The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal
Are you using PayPal to pay or get paid internationally? If so, setting up a TransferWise borderless account could save you money. It’s up to 9 x cheaper to send money from New Zealand, and up to 7 x cheaper to receive it.
Independent market researchers compared the costs
An independent market research agency compared the cost of sending and receiving New Zealand Dollars overseas with PayPal and the TransferWise borderless account.
Between 22nd and 26th November 2018, they set up a number of transfers to and from New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Europe. They recorded three types of fees:
Fee 1: an upfront international money transfer fee
Fee 2: the markup PayPal added to their exchange rate
Fee 3: a fee to receive international payments
The research includes date and timestamps.
The research and results
Results for sending NZD:
Results for receiving NZD:
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Sending NZD to AUD
An independent research agency sent 1,000 New Zealand Dollars from a New Zealand PayPal account to an Australian PayPal account.
With PayPal, the sending fees were 54.58 NZD. And with TransferWise, they were only 5.44 NZD.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the sender 49.14 NZD.
With PayPal, the Australian recipient received 894.56 AUD in total. And with TransferWise, they received 934.06 AUD.
Using TransferWise meant the Australian recipient received an extra 39.50 AUD.
Here’s the raw data:
Sending 1000 NZD to AUD: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | The TransferWise borderless account | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sending | NZ$1000 | NZ$1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 0.9392) | NZ$1 = A$0.9390 | NZ$1 = A$0.8945 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0.02% | 4.76% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | NZ$0.18 | NZ$47.59 |
| Upfront transfer fee | NZ$5.26 | NZ$6.99 |
| Total sender fees | NZ$5.44 | NZ$54.58 |
| Amount sent to recipient | A$934.06 | A$894.56 |
| Recipient fees applied | A$0 | A$0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | A$0 | A$0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | A$934.06 | A$894.56 |
| Total cost of transfer | A$5.11 | A$51.27 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 22nd November 2018, 22:58 UTC.
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Sending NZD to GBP
An independent research agency sent 1,000 New Zealand Dollars from a New Zealand PayPal account to a UK PayPal account.
With PayPal, the sending fees were 47.08 NZD. And with TransferWise, they were only 6.22 NZD.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the sender 40.86 NZD.
With PayPal, the UK recipient received 507.73 GBP in total. And with TransferWise, they received 525.62 GBP.
Using TransferWise meant the UK recipient received an extra 17.89 GBP.
Here’s the raw data:
Sending 1000 NZD to GBP: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | The TransferWise borderless account | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sending | NZ$1000 | NZ$1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 0.5289) | NZ$1 = £0.5289 | NZ$1 = £0.5077 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0.00% | 4.01% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | NZ$0.02 | NZ$40.08 |
| Upfront transfer fee | NZ$6.20 | NZ$7 |
| Total sender fees | NZ$6.22 | NZ$47.08 |
| Amount sent to recipient | £525.62 | £507.73 |
| Recipient fees applied | £0 | £0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | £0 | £0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | £525.62 | £507.73 |
| Total cost of transfer | £3.29 | £24.90 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 22nd November 2018, 23:13 UTC.
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Sending NZD to EUR
An independent research agency sent 1,000 New Zealand Dollars from a New Zealand PayPal account to a French PayPal account.
With PayPal, the sending fees were 52.86 NZD. And with TransferWise, they were only 5.20 NZD.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the sender 47.66 NZD.
With PayPal, the French recipient received 569.75 EUR in total. And with TransferWise, they received 594.12 EUR.
Using TransferWise meant the French recipient received an extra 24.37 EUR.
Here’s the raw data:
Sending 1000 NZD to EUR: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | The TransferWise borderless account | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sending | NZ$1000 | NZ$1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 0.5972) | NZ$1 = €0.5973 | NZ$1 = €0.5698 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0% | 4.59% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | NZ$0 | NZ$45.88 |
| Upfront transfer fee | NZ$5.32 | NZ$6.98 |
| Total sender fees | NZ$5.32 | NZ$52.86 |
| Amount sent to recipient | €594.12 | €569.75 |
| Recipient fees applied | €0 | €0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | €0 | €0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | €594.12 | €569.75 |
| Total cost of transfer | €3.11 | €31.57 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 22nd November 2018, 23:09 UTC.
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Receiving NZD from AUD
An independent research agency sent 1,000 Australian Dollars from an Australian PayPal account to a New Zealand PayPal account.
With PayPal, the conversion fees were 34.08 AUD. And with TransferWise, they were only 4.96 AUD.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the recipient 29.12 AUD.
With PayPal, the New Zealand recipient received 1031.78 NZD in total. And with TransferWise, they received 1062.90 NZD.
Using TransferWise meant the New Zealand recipient received an extra 31.12 NZD.
Here’s the raw data:
Receiving 1000 AUD to NZD: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | TransferWise borderless | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sent to recipient | A$1000 | A$1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 1.0682) | A$1 = NZ$1.0682 | A$1 = NZ$1.0318 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0% | 3.41% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | A$0 | A$34.08 |
| Upfront conversion fee | A$4.98 | A$0 |
| Total conversion fees | A$4.98 | A$34.08 |
| Amount received | NZ$1062.90 | NZ$1031.78 |
| Recipient fees applied | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | NZ$1062.90 | NZ$1031.78 |
| Total cost of transfer | NZ$5.30 | NZ$36.40 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 26nd November 2018, 08:03 UTC.
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Receiving NZD from GBP
An independent research agency sent 1,000 New Zealand Dollars from a UK PayPal account to a New Zealand PayPal account.
With PayPal, the sending fees were 29.23 GBP. And with TransferWise, they were only 5.32 GBP.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the sender 23.91 GBP.
With PayPal, the New Zealand recipient received 1829.72 NZD in total. And with TransferWise, they received 1874.77 NZD.
Using TransferWise meant the New Zealand recipient received an extra 45.05 NZD.
Here’s the raw data:
Receiving 1000 AUD to NZD: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | TransferWise borderless | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sent to recipient | £1000 | £1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 1.8848) | £1 = NZ$1.8851 | £1 = NZ$1.8297 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0% | 2.92% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | £0 | £29.23 |
| Upfront conversion fee | £5.47 | £0 |
| Total conversion fees | £5.47 | £29.23 |
| Amount received | NZ$1874.88 | NZ$1829.72 |
| Recipient fees applied | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | NZ$1874.88 | NZ$1829.72 |
| Total cost of transfer | NZ$10.03 | NZ$55.10 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 26nd November 2018, 07:57 UTC.
The New Zealand borderless account vs PayPal: Receiving NZD from EUR
An independent research agency sent 1,000 New Zealand Dollars from a European PayPal account to a New Zealand PayPal account.
With PayPal, the sending fees were 30.71 EUR. And with TransferWise, they were only 3.49 EUR.
The TransferWise borderless account saved the sender 26.91 EUR.
With PayPal, the New Zealand recipient received 1619.18 NZD in total. And with TransferWise, they received 1664.16 NZD.
Using TransferWise meant the New Zealand recipient received an extra 44.98 NZD.
Here’s the raw data:
Receiving 1000 AUD to NZD: The TransferWise borderless account vs PayPal
| Fees/cost | TransferWise borderless | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Amount sent to recipient | €1000 | €1000 |
| Rate quoted by provider (Reuters’ exchange rate = 1.6705) | €1 = NZ$1.6705 | €1 = NZ$1.6192 |
| Provider exchange rate markup (%) | 0% | 3.07% |
| Provider exchange rate markup | €0 | €30.71 |
| Upfront conversion fee | €3.80 | €0 |
| Total conversion fees | €3.80 | €30.71 |
| Amount received | NZ$1664.16 | NZ$1619.18 |
| Recipient fees applied | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Recipient fees applied (%) | 0% | 0% |
| Total recipient fees | NZ$0 | NZ$0 |
| Final funds available to recipient | NZ$1664.16 | NZ$1619.18 |
| Total cost of transfer | NZ$6.34 | NZ$51.30 |
All data was obtained independently by market research company Alderson Consulting (Bristol) Ltd on 26nd November 2018, 21:05 UTC.
This publication is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content in this publication. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from TransferWise Limited or its affiliates. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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