personal foreign exchange

Personal money transfers are necessary for many reasons. Selling one currency to buy another is needed in many different scenarios from individuals moving to another country to buying or selling an asset overseas.

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 transfers or exchange

Even for those with some foreign exchange experience, arranging currency transfers with their bank can be a challenge. Some of the difficulties include:

Expensive
Unfavorable exchange rates
Time-consuming
Too many unknowns

Foreign currency exchange through Direct FX

When making currency transfers, we are an alternative to traditional banks. We get better results for our clients because we:

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 giving advice to and arranging currency transactions for bank treasury currency traders.
Global bank payment system understanding
We have thorouh knowledge and vast experience with the global bank payment system.
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 about personal currency transfers.
Direct lines to all major bank treasuries
We have direct phone lines of communication with all major bank treasuries in Australasia.
We trade daily in hundreds of millions of dollars
In the course of our trading day, we arrange many hundreds of millions of dollars in currency transactions for banks.

How to compare money transfer rates?

You need to be careful and look at more than just the “quoted rate”.

How to accurately compare quoted Direct FX rates with Transferwise, and other providers.

Look at more than just the “quoted rate”
When comparing exchange rates between different providers you need to be careful and look at more than just the “quoted rate” a provider may give.
Check if there are any fees or commissions
Some providers, in an effort to make their rates look better, will add their fees in after a deal is agreed at a specific rate. So while you may think you are dealing at a better rate, once you factor in their fee, often 0.5%, you will end up with less in your destination account than had you dealt with us at a seemingly worse rate.
Why Direct FX is a better choice?
There are NO other fees when you deal with us.

We made the decision to keep it simple and build all our fees and margins into the rate we quote you. We will send off to your destination account the full amount of currency converted at the agreed rate.

Some other providers, in an effort to make their rates look better, will add their fees in after a deal is agreed at a specific rate. So while you may think you are dealing at a better rate, once you factor in their fee, often 0.5%, the net effect is you will end up with less in your destination account than had you dealt with us at a seemingly worse rate.

Direct FX vs TransferWise?

In an example where you need to sell NZD 100,000 for AUD.

Direct FX

0% fee

You sell NZD 100,000 and buy AUD at a rate of 0.9300.

You receive AUD 93,000 into your Australian account.

TransferWise

0.5% fee

You sell NZD 100,000 at a rate of 0.9337, generating AUD 93,370, but then their 0.5% fee (AUD 470.00) is deducted.

You receive AUD 92,900.00 into your Australian account.

How does it work?

A step by step description of the transaction process.

To make foreign currency payments, transfers or exchanges, 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 or contact form.
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, 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

Order Types

Trade at the current rate or wait for a rate at which you want your personal money transfer to happen.

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.

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, we are in a very unique position, in that we are in constant contact with and transact directly for, the bank currency traders 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
  • An ability to directly access the views of bank currency traders
  • A lot more than just the financial savings our exceptional exchange rates provide

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 allows our personal clients to:

  • Make their own informed decisions
  • Gain a level of insight they would not get from their bank
  • Receive value from our service that is in addition to receiving an exceptional exchange rate

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.