Where to hold foreign cash?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Where to hold foreign cash?

tardtasticx

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#171212 9-Apr-2015 22:24

Hi hi,

I'll be going to Aussie in a few months for a long weekend, so I thought I'd buy some cash while the rate is good at the moment.
I've ordered some from ASB which cost about $10 in fees IIRC.

I wanted to stay away from those prepaid cards because my brother said he found it annoying that some places wouldn't accept it because it used the Credit facility rather than Cheque or Savings.

Basically, I'm fine with taking that cash over as is and spending whatever else I need to on other cards when that runs out, but I'm wanting to put it away somewhere until then as I don't like the idea of having so much cash around the house. ASB have set me up with a foreign currency account, but they charge you 1% of the amount to deposit, then charge you even higher fees to withdraw it again. I don't plan on using it because I didn't know this until after it was setup.

Basically, do any of you have similar accounts with lower fees? Or is there a prepaid card that would work over there which is accepted in most places like an eftpos card?

Cheers! Any suggestions much appreciated :)

Kyanar

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#1280087 9-Apr-2015 23:18

I'm not aware of any NZ based foreign currency accounts with even slightly decent fees. And unfortunately the EFTPOS network here is completely separate from the EFTPOS network there, so you can only withdraw money at ATMs (and don't even ask about the fees!)

That said, most of those prepaid cards don't charge fees for cash advances, so just load up a Travelex or OneSmart card and just withdraw from an ATM once you arrive.

sbiddle

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#1280089 9-Apr-2015 23:20

An EFTPOS card in Australia is really no use because it's nothing like EFTPOS in New Zealand.

I'm in Aussie normally once every couple of months - and 99% of my purchases are on credit cards which are accepted virtually everywhere. The only problem with both EFTPOS and credit cards in Australia is that many small retailers (we're talking cafes etc) will typically have a minimum $15 spend. For this reason I always have some cash on me.

Buying cash just because the exchange rate was good probably wasn't a smart move unless you're planning on spending $$$$$ - you would have been better just to pay the extra .5% commission or so that it would have cost for something like a Travelex card and put your money on that which you could have simply accessed for free at an ATM.

Batman

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#1280124 10-Apr-2015 06:58

Flight centre is selling at 1:1 with no commission

nathan

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#1280128 10-Apr-2015 07:07

unless you're talking about a large amount of money its just no worth it I reckon

Trying to forecast and 2nd guess the currency market is a fools game. Buy the cash when you need it

Batman

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#1280137 10-Apr-2015 07:22

but playing devil's advocate, you are saying that buying small sums of cash - it doesn't matter either way, so buy now is no different that buy later ... if you know you are going to need it and you have some money saved up ...

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#1280138 10-Apr-2015 07:25

on the other hand, since I heard of a guy named John Key, I knew Forex was doable. So I've been following the currency, well in fact my interest in currency began when I heard of a guy called George Soros.

What I've seen is ... what goes up must come down. But I don't have enough spare cash to do the get rich thing - as Nathan said you need a lot of capital and a lot of experience to beat Forex but ... again I say from obvervation in economics/forex/finance [other than house prices I have never seen them come down - much - yet??] what goes up must come down, otherwise the world will end

nakedmolerat

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#1280149 10-Apr-2015 07:53

nathan: unless you're talking about a large amount of money its just no worth it I reckon

Trying to forecast and 2nd guess the currency market is a fools game. Buy the cash when you need it

I support this 100%

If you're in the 'forex game', where the current situation does matters, you won't be asking here.

If all you want is for simple travel, I'll just change the money as you need it. Unless if you know one of the country is at the verge of bankruptcy, then by all means move your money out!

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khull

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#1280153 10-Apr-2015 08:13

Realistically any market exchange rate only starts to become serious when you trade/exchange in lots about 10k and above. Anything less is not worth fretting about

Handsomedan

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#1280176 10-Apr-2015 08:45

The best place to put your foreign cash is actually not to have cash at all.

As stated above, either have a small amount that you're comfortable keeping in the house and put the rest on a travel card, or use ATM's in AU to withdraw foreign currency as you need it.

Some banks (like Westpac) have a $0 fee for using a similarly branded ATM and only charge the usual FX fees, which are fairly insignificant when you are taking a smallish amount out at a time.

Last time I went to Aussie, I used a combo of cash, ATM and cards at POS.

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timmmay

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#1280181 10-Apr-2015 08:50

I assume you have actual cash from the bank. Your sock drawer, your home safe or bank safety deposit box. If you keep it at home check your insurance policy re cover for cash.

jamesrt

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#1280194 10-Apr-2015 09:08

+1 for the "cash passport". You pre-buy the AU$ now to lock in a good rate, and then you can either use the card as an EFTPOS/Debit card over there; or withdraw directly from an ATM. Top-up via internet banking if required (at the rate-of-the-day). NO ATM FEES!!!! No fees for EFTPOS/Debit either.

However, there is a setup fee and conditions around the "minimum topup"; but you'll always find that getting foreign currency comes with a price.

sbiddle

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#1280365 10-Apr-2015 11:40

Handsomedan:
Some banks (like Westpac) have a $0 fee for using a similarly branded ATM and only charge the usual FX fees, which are fairly insignificant when you are taking a smallish amount out at a time.

ANZ have this as well now.

heylinb4nz

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#1280378 10-Apr-2015 11:58

Use a One Smart card, take a little cash, withdraw cash out at ATMs when you get to Aussie, as and when you need it.

Much easier and secure.

Geektastic

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#1281339 12-Apr-2015 10:00

Just put cash in your carry on...!

I recall my late father having a bit of a do over foreign transaction fees on credit cards. Since he was a man of many bank accounts, he had one in the US so on a visit there he withdrew US$12,000 in cash and carried it around in a bag for 4 weeks, dipping into it as he required!

Tinshed

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#1281360 12-Apr-2015 11:18

Went to Europe last year and used OneSmart pretty much exclusively. It is a debit card so you need to pre-load beforehand. I found this a useful savings method as I would top up the card each pay-day. Once there I drew out relatively large amounts of cash as some ATMs will charge a fee per withdrawal. This meant I had cash i hand, a OneSmart debit card, and of course a credit card for emergencies. This meant I wasn't solely reliant on one payment method.

As for trying to pick the right time to buy foreign currency I can only agree with those that say "don't bother". Have tried this in the past and it simply isn't worth the effort. You win, you lose. As noted, these amounts are rarely worth bothering about. Best to buy when it suits you rather than trying to pick the best time.

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