What Saint Helena pound actually arrives in Saint Helena and Ascension 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 (SHP) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 263 SHP |
| 1,000 AUD | 526 SHP |
| 2,000 AUD | 1,053 SHP |
| 5,000 AUD | 2,632 SHP |
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.
Saint Helena had no airport until 2017 and was reachable only by a Royal Mail ship, so for most of this currency’s life every banknote on the island had arrived by sea. The economy runs substantially on United Kingdom support, which is the underlying reason a population of a few thousand sustains a currency of its own at all.
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.
One of the most remote currencies in circulation anywhere, the Saint Helena pound is issued at par with sterling for Saint Helena and Ascension Island. Tristan da Cunha, in the same territory, uses sterling itself rather than this issue, so the three islands do not share one answer.
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 Saint Helena and Ascension 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. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
The island's bank accepts payments in sterling only, and states that customers are required to convert other currencies into sterling before remitting. That decision therefore belongs at the sending end. It matters more here than it would elsewhere, because the St Helena Government's visiting information records that there are no cash machines on the island and that acceptance of international cards is growing but still not universal, so a transfer that fails is not easily worked around.
The route is fixed and unusual in one respect: the payment is not addressed to the recipient. It is made as an international payment to the bank itself, for the account of the recipient on Saint Helena or Ascension, and reaches the island through a named correspondent institution in London. What connects a payment addressed to a bank to the person it is meant for is the reference, which has to carry the beneficiary's account name and number.
One further condition applies to the money once it is there. Under the bank's anti-money-laundering procedures, funds of ten thousand pounds or more require satisfactory documentary evidence to support the origin of the funds, and that evidence is asked of the person receiving them, not of the person who sent them.
Sources: Bank of St Helena, international remittance receipts · Bank of St Helena, international payments services information sheet · St Helena Government, visiting St Helena
How much Saint Helena pound will I receive in Saint Helena and Ascension?
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 Saint Helena and Ascension 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 Saint Helena and Ascension. 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.