New Zealand Dollar Currency Exchange
 No matter how much cash you have at your disposal to start your new life, you'll end up with more New Zealand Dollars in your pocket if you use a specialist foreign exchange broker to transfer your money rather than a high-street bank.
We can show you how to use their services to get the best possible rate, whether the Dollar is high or low against the Pound - this could save you thousands.
Tip 1: Use a specialist foreign exchange dealer
Most people use a bank for foreign exchange transactions when they go
on holiday. The convenience and ease of using a bank makes up for what
you lose on fees and an unfavourable exchange rate. But when you're
planning to exchange sizeable sums of money it is wise to consider
alternatives to using a bank, as they seldom offer the most competitive
terms.
Rather than using a high street bank, you can use a reputable foreign exchange broker for your foreign exchange transactions. The best brokers will offer you better rates than the banks, and will also be able to give you expert advice on when it is best to change your Pounds to Dollars.
We recommend specialist foreign exchange dealers Halewood International Foreign Exchange (HIFX)
to our clients because we have been consistently impressed with the
service we have received both in terms of securing great rates and
efficient administration. Their market views are recognised worldwide
with their analysts appearing regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg business
television and the Reuters Forex Poll confirms HiFX's foreign exchange
predictions to be consistently within the top three most accurate in
the world.
For example: The Jenkins family was planning to transfer the £120,000 proceeds from their house sale via their UK bank. They needed the money immediately to complete a house purchase in New Zealand. The rate they were offered at the time was 2.7878, which would have left them with $334,536 to start their new life in New Zealand. Through HiFX, we were able to secure them a rate of 2.8043 on the same day, giving them $336,516 - a difference of $1,980.
If you are looking at exchanging smaller sums
of money or you are just looking for some excellent, easy to understand
currency exchange information and resources, we highly recommend another member
of the HiFX group of companies, Currency Online.
Currency Online
offers a "self-service" approach to currency exchange, and gives you
the ability to change your money outside HiFX's office hours - you can
trade online 24 hours of the day, five
and a half days of the week.
One of our favourite parts of the Currency Online website is the
ability to "test drive" an account - literally to place dummy transactions and
see how they turn out. Very good fun, and a great way to get to grips with how
currency exchange works.
Currency Online is great for smaller transactions and perfect of
course if you see a great exchange rate outside office hours. We would
still advise you to take advice from the dealers at HiFX for larger
transactions. We expect Currency Online and HiFX to merge their systems
more in
the future, but in the meantime you'll need to open an account with
each company separately.
Tip 2: Think ahead
You'll probably start keeping an eye on the exchange rate once you
have decided to emigrate to New Zealand. It is good to open an account
with HiFX and/or Currency Online at this stage – it will cost you nothing, and only takes a
couple of hours to process. You are under no obligation to trade with
them, but once you are registered you can call them for advice.
A
good way to monitor the exchange rate is to sign up for the Currency
Online's excellent daily "Market Commentary" email for the GBP or
Great British Pound, which has specific details on variations in the
Pound to Dollar exchange rate.
Another point that is worth mentioning is that you do not have to
exchange all of your funds at once – you could change what you need for
your first few weeks in New Zealand if the rate is not where you would
ideally like it to be, then change the rest when the rate has improved.
Tip 3: Have a currency purchasing strategy
The timing of your currency transfer is typically dictated by practical
considerations, such as the availability of liquid funds or the need
for them. The sooner you talk to HiFX, the more flexibility you will
have within these constraints.
An example of the specialised service they provide is a Market Order,
whereby you can specify a target exchange rate. When (and if) the
market reaches your target, you will automatically buy the New Zealand Dollars.
You can cancel or change the market order at any time until your order
is fulfilled, and it costs you nothing to put a market order into
place. The beauty of this is that you don't have to constantly monitor
the market.
Another example of their specialised services is Forward Contracts;
if exchange rates are favourable now but you do not have liquid funds
quite yet, you can use forward contracts to “lock in” the current rate.
A forward contract means that you can buy the currency now and pay for
it later (when, for example you receive funds from a house sale or an
investment maturity). You will be required to pay a 20% deposit
straight away and the 80% balance upon the maturity of the contract.
Currency Online allows you to set up and change Market Orders and Forward Contracts online – which is handy if you are confident with currency exchange transactions, but for larger transactions we do advise that you get personalised advice from HiFX.
In Conclusion
We cannot stress enough the value of using the services of a
specialised foreign exchange broker. It really is a simple way of
maximising the money you’ll have available to you in New Zealand. More
information about HiFX can be found at www.hifx.co.nz or you can contact the team of experts at HiFX directly at info@hifx.co.nz
or on +0800 394439 (NZ freephone) – mention Broadbase International when you contact HiFX and they will take extra special care of you. Their
UK website is www.hifx.co.uk.
To contact Currency Online, check their website.
Please also see our articles on:
Broadbase International will work with you every step of the way to help you make a confident start to your new life in New Zealand. Please contact us if you have any questions about the financial side of life in New Zealand, and don't forget to order your free copy of our comprehensive New Zealand Guide.
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