When you’re sending money to Ghana, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most cedis for your Australian dollars. This means finding the best exchange rate possible. However, to get the best money transfer deal overall, you’ll also want to find a company with the lowest money transfer fees to send your funds overseas. Banks charge between $6 and $30 in fees to send an international money transfer and charge a markup on the exchange rate.
Exchange rates
The best exchange rate between the cedi and the Australian dollar is the mid-market rate, which is the rate that international banks use to transfer money between themselves. Some companies offer the exact mid-market rate but charge a fee for you to make the transfer.
Fees
Some companies charge a percentage fee for their money transfers based on the transfer amount, which starts at around 0.4%. Lower percentages are charged for larger transfer amounts. Others charge a set rate fee; for instance, OFX charges $15, while Remitly’s fees are around $4 (depending on the country). It’s important to compare these fees so you can avoid paying too much for your transfer.
In general terms, set rate fees are the cheapest way to send large transfers (such as over $2,000) and percentage-based fees are the cheapest way to send smaller transfers. This is why it’s so important to compare transfer providers every time you want to send money overseas.
Discounts and free special offers
Some companies, such as SingX, offer the first one to three transfers free of charge as a welcome to new customers. Other companies offer free transfers above a set amount (for example, OFX offers free transfers over $10,000), so keep a lookout for these free special offers.