Exchanging cold hard cash internationally for the best rate

Question

So I've just sold the car I was using in New Zealand for six months. The buyer paid in cash. So now I have a substantial sum of cash in NZD.

I will be in Canada next week starting my one-year visa. Obviously I'll need cash. Ignoring the risk of carrying cash on me, what's the best way to exchange that NZD into CAD cash?

Options I can think of:

• exchanging it at a travel exchange in NZ
• exchanging it in Hawaii enroute
• exchanging it in Canada at a bank / exchange place
• depositing it in my NZ bank account here, and using my ATM card to withdraw it there.

I'm not sure which is the best option though, to avoid losing too much on fees, exchange differences, and bank charges.

Answer 1

For large sums, rates for telegraphic transfer are usually way better than for cash, so you're almost certainly best off depositing the cash in a NZ bank and wiring it over to Canada. Of course, if you don't have a Canadian bank account yet, this gets a bit more complicated; you'd need to set up online banking and ensure that you can do a TT to Canada once you do get the account.

ATM withdrawals in Canada from a NZ bank are probably the 2nd best option, but if you can't withdraw the entire sum in one go, you'll incur fees every time you do.

Exchanging cash either NZ or Canada will get you a poorer rate, plus carrying around large quantities of cash is not safe anyway. Exchanging it in Hawaii is the worst of all worlds, you'll get bad cash rates and suffer double conversion losses from going NZD->USD->CAD.

Answer 2

Probably not the exact answer to this question, but here's what I would do:

1. Assuming you have a bank account in New Zealand, I would deposit the vast sum of cash with them.
2. If you don't have one already, apply for a no-annual-fee credit card, either with the bank, or with any other financial institution. Make sure it also carries no foreign transaction fee. In the US, the Visa Signature credit card offers this benefit. Hopefully, they have a NZ offering as well.
3. Link your bank account with the credit card payment system online, so you can access the account anywhere to pay it off periodically.
4. Travel to Canada and swipe away!

This kills several birds with one stone:

1. Safely deposit a vast sum of cash, and travel with the security of a credit card, with far lesser theft/loss liability than cash.
2. Credit Cards offer one of the lowest exchange rates, often times more competitive with the banks. The foreign transaction fee (usually ~2%) is waived if you get the right card. And you don't have to pay banks any commissions during the exchange.
3. Given that credit cards are widely accepted throughout North America, you will probably get more benefits (cashback, miles, etc.) than you would spending cash or using a bank debit card.