Money transfer fees

Latest figures show the value and volume of transfers made by ANZ customers to the Pacific has increased substantially on the same period last year.

In February 2021 ANZ Australia and New Zealand customers sent a combined volume of 8,761 International Money Transfers worth AUD$12m (US$9.2 million) – a 95 percent increase in volume and 33 percent increase in value compared with the same period last year.

Money sent back to the Pacific from overseas, known as remittances, can make up a large part of a Pacific household's disposable income - up to 25 percent.

The fees for transfers to Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands and Kiribati have been lowered by 60 percent, from 18 NZ dollars to seven dollars.

The ANZ's Paul Goodwin said the bank now knows how important the transfers are to local communities.

The bank said the change comes after its "successful trial" of the lowered fees to send money to Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga which began in May last year, which it says will continue.

In June ANZ lowered the fees from Australia to Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga.