ewatts

Hi all, advice please!! I opened a new Westpac account and they sent me details on how to transfer funds from my UK account to the Westpac account, including account number and swift code. When I went into Natwest to do this, they said they needed a national clearing code, not a swift code. They tried the swift code, but it didn't work. I contacted Westpac and they gave me the apparent clearing code, but this still didn't work! Natwest are at a loss as was the Westpac staff member we spoke to on the phone! Anyone experienced similar and what did you do?!
Thank you in advance

fychan66

we went through a company called Halo Financial to transfer some money over, they have better rates of transfer than the British banks and I think it was about £15 per transfer. we called them asked them what rate they had, opened our account with them transferred money from our bank into our Halo account then transferred in to the NZ account. all done and dusted within 3 days.

johneastriggs

I used http://www.hifx.co.uk/ and they were pretty quick too

SLH

Hi I have done this many times. Hope this helps

What is the SWIFT code for Westpac New Zealand and how do I transfer money from overseas?

SWIFT codes are assigned to banks around the world to help with electronic payments.

The SWIFT code for Westpac New Zealand is

WPACNZ2W

Depending on the country you’re in, you may also be asked for

a BIC (bank identifier code)—this is the same as the Westpac SWIFT code: WPACNZ2W
an IBAN (international bank account number)—use the full bank account number that is to receive the funds, with no spaces or dashes
a BSB, sort code or FW—use the bank and branch number of the account receiving the funds i.e. the first 6 digits of the full bank account number.


Please instruct the initiating bank to send the money directly to

Westpac Banking Corporation
Wellington
New Zealand

The SWIFT code for Westpac New Zealand is WPACNZ2W.

The account name and full account number of the account to receive the funds must be included for processing.

Account number should be formatted as follows

Bank and branch number, seven digit account number and two digit account suffix
e.g. 03-XXXX-XXXXXXX-XX

Persephone

I used Halo Financial in the past and it is cheaper than transferring through a bank as they offer better exchange rates. Depending on how much you're transferring it can be very worthwhile. I did not pay any fees, maybe that depends on how much you're transferring?
The only fee I paid was a $15 charge from my NZ bank to process an overseas order.
If you don't need the money immediately you can 'request' an exchange rate, I won't make you all weep with jealousy at the rate I got 2 years ago. As soon as the rate hits that amount Halo buys the $ and then charges you, you then transfer the amount in £ to their account and they send the $ to your NZ account. I probably wouldn't use a bank transfer again, those extra dollars will be needed!!

newkiwi

i transferred money to westpac from the uk using their swift code. natwest seem to have the wrong end of the stick imo

Sherlock Holmes

www.transfers.com

7 pounds per transfer.

SparkyGaz

Oh my gawd, dont do it direct with your bank!!! Use a currency broker, they are all pretty much the same rates but loads better than what your bank will offer.
We use currencies direct and have moved money about 5 times with no hassle.
The exchange rate is pretty poor at mo but doesnt seem likely to improve much anytime soon.
Depending on how much you are moving, then it can pay to move money in chunks as and when you need it and just monitor the rate.
A good currency broker will explain all this..

liammiller80

I've got the answer to this, after experiencing the exact same problem with a US account, trying to transfer from Natwest to a Chase bank account.

It took me TWO HOURS on the phone to Natwest to get to the bottom of this, before I found someone with enough determination, after being passed from pillar to post by a number of telephone banking and online banking 'advisors'.

Basically, the issue is a matter of terminology. It seems no banks outside the UK know what this 'NCC - National Clearing Code' is, which Natwest specify on their Relay payments.

I discovered eventually that the NCC is referred to as the ABA or Routing/Transit Number in the US. It's a nine digit number that can be found on the bottom of most cheques attributed to the bank it belongs to.

I don't have a cheque book with Chase, but a quick google revealed a Chase web page with routing numbers for all their branches. It's determined by your region.

I entered the routing number from Chase and the Relay transfer from Natwest went through fine. Natwest really need to add an info button next to the 'NCC' field to explain that it may have a different name depending on the country they are sending to, and even a list of those names by country and region.

Cheers

sparkie down under

don't use the banks! Hang on let me shout it, DON'T USE BANKS. The exchange rate is the same as their tourist rate - rubbish, We used hifx, same as Johneastriggs - very quick, better rate, a I think we paid about fifteen pounds to do it.

What I remember most about them was that once you set the rate, if the rate goes up/down between setting it and changing it the rate you set doesn't! I think, from memory you can set a transfer date up to 6 months in advance.

jmh

When I used hifx I was able to use my debit card for my UK account and it was transferred straight into my NZ bank. I also used exe.com for direct transfer which worked fine. I did have to talk to them by phone as the terminology got me confused too. The person on the end of the phone was very helpful.

liammiller80

Thanks for the advice chaps. Still, not really sure what you mean by 'once you set the rate, if the rate goes up/down between setting it and changing it the rate you set doesn't' but I guess that'll become clear by using hifx, and I guess you are saying the exchange rates are overall better than banks', and just as fast.

How fast? Can you do same and next day?

jmh

If you transfer the money immediately then you are not really 'setting' the rate. However, if you arrange for the transfer in a few days time the rate is set when you do the trade. The rate could go up or down, but you are committed to trade at the fixed (set) rate. I imagine this is not something you are going to need to worry about.

It doesn't take long for the money to appear in your NZ bank account. I think it might have been a couple of days.

sparkie down under

JMH is right on to it.

When you sign what ever that rate is at that time it's set. But you could have up to 6 months to actually move the cash. so you could be quids in if it drops and out if it rises. You are playing the market! Exciting !

We 'made' and extra few THOUSAND! just by playing the market. Actually I think it was luck.

Still much better off than doing it through a bank

liammiller80

Wow, so you can actually gamble with this?? i.e set your transfer for a months time if you are predicting a favourable shift in rates?