01 Dec 2022
Do you know what to look for in a remittance transfer service provider for transferring funds across borders, be it a bank or a company? Is it speed, safety, service access, the convenience of initiating transactions from the middle of your comfort zone, etc.? Or what else? Try answering the question in the backdrop of belonging to an economically struggling country like Nepal and working in a developed country to financially support your family back home through an online money transfer to Nepal. Indeed, all of this and other such factors are given relatively less importance in the presence of a low fee and competitive currency exchange rates.
Well, guesses should not wander too much, as the answer to this question in the given scenario is well-known.
Your focus is primarily on paying fewer service charges and getting favourable currency exchange rates, even if the remaining features are available conservatively. This blog will give you some tips to follow to find a service provider with low fees and competitive currency exchange rates.
Nepal is one of the most struggling economies worldwide, with huge dependence on agriculture and remittances.
It has a nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $45.21 billion and a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) of $174.32 billion. Its people have been reeling from acute poverty and unemployment even though the country is politically stable.
To exit the cycle of poverty and unemployment, the people of Nepal travel to developed countries like Australia to find better employment opportunities.
After they settle down, they look for ways to transfer funds back home from Australia with a primary focus on getting the best exchange rates in exchange for a low fee because they come from humble backgrounds and intend to save money.
One key principle to save money as an expatriate is to find a service provider that charges a low fee and offers favourable currency exchange rates because a small change in a foreign currency can translate into a big amount after conversion into your local currency.
A slight comparison between the economies of these two countries can shed sufficient light on the need for Nepalese expatriates who reside in Australia and send money to Nepal for financial support back home.
According to the reports of 2021, the number of Nepali expatriates, who are Nepalese by ancestry, is 138,463.
In the same report, the number of Nepali expatriates, who are Nepalese by country of birth, is projected at 122,506.
All of them come to Australia for a plethora of different reasons, but the main reason that most of these expatriates share is to find prospective employment opportunities.
Given that currency exchange rates keep fluctuating, these rates will give you a fair idea about the difference between the two currencies.
1 Australian Dollar = 87.735839 Nepalese Rupees
1 Nepalese Rupee = 0.0113979 Australian Dollar
Before determining whether the required service features, of which some were mentioned in the opening of this blog, are available or not, do the following.
Make sure to draw comparisons between the service of different service providers. All claim to offer speed, safety, low fee, etc., but when it comes to reality, many service providers adopt an evasive way as they cannot offer the promised services.
Make sure to visit the official platforms of the service providers to read their customer reviews and feedback about their services. We are no longer a generation that believes in the adage saying, ‘be cautious with criticism and generous with praise.’ A little compromise on service or product quality can send ripples of scathing criticism across.
A service provider with dubious credentials will never reveal their fee structure. They will keep it hidden so they can charge a hidden fee to trick customers into paying more. Always look for a company that keeps its fee structure open for customer study and scrutiny.
Several service providers will charge you a fee regardless of the amount you intend to send. But some companies like ACE Money Transfer have set limits below which they do not charge any money. For example, sending 100 AUD to Nepal through ACE Money Transfer as cash will incur zero service charges and offer an exchange rate of 1 AUD = 87.588 NPR.
Other factors you must look for are speed, safety, the upper and lower limits to send money, round-the-clock service access, and the convenience of transferring, tracking and completing the transaction from the middle of your comfort zone.
Suppose you send money to Nepal online with ACE Money Transfer. In that case, you will automatically get a low fee, and depending on the amount you want to send back, you can get a transfer absolutely free of cost in addition to being offered live currency exchange rates allowing you to initiate a transaction when they are just in your favour.
