Direct FX team

Business currency transfers are necessary for many reasons. The payment of foreign currency invoices and the conversion of foreign currency receipts is common place for importers & exporters.

Many businesses buy foreign currencies to pay overseas suppliers. If the currency you buy is to pay a third party, as is often the case with many of our business clients, we can complete this currency payment for you.

For example, a New Zealand importer who purchases equipment from China and is invoiced in US dollars (USD), can purchase the USD to pay the invoice from us, using NZD. We will then send the USD to the invoicing party, using the payment instruction supplied by our client, and any invoice reference notation required.

Foreign exchange transactions involve risks. Before entering into a transaction you must carefully consider the risks. These risks will depend on your objectives at the time and may include, but not be limited to, market risk, counterparts risk, liquidity risk, strategy risk. Direct FX has procedures and policies in place to limit the counterparty risk you face.

We do not settle trades until we have received client sold currency in cleared funds. All client trades are offset “back to back” with our wholesale liquidity providers. As a result, we are not exposed to market risk. We do not at any time speculate in the foreign exchange market.

Possible obstacles with foreign currency exchange

Even for companies dealing with foreign exchange transactions on a regular basis, arranging currency payments and conversions with their bank can often be a challenge. Some of the difficulties include:

Unfavorable exchange rates
Transactions through banks are executed at exchange rates that are at notably distance from where the interbank market is trading.
Expensive
Bank foreign exchange transactions arranged regularly in this manner can incur significant financial costs.
Time-consuming
Arranging transactions without help from FX specialist can be exhausting and time consuming.
Inadequate level of service
The overall level of service many banks give, in our view, is often vastly inadequate, given the values involved and regular nature of transactions.

Foreign currency exchange through Direct FX

When making currency transfers, we are an alternative to traditional banks. We can help you with:

Some of the reasons why importers and exporters outsource foreign currency payments, receipts and conversions to Direct FX are:

Significantly better exchange rates
Can pass on significantly better exchange rates than traditional banks.
150 years of combined experience
Combined we have over 150 years of experience arranging transactions for banks in the interbank market.
We save you time
Payments can be arranged quickly and easily. The same payment made through a bank can be time-consumin.
No, or low fees
We charge no, or low transaction fees. We build our fees and margins into the rate we quote you (in most cases).
We use plain English
We give general product advice in plain English. We explain the choices, benefits, and risks of foreign exchange products.
Informed decisions
Our general product advice helps clients make informed decisions.
Direct lines to all major bank treasuries
We have direct open phone lines of communication to all major bank treasury currency traders in Australasia.
We trade over 100 billion NZD annually
Annualy we arrange the equivalent of over 100 billion NZD of currency transactions.

How does it work?

A step by step description of the transaction process.

To make currency payments and transfers, the following steps need completing:
01.

Account registration

Here you can Apply for an account.

Once you apply we need to manually confirm your account application.

We will generally be in touch to confirm account approval and to discuss your currency requirements within 24 hours.

02.

Starting a transaction

When you are ready to transact, you will now need to tell us:
  • The currency you need to sell
  • The currency you need to buy
  • The amount you need to buy or sell
  • Your required settlement date
You can give us this information by email, phone, fax or contact form. Reading communication methods will help you decide what may work for you best.
03.

Choose order type

You then have the choice of asking us to complete your transaction using one of two order types:
  • At market order
  • Limit order
04.

Transaction completion

Once your order is completed by us, you will receive our trade confirmation. To complete the transfer we now must both complete our respective settlement obligations. These are as follows:

  • Client sold currency paid to Client Funds Account, as cleared funds, one day before the settlement date
  • On settlement date we will deposit to you or your beneficiary, your bought currency

The transaction is now complete.

Important Note:
Please note:
• All settlement payments between us must be made electronically
• We do not make or accept cash, cheque, or card payments
• When paying us AUD or NZD, your bank may need to be told to pay as cleared funds

For a full explanation of the dealing and settlement process, please read the appropriate Products Disclosure Statement.

Order Types

Trade at the current rate or wait for a rate at which you want to sell.

When instructing us you will need to give one of the following order types:

With all order types, the order amount, the currencies being bought and sold, and the prevailing market conditions, all have an influence over our ability to complete transactions.

At Market Order

A request from you to trade at the current market exchange rate.

Requesting an at market order rate from us does not constitute a transaction between us.

Only if you agree to trade at the quoted exchange rate is a transaction in place.

At market orders can be requested for amounts equal to or greater than NZD 5,000, or the foreign currency equivalent.

Limit Order

An instruction by you to transact at an exchange rate not currently available.

For example, if you wanted to sell AUD and buy USD at USD 0.80, but the current exchange rate was USD 0.78, you can place a limit order with us to sell AUD and buy USD when the exchange rate of USD 0.80 is available.

We will then watch your order 24 hours a day until completed or cancelled by you. Limit orders can be placed for amounts equal to or greater than NZD 5,000, or the foreign currency equivalent.

Available Currencies

What currencies do we support for foreign exchange?

You can transact in any combination of the following currencies:

• Australian dollars (AUD)
• US dollars (USD)
• New Zealand dollars (NZD)
• Euros (EUR)
• Pounds sterling (GBP)
• Canadian dollars (CAD)
• Japanese yen (JPY)
• Swiss francs (CHF)
• Hong Kong dollars (HKD)
• Singapore dollars (SGD)
• South African rand (ZAR)
• Swedish krona (SEK)
• Norwegian krone (NOK)
• Danish krone (DKK)
• United Arab Emirates dirham (AED)

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to some of the frequently asked questions.

The global foreign exchange market has an average daily turnover of 3 to 4 trillion. This means that it is so big that no one participant (except central banks) can influence or continually predict market moves.

However, it does provide us with a unique position in that we transact directly with those at the coal face of the foreign exchange market in our region.

This means we can provide our personal clients with:

  • • The most up to date insight into what may be driving currency moves
    • Ongoing specific currency updates if required
    • An ability to directly access the views of bank currency traders

We will give you general product advice, in plain English.
We will explain the choices, benefits and risks of foreign exchange products.
We can discuss recent and historical levels of the currencies you are exposed to.
We can give you an overview of the current market consensus.

We will never, however, claim to know where currencies will trade in the future, or that we can achieve the best possible execution level for you.

No one can promise this.

Ultimately every client must make their own transaction decisions based on their specific currency requirements and situation. We believe access to our advice, whilst general in nature allows our business clients to:

  • Make their own informed decisions
  • Gain ongoing insight into currency markets not possible via their traditional banking relationship
  • Concentrate on their core business

Be very wary of anyone or any company, who claim to provide more.

In order to work with us, you first need to apply for an account.

You can do that easily by clicking the link below:

Apply for an account

When you are ready to transact, you will now need to tell us:

  • The currency you need to sell
  • The currency you need to buy
  • The amount you need to buy or sell
  • Your required settlement date

You can give us this information by either email or phone.

You then have the choice of asking us to complete your transaction using one of two order types:

  • At market order (Exchange at set date)
  • Limit order (Exchange at a set rate)

All settlement payments between us must be made electronically.

Our business clients can use our foreign currency Client Fund Accounts to receive their inbound foreign currency receipts. Once our Client’s payment is received, it is converted into the local currency and transferred to their local account. We do not charge for this service.

As a result, our clients can:

• Eliminate bank transaction fees
• Receive a competitive exchange rate
• Save time

Inbound foreign currency payments made to our Client Fund Accounts can only be made with our prior approval. For regular payments easily identified, approval from us may only be required once.