New Caledonia - CFP Franc - Currency Guide

General Currency Info - CFP Franc

The CFP franc (XPF) is the currency of four French overseas collectives (collectivités d'outre-mer, or COM) that include French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The CFP franc is also referred to as the franc pacifique since it is used in the Pacific Ocean region. The initials CFP originally stood for Colonies Françaises du Pacifique (“French colonies of the Pacific”). As with the old French franc the CFP franc is broken into subunits called centimes.

XPF News, Forecasts and Trends

The above interactive chart shows the USD to XPF exchange rate, trend and recent alerts for the last 90 days.

Travel, Currency and Money saving tips for New Caledonia

The CFP franc (XPF) is the currency of the French overseas collectives (collectivités d'outre-mer, or COM) that include French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna.

The CFP franc is also referred to as the franc pacifique since it is used in the Pacific Ocean region. The initials CFP originally stood for Colonies Françaises du Pacifique (“French colonies of the Pacific”).

As with the old French franc the CFP franc is broken into subunits called centimes. The CFP Franc is currently fixed to the Euro at a rate of approximately 1 Euro = 119 XPF.

New Caledonia is a lovely, exotic but expensive destination. One of the reasons prices are so high is that the French public servants posted to New Caledonia are paid significantly more than if they were back in France. When a public worker works here he gets his salary multiplied by 1.73.

The country has been urged to trade more with its local neighbours in the Pacific such as Australia and New Zealand rather than primarily with the mother country France to lower transport and freight costs

Travel money for New Caledonia

Save money and time by Ordering your CFP Franc online from Travelex, you get better rates and can pick up the XPF cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.

Another popular option is to use a Pre-paid Travel Card. Your Debit/Credit Card provider will charge you 2% from market mid-rate, but your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash.

For card purchases if offered a choice of currencies always select to Pay in CFP Franc otherwise you may get much worst exchange rates.

Sending money to New Caledonia

When searching around for information on how to get a good exchange rate when sending money to New Caledonia you need to start with finding out the latest CFP Franc exchange rate for foreign-transfers, which can be very different to the wholesale rate.

Then compare your bank's exchange rates to several licensed FX providers exchange rate and fees to see how much you can save - we make that calculation easy in the below table.

Get a better deal for foreign transfers to New Caledonia

When sending money to New Caledonia it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers. To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :

1. Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
2. You specify the local or CFP Franc amount you want to transfer
3. Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
4. Once your funds are received by the provider the converted XPF amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in New Caledonia.

Use the above Send to CFP Franc calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more - end result is more CFP Franc deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!