What Icelandic króna actually arrives in Iceland when someone sends Australian dollars, at the live mid-market rate. We explain the process; we never recommend a provider.
| They send (AUD) | You receive at mid-market (ISK) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 42,545 ISK |
| 1,000 AUD | 85,090 ISK |
| 2,000 AUD | 170,180 ISK |
| 5,000 AUD | 425,450 ISK |
Mid-market equivalents, not transfer quotes - the sender’s provider deducts its margin and any fees before the money reaches you. STRUCK 11:00 AEST · TUE 13 OCT.
A volcanic island parked between two continental plates, where geysers, glaciers and lava fields share the neighbourhood. Iceland runs almost entirely on the heat and water beneath its own feet.
A blue field bearing a white-edged red Nordic cross. The flag law names the colours rather than interpreting them: the field is heiðblár, sky blue, the outer cross mjallhvítur, snow white, and the inner cross eldrauður, fire red. Article 1 of that law sets the white arms at two ninths and the red at one ninth of the flag's width and the proportions at 18 to 25. The reading of the colours as the mountains, the ice and the fire is the designer's, given by Matthías Þórðarson when he first showed the design in 1906.
A continent pretending to be a country - Australia is the only nation that fills an entire continent, with most of its 27 million people clinging to the coast while the red-dirt interior does its own thing.
A blue field with the Union Jack in the canton, a large white seven-pointed Commonwealth Star below it, and the five white stars of the Southern Cross at the fly. Six of the big star's points stand for the states and the seventh for the territories; the Southern Cross marks Australia's place in the southern sky.
The króna serves a population smaller than Canberra’s, which makes it one of the thinnest freely traded currencies in the world and correspondingly jumpy. It is quoted without decimal places, the aurar subunit having been retired.
The exchange rate is set on the sending side - by the service the sender chooses in Australia - so the most useful thing a receiver can do happens before the transfer: share the live mid-market rate on this page so the sender can judge the margin in their quote. How the money arrives in Iceland determines any local receiving charges - bank-to-bank transfers can pass through intermediary banks that deduct handling fees.
Sending rather than receiving? The sender’s view of this corridor covers the same rate from the other side. The AUD/ISK converter page handles any amount. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
Registers Iceland issues every person in the country a ten-digit identification number, the kennitala, and an Icelandic bank account number ends with it. The international form runs to twenty-six characters; inside it sits a four-digit bank identifier, two digits of account type, a six-digit account number, and then those ten digits. The address therefore carries the person as well as the account. Nor can anybody hold one without a kennitala in the first place, since an Icelandic bank cannot open an account for an applicant who lacks one. Citizens of the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association apply in person at Registers Iceland or at some police stations, with valid identification and a registered address. Everybody else receives one as part of the residence permit process.
The system the money settles in belongs to the central bank outright. The Central Bank of Iceland describes its interbank payment system as an independent system that it owns, governed by its own rules of 22 October 2020 and split into two services. The gross settlement service handles payments of thirty million krónur or more moving between the customers of two financial institutions; it opens at nine in the morning, closes at half past four, and is shut on 31 December. Everything smaller runs through the instant service, which is open every hour of every day and settles into the other one twice daily, at half past eight and at four.
The list of participants is short, and two names on it are not Icelandic. Alongside the Icelandic banks and savings banks, and the Central Bank itself as a direct participant, sit Clearstream Banking in Luxembourg and Euroclear Bank in Belgium. An institution licensed abroad may only be admitted if its home state supervises it comparably to the Icelandic act on official supervision of financial activities.
Sources: European Committee for Banking Standards, Iceland bank account number · Ísland.is, getting a national identification number as an immigrant · Central Bank of Iceland, interbank payment system
How much Icelandic króna will I receive in Iceland?
A little less than the mid-market figures above. The service the sender uses in Australia sets the rate and fees; local receiving banks in Iceland can also apply their own charges depending on how the transfer arrives.
The sender asked for my details - what will they need?
Whatever their transfer service asks for on the receiving side - typically your full legal name and local bank account details in Iceland. Give the name exactly as your bank records it; mismatches are the most common reason a transfer is delayed.
Why did I receive less than the rate on this page suggests?
A quote is the mid-market rate with the provider’s margin taken out of it. Because that margin is expressed in the rate rather than itemised, it is easy to miss and is usually the bigger half of what a transfer costs. On a bank-to-bank transfer an intermediary bank can also deduct a handling charge in transit.