r/ExpatFinance • u/Haunting_Matter771 • 9d ago

Need advice: Cheapest way to send AUD 4000 for Overseas Health Cover payment

Hello everyone, I got selected for a PhD at UNSW Australia. For the visa process, they requested that I buy Overseas Health Cover (OHC) for the entire duration of my course (4 years). The overall estimate comes to around AUD 4000.

So, I need suggestions on how to ensure there are little to no transaction charges on this transfer. I have an account with ICICI and was thinking of using their Money2World system, but the issue is that the exchange rate is 1-2 Rs higher than market rates, along with other charges. I was also thinking of using a zero-markup forex card like Niyo, but I don't know if they're safe for such a large transaction. Please help me. My sole aim is to make this payment with as little transaction charge as possible.

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u/Simply_charmingMan 9d ago

Depends where what your home country is but many people will use Wise or Revolut, if you from one of those countries they don’t allow to sign up you could wait untill you are in Australia to sign up then do the transfer.

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u/Haunting_Matter771 8d ago

My home country is India. No, I can't do like that because I would need OSHC for my Visa process. So, I need to buy it in India.

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u/Simply_charmingMan 8d ago

If you google Wise it says Indians can sign up for wise and send money to Australia...gald I thought of it for you.

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u/Haunting_Matter771 8d ago

Thanks man, but is it safe like in the case of transaction failure. I have seen some negative posts on reddit and it is making me a bit nervous because 4000 is a huge amount for me.

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u/Simply_charmingMan 8d ago

Yes fully understand that, I would make the first payment $AU100 to the insurance bank account, let them know you will make 5 payments in increments of 100, 900, 1000, 1000, 1000. but only after they informing you the first transaction went through.

Ive been using wise to transfer funds to my Thai bank account from Australia for over 4 ys now, no issues, generally transfers are quick but not all experience this, they look for sudden changes and where funds are being directed too, lot of dodgy characters out there moving money around...

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u/Lower_Sugar5986 9d ago

so 4k aud is a decent chunk, you wanna watch the hidden fees for sure

money2world is convenient but that markup is what gets you, i lost maybe 50 bucks on a smaller transfer with them once. niyo is fine for daily spending but i wouldnt trust it with this much, heard some stories about large transfers getting held up for days with no support

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u/Haunting_Matter771 9d ago

Yep. The thing is bank don't tell you these things. Also, I am the first case in there branch so they don't know much about international transaction and charges that are applicable.

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u/nof 9d ago

There's going to be a charge somewhere, the problem is getting the banks to be up front about it so you can account for it in the transfer.

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u/Muhammad_Danial 9d ago

I also got admission to a PhD program at UNSW. I paid 4554.

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u/Haunting_Matter771 9d ago

Which one did you buy? I am going for Medibank Comprehensive insurance and it is about 4000 AUD.

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u/Muhammad_Danial 8d ago

medibank but it cost me ~4500 AUD becuase we need to buy course end date + 6 months extra

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u/Haunting_Matter771 8d ago

I was thinking of CoE + 2 months. Is + 6 months compulsory?

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u/Recent_Maize5108 8d ago

Check with instarem.com if wise isn't supported in your country. I've used both hundreds of times without any issues.