What US dollar actually arrives in the United States 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 (USD) |
|---|---|
| 500 AUD | 349 USD |
| 1,000 AUD | 697 USD |
| 2,000 AUD | 1,395 USD |
| 5,000 AUD | 3,487 USD |
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 continent-spanning federation of 50 states stretching from Atlantic to Pacific and out to the tropics and the Arctic, the United States is the world's largest economy.
Thirteen red-and-white stripes, with fifty white stars on a blue canton, one for each state. Title 4 of the United States Code prescribes the alternate red and white stripes and a star for each state, and gives the colours no meaning at all. The only meaning any instrument that establishes the flag assigns to an element of the flag is in the resolution of 1777, which describes the stars as representing a new constellation. Reading the thirteen stripes for the original colonies is convention rather than law. The familiar reading of red as hardiness and valour, white as purity and innocence and blue as vigilance, perseverance and justice comes from the 1782 report to Congress on the Great Seal, which explains that seal's own tinctures while noting that its colours are the flag's.
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.
AUD→USD is the most-watched rate in the Australian market, and the US dollar leg is also what many multi-hop transfers price through - so small margin differences compound on this corridor. Transfers routed through American correspondent banks can pick up an intermediary fee that neither sender nor recipient sees quoted, taken from the amount in transit, which is why the figure that lands is sometimes short of the one confirmed.
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 the United States 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/USD converter page handles any amount. Receiving money from overseas explains the process end to end.
American law settles what happens when a payment names one person and gives another person's account. Under Uniform Commercial Code Article 4A, where a payment order identifies the beneficiary by both a name and an account number and the two do not describe the same person, the beneficiary's bank may rely on the number, so long as it does not know that they refer to different people. The number governs, and a mistyped digit is not caught by the name sitting beside it.
The instant rails are closed to a sender abroad. The Federal Reserve states that the FedNow Service supports only domestic payments between United States depository institutions, and the RTP network operated by The Clearing House is likewise described throughout as a service within the United States. An inbound payment terminates instead as a wire settled across Federal Reserve accounts, or is introduced as an automated clearing house credit by an American institution, and is credited from there. The details a recipient hands over are a nine-digit routing number, assigned under the American Bankers Association's routing number policy, together with the account number.
Collecting in person brings a documentary duty that falls on the person collecting. Treasury regulations cover a transmittal of funds of USD 3,000 or more paid to somebody who is not an established customer of the institution paying it out. That institution must verify who they are and record the name and address, the type of identification examined and its number, and a taxpayer identification number. Failing that last one, an alien identification number will do, or a passport number with the country that issued it.
Sources: Uniform Commercial Code 4A-207, Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute · Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, FedNow Service additional questions and answers · The Clearing House, RTP network · 31 CFR 1010.410, Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute · American Bankers Association, routing number policy and procedures
How much US dollar will I receive in the United States?
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 the United States 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 the United States. 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?
Retail rates are set away from the mid-market midpoint by a margin the provider keeps. Comparing a quote against the reference rate on this page is what makes that margin visible, since it is rarely stated as a fee. On a bank-to-bank transfer an intermediary bank can also deduct a handling charge in transit.