New Zealand Dollar to Hong Kong Dollar exchange rates aren't all the same.
The total cost you are charged by your bank or foreign exchange provider consists of a margin from the interbank mid-rate plus fees.
These margins and fees vary significantly for International Money Transfers and Travel Money transactions as shown below.
Exchange rates can vary significantly depending on the transaction type (transfer, cash or card), currency pair and amount. The below table shows an example of total costs charged by FX specialists and banks for NZD/HKD International Money Transfers. Costs are calculated against the current interbank mid-rate.
Example of the margins and possible savings when you order travel money online with a currency specialist rather than in-person from banks and currency kiosks.
When determining the best time to make a foreign exchange transaction, in this case the NZD vs HKD, you should pay attention to the recent market trends for both currencies.
New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
The New Zealand dollar weakened in June to a 7-month low against the euro, at rates below €0.58.
At US$0.65, the kiwi remained weak against the greenback, 6 percent lower than rates in March.
Against the Australian dollar, NZD has been steady in recent months, having spent much of its time between A$0.94 and A$0.95.
Robbing New Zealand's currency of gains in 2019 have been lower NZ interest rates, reduced risk appetite spurred on by an escalation in the US-China trade standoff, and high correlations with other weak currencies, including the Australian dollar and yuan.
The Hong Kong dollar has gained value in 2019 despite the recent protests and also serious escalation in US-China trade tensions, mainly because the US dollar, to which HKD is pegged, is attracting safe-haven inflows. By May-17, against a basket of important currencies, HKD was worth 2 percent more year-to-date, and was only 0.5 percent away from making a 2-year high.
HKD was doing particularly well against the Australian dollar. It was, at the time of writing, valued 18 percent higher than 2018 lows against AUD and needed only a further 2.3 percent to reach a 10-year high. Though HKD was meeting significant resistance in mid-May at the 5.4 per AUD level, a break of this could spark significant appreciation.
Why can't I just get the NZD/HKD market rate I see online or in the media?
The mid-rate is the rate you will see quoted online or the news. It is actually just the half-way point (hence mid-rate) between
the last rate at which the NZD / HKD was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.
All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate).
Some providers such as Transferwise will quote you the mid-rate (or close to) and charge a separate percentage fee.
Getting a good market rate is mainly about timing however the transaction margin
you end up being charged can be considerably reduced by around a few percent (of total amount being exchanged) for
travel money and possibly over 5% to 6% when sending money.
The exact potential savings depends on the currencies being exchanged and the amount you are transferring and if you are willing to shop around.
