Transferring Large Sums of Money Between Bank Accounts

You may be living in Australia on a temporary visa, and want to send money home, or conducting business with companies overseas and wish to pay for goods or services. Whatever your reasons for wanting to transfer money overseas, you have several options:

1. Using a money transfer service

This is usually the cheapest way of sending money overseas quickly and safely.  There are three ways to pay for the sum you wish to transfer – either online using your credit card, or in person at a participating agency (or post office), using either cash or EFTPOS.

You’ll have to set up an account with your chosen money transfer service and provide the bank details of whoever you wish to transfer money to.  You’ll be notified before the transfer is made of the transaction fee to be charged and the exchange rate you’ll receive.  Transferring internationally can be instantaneous or can take up to one or two days depending on which service and method you use.

Of course, you can pick and choose the time you send a large sum of money overseas to take into account changes in the international exchange rate.  Make sure you compare overseas money transfer providers and their fees with Savvy to ensure you get the best deal possible.

2. Using a post office and Western Union to send money overseas

Australia Post has teamed up with money transfer service Western Union to allow Australians to send money overseas from any post office.  To do this, simply visit a post office, pick up a money transfer form and provide the details of who you wish to send the money to.

Be aware you’ll need to show ID before making the money transfer: you'll need either your Australian driver’s licence, your passport or a proof of age card to show you’re over 18.  You can pay for the transfer using your credit or debit card, or by cash.

You can also choose to permit the recipient of the money to collect it in person in many participating countries, with the money becoming available for collection minutes after the cash transfer is complete.

3. Bank to bank transfers

A direct bank transfer through your existing bank is another way to safely send money overseas.  To do this, you’ll need your recipient’s name and bank details such as their BIC (or SWIFT code) and/or IBAN.

• What is a BIC or SWIFT code?

A Bank Identifier Code (BIC), also known as a Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) code, is an eight to 11-character standard format code used to identify financial institutions worldwide.  They use both letters and numbers to accurately describe the digital location of a financial institution.

The first four digits (usually letters) represent the bank code, the next two are the country code, the next two are the location code and the final three are the branch code.  If you’re given an eight-digit BIC, you’ll still need to provide the bank branch name, whereas an 11-digit code already contains this information in the last three digits.

• What is an IBAN?

An International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is a new bank account identification system that is gradually being introduced worldwide. Originally developed as a standardised bank account identification system within the European Union, IBANs are now being used by more than 75 countries around the world.  They can be up to 34 digits in total.  As of April 2022, Australia hasn’t yet adopted the IBAN numbering system.

Just as a BIC or SWIFT code identifies a particular bank, an IBAN identifies an individual bank account belonging to one specific person.  IBANs won’t replace Bank State Branch (BSB) and account numbers for many years, though; they’re currently used in addition to these if you wish to send or receive payments from overseas.