We are today making a beta release of a new tool to help travellers figure out which is the best bank to buy foreign currency from.
Most bank shop-windows have 'live rates' presented on an electronic board, and their websites also have these rates.
However, it is so much easier to do an on-line assessment and we are making it possible with this handy new tool.
You choose the currency you need, and enter in the amount you want to buy. Our fx tool then checks the live rates published by each bank, and adds the bank fees, to give an all-up cost of the transaction. It then selects the lowest cost, and presents that in the "best deal" box.
We are checking the bank websites every few minutes to ensure we have the latest rates.*
Our tool only works currently with the five major travel currencies; the US dollar, the Australian dollar, the Japanese yen, the British pound, and the Euro.
However, we are tracking the bank SELL rates for an additional nine currencies, equally up-to-date, and you can find these here. That same page sets out each bank's fee structure.
As you use this tool, you will notice that different banks are competitive at differing value levels - some are best at lower levels, some at higher levels.
And of course, the most competitive bank changes as the rates change.*
We are releasing this feature today as a beta version, asking our readers for comments, suggestions, improvements, and critiques.
Remember, this is a tool to help you buy travel currencies. It uses the banks SELL rates. (It will not give an answer for more than NZ$10,000 because this is the maximum value of currency you can take out of the country without filing a Border Cash Report with Customs and the Police.)
We look forward to reading your reviews. Use the Comment section below.
Finally, if you are a website publisher and would like to embed this tool as a service to your readers, please contact us. We would be happy to supply it gratis.
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* Here is the fine print. Rates should be an accurate representation of what each insititution shows on their website, but are only valid when you refresh. They are presented here as a service to readers only and may or may not be the rate your bank offers you when you are ready to buy. Only the institution can give you a firm rate quote. Use our resources to make a preliminary assessment. Get a firm price from your bank before you enter into any actual transaction.
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