[Andrew W Scott]

Hi there

I am trying to work out the most efficient way to send a fairly large amount of money from Australia to HK, and also to convert that amount from AU$ to HK$ (either in one go or gradually over time).

Three options that immediately come to mind are:

1. Wire an AU$ amount to my AU$ bank account at HSBC, then use HSBC's exchange rate to convert from my AU$ account to my HK$ account with HSBC.

2. Convert it to HKD in Australia, then wire it to HK as HK$.

3. Bring it over in cold hard AU$ cash, then do the Chung King mansions thing. Before anybody asks I'm not worried about the US$10k limit thing or safety issues, I have those covered. I am pretty sure Chung King mansions seems to have the best cash HK$/AU$ exchange rate in HK, and the best desk to use at CKM seems to be Shop 3B (HongKong Crown Exchange Ltd), they are second or third on the left as you enter CKM from the main road. They always seem to come in about half a cent better than everyone else at CKM.

Anybody had any experience with this? Obviously I am looking for best rate possible, and for a large amount would be quite prepared to jump through some hoops to get it.

Does anybody know whether you can withdraw foreign exchange notes (as in folding money US$, AU$, ?, GBP, etc) out of foreign currency bank accounts in HK?

Thanks in advance for any help

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by Andrew W Scott

Does anybody know whether you can withdraw foreign exchange notes (as in folding money US$, AU$, ?, GBP, etc) out of foreign currency bank accounts in HK?

Thanks in advance for any help

Yes all the banks have multi currency accounts and will have the notes available for withdrawal at any time.

Check with your local bank as well and see what rates they give for say a 3 month term deposit etc, they're usually pretty good.

When I come over from U.K I usually bring over cold hard cash and stick some in a deposit account and have some ready for when the exchange rate is good and change over as and when I need the money.

[KnowItAll]

Check with ANZ or some other banks in Australia. They might have *slightly* better rates / options to transfer to HK. Once you've got the preferential rate you can then transfer HKD-HKD when you're in HK.

Welcome back by the way.

We need to have a few beers when you get here.

[HKFella]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Yes all the banks have multi currency accounts and will have the notes available for withdrawal at any time.

Check with your local bank as well and see what rates they give for say a 3 month term deposit etc, they're usually pretty good.

When I come over from U.K I usually bring over cold hard cash and stick some in a deposit account and have some ready for when the exchange rate is good and change over as and when I need the money.

Not sure if all these retail banks will deposit or withdraw foreign currency bank notes to/from these foreign curr. acct. at par (which they'd do for non-cash items like wires and drafts which banks can more easily settle through book entries). Most likely with bank notes they'll insist on a HKD conversion. Do post some details if anyone's had a different experience in HK.

[PDLM]

HSBC's general tariffs (http://www.banking.hsbc.com.hk/hk/pe...l/p018_eng.pdf) say:

"Foreign currency notes deposits/withdrawals in
one single day (per account)
No fees up to:
A$1,000 NZ$1,000
Bt5,000 S$500
C$1,000 SFr500
€500 US$1,000
GBP500 Yen75,000
If the single-day total deposits/withdrawals exceeds these amounts, normal charges will apply as follows:

Notes deposits: 0.25% of the total amount that day
Notes withdrawals: 0.125% of the total amount that day

Other currencies (regardless of the amount):
commission charge based on prevailing market rates

The Bank reserves the right to levy an extra charge for the deposit of bulk currency notes."

[freeier]

if i may ask what is the quantum of notional.
what one can do is to find a brokerage that offers you good exchange spread (e.g. 0.5% or even lesser), put the money in, get the exchange done, then get out the money and wire it across to hk. i probably can do that in singapore... the big broker houses that offer forex transaction will have alot better rates than retail banks.

[kombuchakid]

Walked into SBI the other day with a wad of US$ and was told that they did not 'do that sort of thing'. It had to be HK$ or cheque.
So did the needful and went back and was told they could only accept 20k in cash per day, and that I should hold on to the balance till the morrow.
Feeling bank shy I headed to the nearest OCBC where the telebet man efficently handled the cash and I had a receipt in under a minute.

Was SBI just being Indian or are all banks so obtuse?

[Andrew W Scott]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

Welcome back by the way.

We need to have a few beers when you get here.

Would absolutely love to. I will be back in town on the weekend When are you free?

[Andrew W Scott]

This is a long shot - if anyone happened to be going to Chung King Mansions tomorrow (or maybe Thursday), could you see what the best rate you could get for AUD cash to HKD?

The best rate is usually from Shop 3B (HongKong Crown Exchange Ltd), they are second or third on the left as you enter CKM from the main road. They always seem to come in about half a cent better than everyone else at CKM. Tell them you got about AU$5k to change, that should also get a better rate.

Thanks a ton if anyone happens to be in there tomorrow.

[HK_Newbie100]

Almost certainly the best rate to be had would be from an online currency company like XE.com

You wire funds to XE in AUD, they convert to HKD, then wire HKD to your HK account.