Plenty of Aussies choose to make international money transfers or buy foreign currency – whether sending money to family overseas, making overseas purchases, or exchanging currency for a holiday. For example, by considering the amount of Aussies travelling internationally each year (in 2019, almost 10 million travelled abroad)^], it’s easy to gauge how many currency exchanges are being made, too. Now new research reveals the alarmingly high proportion that fail to check fees or exchange rates before making an overseas transaction.

A recent survey found that almost half (44 per cent) of Australians neglect to make sure they have found the best deal, at least sometimes. Specifically, one in four (26 per cent) of survey respondents only occasionally research for the best deal before making a transaction, but a further 18 per cent have never checked to make sure they have found the best deal.

The findings were derived from a survey of an independent panel of 1002 Australians, commissioned by global comparison service moneytransfercomparison.com, which helps Australians source the best rate in international money transfers

Within these two groups of respondents that never or only occasionally check fees and rates before exchanging currency or making a money transfer, two thirds (68 per cent) said they didn’t think they could save money through other service providers, and 27 per cent said they didn’t have the time to do their research.

With almost a third (30 per cent) of Australia’s population born overseas, there’s ample reason for residents to send money abroad. In 2021, Australians sent US$3.8 billion in remittance, and since some services can charge fees of up to $30, Aussies may be paying more than what they bargained for.

The older the age group, the more likely they are to neglect checking rates

Older Australians are more likely to neglect do their research to ensure they are getting the best deal on an international transfer or foreign currency purchase: 46 per cent of over-55s never or occasionally check fees and rates with other service providers. This compares with 45 per cent of those aged 35-54 and 41 per cent of respondents aged 18-34 who did the same. The reason behind these findings appears to be the assumption that savings can’t be made through other providers, with over three-quarters (78 per cent) of over-55s selecting this option. This was followed by 64 per cent of 35-54s and 58 per cent of 18-34s.

Lack of time a barrier for securing the best deals on transfers and currency exchange  

One third (36 per cent) of 18-34s lack the time to check other providers for the best deal, followed by 31 per cent of 35-54s and only 16 per cent of over-55s. Across the States, Queenslander are most likely to be too time poor to check other providers for the best deal: 31 per cent of Queenslanders chose this option, followed by 30 per cent of NSW respondents, 25 per cent of Victorians, 19 per cent of South Australians, 16 per cent of West Australians and 13 per cent of ACT respondents.

Alon Rajic, Founder and Managing Director at Money Transfer Comparison warns Aussies that neglecting to do your research could be costly: “This is a significant number of Australians that are naively accepting the first rate they come across, and potentially spending more money than they need to, with some transfer services offering a foreign exchange rate markup of up to 4.81 per cent. It doesn’t take longer than two minutes to compare transfer providers through a comparison site such as moneytransfercomparison.com, and those two minutes could prove hugely valuable, especially for large-sum, or frequent, transfers.”