I can send money from my BNZ bank account. Or you can use PayPal. I personally think PayPal is fine. The recipient will need a PayPal account and can transfer money from PayPal to a cheque account in the US.

I've personally used several serbices, so I'll give you my frontrunner for each category.

Ease - PayPal. Just supply email address, sent. Job done.

Speed - PayPal. Instantaneous. Second would be TransferWise or OFX which are up to two days. Personally though, I use a Citi Australia and Citi US account, which means I can transfer from account to account instantaneously.

Fee - TransferWise. Generally fee comes out to about 0.7%, but other than that uses the mid-market rate. If you use for larger amounts, you'll come out on top compared to PayPal which uses a vastly inferior rate. SWIFT from your bank can beat it if you pre-arrange it, but most banks charge $25 for the transfer. OFX claims that they can beat it, so if you like you can try signing up to OFX but don't activate your account and when they call to ask why just say you can get a better rate.

Reliability - They're all equally reliable. SWIFT/Wire Transfer less so in terms of predictability (when it shows up) though.

khull: Unless you get staff rates for exchange, never ever approach a bank.

Is this really true?  I often get around 40 -60 points off the midmarket rate from my bank. eg, if the mid market rate is .4950, i can get a rate of around .5000. 

I do go through their money market team though. If they give me a crappy rate I just ask for better and usually they do. 

I think the real answer to all this depends on the amount being sent - which hasn't been discussed. It also depends on whether it's a one-off or a regular event and the level and type of relationship you have with your bank. If the transfer is a small one-off personal-account thing it's a different story to a larger amount that's one of a regular series of business transfers. Here we don't know the OP's situation.

For larger amounts (how long is a piece of string but say $10+k) it's worth trying to negotiate a better-than-public rate with your bank. At $50+k they'll be more interested in talking. Same applies to people like OFX but they themselves also have to go through a bank at the end if the day - so if they are beating the rate the bank quotes you, it's only because the bank isn't being nice enough to you.

There are two ways a bank makes money on all this - (1) on the difference between the mid-rate and the Sell rate they quote you (i.e. their margin) and (2) the telegraphic transfer fee they charge you.

The larger the amount you are sending, the closer you will be able to negotiate a rate nearer the mid-rate. It's usually very difficult to get them to waive the fee.

For smaller amounts, PayPal is likely to be a good bet.

USForex / NZForex give the best rates in my experience

surfisup1000:

 

khull: Unless you get staff rates for exchange, never ever approach a bank.

 

Is this really true?  I often get around 40 -60 points off the midmarket rate from my bank. eg, if the mid market rate is .4950, i can get a rate of around .5000. 

 

I do go through their money market team though. If they give me a crappy rate I just ask for better and usually they do. 

 

 

 

What would be considered a good rate vs bad rate? Thanks

joker97:

 

surfisup1000:

 

khull: Unless you get staff rates for exchange, never ever approach a bank.

 

Is this really true?  I often get around 40 -60 points off the midmarket rate from my bank. eg, if the mid market rate is .4950, i can get a rate of around .5000. 

 

I do go through their money market team though. If they give me a crappy rate I just ask for better and usually they do. 

 

 

 

 

What would be considered a good rate vs bad rate? Thanks

 

how much money?

Amount is important. I know a good service but for less than maybe $1K it's not worth the bother. There's a big thread on it that google could probably find.

Without knowing whether this is simply a one off or a regular payment and the amount involved it's simply not possible to answer the question.

joker97:

 

surfisup1000:

 

khull: Unless you get staff rates for exchange, never ever approach a bank.

 

Is this really true?  I often get around 40 -60 points off the midmarket rate from my bank. eg, if the mid market rate is .4950, i can get a rate of around .5000. 

 

I do go through their money market team though. If they give me a crappy rate I just ask for better and usually they do. 

 

 

 

 

What would be considered a good rate vs bad rate? Thanks

 

Today the BNZ's transfer USD rates are Buy 0.7118 and Sell 0.6864. The implied mid-rate is therefore 0.6991.

This means that if you want to transfer USD1,000 the bank will sell you USD and charge you NZD1,000/0.6864 = NZD1,457.

The closer you can get the 0.6864 towards the mid-rate, the better-off you are. The difference between the sell and the mid is 0.0127, referred to as 127 basis points. For a small one-off amount I think you'd be doing pretty well if you could negotiate a discount of 25 basis points. This would make the Sell rate 0.6889 and would save you NZD5.

A discount of 50 points would save you $10. On USD10,000 the savings would be $50 for 25 points and $100 for 50 points.

Sadly the reality is that for a small one-off amount you're normally dealing with Branch people and they won't normally have the authority or the inclination to talk about a discounted rate. Only big-hitters get to talk to the dealers where the really better rates are available. 

On a slightly unrelated note it's really surprising to see the unbelievably terrible rates offered by Travel Money NZ (who are part of Flight Centre) and are popping up in quite a few places now. Their rates are truly terrible, and just as an example looking at this now they'll give you Australian $ .8485 (for cash) vs ANZ who will give you A$$ .8779 (for cash) and a current mid market rate from XE of A $ .8935

As another comparison Travelex (who actually offer pretty good rates for cash and their cash passport) are A $ .8801 (for cash)

Thanks for your replies guys. I found Paypal to be easiest and quickest and if user is an oldy who don't want to create a Paypal account we can create on their behalf and transfer funds.  

Just a question , Does Paypal only deduct money from  credit card? Is there any charge from credit card company for that?

Edit :I have experience sending money via western union but they are just robbers: $74 fee for 1000 NZD on top of their bad exchange rate,

NZ Forex: Exchange rate is better than WU and fees is less but again its slower.

As others have said, depends on amount, frequency etc.

If it's a large or recurring amount, you should seriously considering opening a foreign currency account either with your bank or a _reputable_ foreign exchange dealer (e.g. a financial intermediary member of the NZFMA).

If it's a one-off large amount, I'd be inclined to use my usual bank for security rather than some potentially dodgy/under-capitalised outfit working from an office above a Queen Street tourist tat shop (though I am risk averse).

One off small amount = go nuts.

Which bank are you sending from/to? Some banks have closer working relationships with others. Even if you don't ordinarily bank with that bank, they may be able to offer you deposits directly into the foreign bank account. For example (obviously) HSBC NZ is a good one to talk to if your depositing in HSBC USA. Less intuitively, Kiwibank and Citibank have (or at least used to) a close working relationship.

You will need to satisfy anti-money laundering/know your client rules, so name, address, height, weight, eye colour, mother's maiden name, what you had for breakfast last Tuesday, the last 14 transactions on your credit card and what you were wearing when you were 5 and opened your first bank account. It pays to check the bank's/FX dealer's particular requirements in advance so you can be prepared.

mdf:

 

You will need to satisfy anti-money laundering/know your client rules, so name, address, height, weight, eye colour, mother's maiden name, what you had for breakfast last Tuesday, the last 14 transactions on your credit card and what you were wearing when you were 5 and opened your first bank account. It pays to check the bank's/FX dealer's particular requirements in advance so you can be prepared.

 

ha ha .. I am afraid thats half of the list..