What Mozambican metical actually arrives in Mozambique 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 (MZN) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 22,189 MZN |
| 1,000 AUD | 44,377 MZN |
| 2,000 AUD | 88,754 MZN |
| 5,000 AUD | 221,885 MZN |
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 long ribbon of a country strung down southeast Africa's coast, Mozambique trades in Indian Ocean beaches, coral reefs and a Portuguese-speaking culture stitched with Swahili and Arab threads.
Green, black and golden yellow horizontal bands split by white fimbriations, with a red hoist triangle bearing a golden yellow star, an open book, a hoe and an AK-47. The constitution assigns every element a meaning: green the riches of the soil, black the African continent, golden yellow the riches of the subsoil, white the justness of the Mozambican people's struggle and peace, and red the centuries-old resistance to colonialism, the armed struggle for national liberation and the defence of sovereignty. It gives the star the spirit of international solidarity of the Mozambican people, and makes the book, the hoe and the weapon stand for study, production and defence.
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 metical takes its name from the mithqal, a gold weight traded along the Swahili coast centuries before the currency existed. Mozambique removed three zeros in 2006, and its long border with South Africa means plenty of households handle rand alongside meticais day to day.
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 Mozambique 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/MZN converter page handles any amount. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
Mozambique's international account number exists for one stated purpose, and the regulation that created it says so in its first article. Aviso n.º 18/GBM/2013, published in the Boletim da República on 31 December 2013, approved the Regulamento de Número Internacional de Conta Bancária, whose article 1 establishes the number used to identify and validate accounts held in Mozambique for the receipt of funds through international transfers. The arriving leg is not one use among several; it is the reason the instrument was written.
The structure is fixed, and one part of it never varies. Article 3 assembles the number from the country code, a pair of check digits, a four-digit credit institution code, a four-digit branch code, an eleven-digit account number and two further check digits. The pair after the country code is 59 on every Mozambican account, a constant rather than something computed per holder. Article 4 puts the number in the customer's hands through their own bank, which must supply it on request at any time and validate it when executing a transfer.
The identity behind that account is biometric. The Regulamento do regime de contas bancárias, approved by Aviso n.º 6/GBM/2024, requires credit institutions to identify their customers through biometric mechanisms notified to the Banco de Moçambique. A simplified account can be opened on a single identification document, but the same regulation names cross-border family remittances among the transactions its balance ceiling constrains.
Sources: Boletim da República, I Série n.º 104, 6.º Suplemento, 31 December 2013 - Aviso n.º 18/GBM/2013 and the Regulamento de Número Internacional de Conta Bancária · Boletim da República, I Série n.º 62, 27 March 2024 - Aviso n.º 6/GBM/2024, Regulamento do regime de contas bancárias
How much Mozambican metical will I receive in Mozambique?
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 Mozambique 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 Mozambique. 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?
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between global buy and sell prices, and no retail provider deals at it. The gap between it and a quote is the provider’s margin, which is usually where most of the cost of a transfer sits. On a bank-to-bank transfer an intermediary bank can also deduct a handling charge in transit.