those that have financial agreements with us and those that do not.
ANZ
Airwallex
Commonwealth Bank
CurrencyFair
HSBC
InstaReM
MoneyGram
NAB
OFX
OrbitRemit
PayPal
Remitly
Revolut
Rocket Remit
Ria
Send
SingX
Skrill
TorFX
Wise
Western Union
Westpac
WorldFirst
WorldRemit
Xe Money Transfer
How do we decide the top pick for each category?
Our top picks are chosen by comparing 12 features. For each category, we make a selection based on our expert analysis of the "sending corridor" that we're displaying that top pick in. Transfers between Australia and India is a sending corridor. Transfers between France and the US is another, for example. We also take market data and the opinion of industry peers and customers who have used the service into consideration.
Small transfers
What's in this category? Transfers ranging from $1-$9,999. The small transfer size is chosen based on the AUSTRAC monitoring threshold, popular send amounts, price breaks based on send amounts and more.
What's the most important feature of this category? Total transfer cost.
What other features do we prioritise?
Transfer Fees
Exchange rate markups
Coverage
Customer service
Transfer speed
User experience
Large transfers
What's in this category?
Transfers above $10,000. The large transfer size is chosen based on the AUSTRAC monitoring threshold, popular send amounts, price breaks based on send amounts and more.
What's the most important feature of this category? Total cost for bank transfer.
What other features do we prioritise?
Exchange rate markups
Discount for larger transfers
Max transfer amount
Forex tools to hedge risk
Customer support
Reputation
Business transfers
What's in this category? Transfers sent overseas to businesses and financial institutions. These mainly serve Australian businesses with a global presence who need to regularly make large transfers overseas and hedge their currency risk.
What's the most important feature of this category? Total cost for bank transfer.
What other features do we prioritise?
Exchange rate markups
Forex tools to hedge risk
Personal Account Manager
Xero integration
Case studies
Cash transfers
What's in this category? Transfers that can be picked up in cash, be delivered door-to-door in cash or instantly loaded onto a debit or similar spending card. Cash pick-up is often needed in emergencies, so we take this into consideration alongside the number of cash pick-up locations.
What's the most important feature of this category? Availability of having cash delivered to the recipient.
What other features do we prioritise?
Number of agent locations
Guarantees
Delivery speed
Receiving methods
Payment methods
Mobile App
What's in this category? Transfers that can be sent through a mobile app and provides great user experience. This category focuses more on small, regular transfers that arrive quickly.
What's the most important feature of this category? Cost for small transfers.
What other features do we prioritise?
Transfer fees
User experience
User Interface
Transfer fees
App ratings
Fast transfers
What's in this category? Transfers that can be sent quickly and securely through multiple payment options. This category focuses on transfer speed for remittance providers.
What's the most important feature of this category? Delivery speeds for bank transfers
What other features do we prioritise?
Delivery speeds for bank transfers
Delivery speeds for cash pickup
Transfer methods
What features do we compare?
Transfer fees. Sometimes paying a small fee upfront to secure a stronger exchange rate will save you money. Beware of additional fees added on top of your transfer by your credit card or bank account. The types of fees we look at include:
Sending fee
Receiving fee
Withdrawal fee
Deposit fee
Currency conversion fee
Exchange rates.
Mid-market rate vs a margin added to the mid-market rate
Shifting margins based on the sending amount vs set margins no matter the size of the transfer
Reputation.
Online reviews from other comparison services
Customer sentiment
Lawsuits
Complaints
Regulations
Licences
Payment types. Paying different ways may incur different fees, both from the provider and from your bank, credit card or debit card. These include:
Bank account
Credit card
Debit card
Cash
Other
Transfer methods. Paying through different means sometimes incurs different fees, with in-person and over-the-phone payments usually costing more than online payments. The methods we compare are:
Online
By phone
In person at an agent location
Receiving methods. Receiving money transfers in different ways often incurs different fees, with home delivery and paper cheque usually being the most expensive, and bank account delivery usually being the cheapest. We look at:
Bank account
Cash
Mobile wallet
Bill pay
Debit card
Home delivery
Other
Delivery speeds. Fees often vary based on speed. It may be worth opting for a slower, cheaper transfer when possible. Delivery speeds include but aren't limited to:
Instant
Within an hour
Within a day
Within multiple business days
Hedging options. Using forex tools can help you lock in an exchange rate which may save you money down the line. These could include:
Scheduled transfer
Recurring transfer
Spot contract
Forward contract
Limit order
Coverage.
Number of agent locations
Number of currencies supported
Number of countries supported
Limits. Some companies impose limits on your account until you further verify your identity. The limits we compare are those for a fully verified account, and include:
Sending limits
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
Receiving limits
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
Information required to open an account.
Phone number
Photo ID, e.g. passport or driving licence
Bank account information
Email address
Customer service.
Email
Live chat
Phone
In person
Social media
What are the Finder customer satisfaction awards?
The Finder customer satisfaction awards recognise Australia's favourite brands across a huge number of categories. We survey thousands of real Australians to understand how they feel about their recent product purchases to help you make a decision about what product to get. It's an independent awards program calculated by our data and insights team. Commercial partnerships do not influence the results in any way.
Finder money transfer customer satisfaction awards methodology
The recency period varied between 3 months and 3 years.
Respondents were asked whether they would recommend the car insurer to a friend. This result was scored out of 5 as a percentage. For example, if 80% of respondents said they would recommend a product, it received a score of 4 out of 5.
Customers were asked how they would rate each provider overall on a scale between 1 and 5 and in terms of:
Features and benefits
Customer service
Fees
Speed of transfer
Overall
The final score was calculated as an average of all metrics scored.
Disclaimer: While we endeavour to assess the majority of product providers in the market, this is not always possible and it may be that not every product or brand in the market was included for judging.
Does Finder compare all money transfer providers in the market?
No, but we're trying our best to make that happen. Because it takes a large amount of time and resources to properly analyse a money transfer provider, we aren't yet able to cover 100% of the market. It's extremely important to us that the information we provide you is as accurate as possible, and we'd rather focus on quality over quantity when it comes to reviewing providers.
The process of gathering data is quite time-consuming, as we not only check reviews, fees and exchange rates for every new provider we list, we also maintain updated data on existing providers on our site.
Other questions
How often are the rankings reviewed?
It varies depending on the market. Some corridors are reviewed weekly, while others may be reviewed once a quarter or once a year. We update markets based on developments in the money transfer industry and developments focused specifically on the market at hand.
Something doesn't seem right: Who should I contact?
Click the dark blue chat bubble at the bottom right of your browser, or scroll to the bottom of the page and ask one of our experts using the available form. We sincerely appreciate feedback to make sure we provide the best information possible.
What other conditions are there?
Due to the complicated nature of money transfers, there are a few assumptions we may have to set on specific pages. Whenever fees or exchange rates are listed, we will include the date from which the data was sourced. Rates may have changed since then, so always double-check exchange rates and fees.
Zak Killermann is a staff writer at Finder specialising in money transfers. He has ghostwritten hundreds of FinTech articles over the years and found his love for publication at St. Cloud State University. Zak has been travelling internationally for nearly half his life and — after getting burned once by an over-the-counter money exchange — vowed to never settle for anything short of the mid-market rate.
Also make sure you’re taking the right steps to protect yourself against scams and fraud, as transferring money internationally is becoming a very common scam method.
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Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
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When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
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An. American friend want to transfers. Large amount of money how the best way to do this
Hi Margaret,
We are not licenced to provide personal advice, but suggest your friend researches the various options. You can compare some options here:
https://www.finder.com.au/international-money-transfers
Also make sure you’re taking the right steps to protect yourself against scams and fraud, as transferring money internationally is becoming a very common scam method.
Wishing you all the best!