Category: Business Directory

What is the best way to send money to the Philippines from Australia

Cost of transferring Australian Dollars to the Philippines

When looking at transferring money between countries do you look ONLY at the FX rate quoted, or the NET effect of the FX rate AND the the FEE charged.

When comparing rates, I was told by one Money Transfer Companies Agent that they offered the highest FX rate and they were much better than the other options. The particular agent offered both Moneygram and Ria. I went in asking for a Moneygram transfer, and they told me that Ria was much better with a higher rate.  They didn’t like giving me the net rate after charging fees.

They said Ria was better than Moneygram as Ria had a higher FX rate, however, the NET result for $100 cost was:

$A100 with Moneygram was 3,170.60 php to the recipient.
A$100 with Ria was 2,943.60 php to the recipient.

The recipient via Moneygram would have got an extra 7.7% MORE than with Ria.

Actual NET FX rates at 1st February 2016

The following are actual rates at Noon 1st February 2016 as a guide to comparing money transfer services.
Normal Banks are excluded as they are way too expensive.

Larger Amounts such as $10,000 can get a rate today equal to:
3,328.69 PHP into Philippine Bank Account. This can be checked at the Foreign Exchange tab on the right of this page.

The rates for a cost of A$100 including all fees, at Noon 1st February 2016, are:

Moneygram

3,171.60 PHP cash at agent  (Cost $96 + $4 fee = $100.00)

OrbitRemit

3,073.63 PHP   (Cost $92 + $8 fee = $100.00)

Worldremit

3,073.63 PHP cash at agent (Cost $92 + $8 fee = $100.00)
3,073.63 PHP into Philippine Bank Account (Cost $92 + $8 fee = $100.00)

Western Union

2,988.21 PHP in cash at agent (Cost $90 + $10 fee = $100.00)
3,151.01 PHP into Philippine Bank Account (Cost $95 + $5 fee = $100.00)

Ria Financial

2,943.60 PHP in cash at agent (Cost $88 + $12 fee = $100.00)

The BEST FX rate of the Money Transfer examples above is 33.45 php to the A$
BUT.. That option had the highest fees, and ended up as the lowest NET exchange rate.

The WORST FX rate of the Money Transfer examples above is 33.0375 php to the A$
BUT.. That option had the LOWEST fees, and ended up as the BEST NET exchange rate

The rank of the 7 Options above is:

1. 3,171.60 PHP Moneygram cash at agent
2. 3,151.01 PHP Western Union into Philippine Bank Account
3. 3,073.63 PHP OrbitRemit cash at agent
4. 3,073.63 PHP Worldremit cash at agent
5. 3,073.63 PHP Worldremit into Philippine Bank Account
6. 2,988.21 PHP Western Union cash at agent
7. 2,943.60 PHP Ria Financial in cash at agent

Previous Comparisons

Actual Examples at  31 Jan 2016 at 11.30am, with a cost of $100 including fee, to send money to the Philippines:

www.moneygram.com
33.126338 PHP with $4 fee
Receive Amount 3,180.13 PHP

iremit.com.au
33.4 with $7.00 fee
Receive Amount 3106.20 PHP

www.orbitremit.com
33.3279 with $8 fee
We Payout PHP 3,066.17

www.westernunion.com
1 AUD = 33.2023 PHP with $10 fee
RECIPIENT RECEIVES: 2988.21 PHP

Larger amounts however, such as $10,000 plus, can obtain much better rates than this, at about 3,300 php per $100.