The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or ACCC, stated that it’s easier to make comparisons when doing foreign currency conversions. The Commission had published findings last year that showed their results regarding an inquiry, one that demonstrated that Australian traders overpaid when it came to FX services.

Losing More Than AUD150 Million

Today, the ACCC reported that people that leverage FX services within the country now gain greater access to accurate online calculators. These calculators allow for the comparison of prices, allowing for traders to make educated decisions. However, the Australian regulator was quick to state that higher levels of transparency are still needed, as it’s now a time where many Australian citizens start sending money to friends and family overseas.

The foreign currency exchange services inquiry report that the ACCC had made was released back in September of last year. It found that a large portion of Australian consumers were overpaying when it came to FX services. The report concluded that Australian consumers that leveraged the big four banks to send international money transfers (IMTS) could have saved a collective value of AUD150 million during the years 2017 and 2018. This would have occurred if they had instead leveraged a lower-priced IMT supplier. It should be noted that this was just between two of the world’s currencies: The GBP and the USD

Great Progress Recorded

One of the biggest issues that the report had uncovered was that many of the online calculators that the banks had made available to consumers in order to calculate the conversions of foreign currencies were subpar. These calculators did not include the full price of the FX transaction itself, including that of the fees, as well.  To add insult to injury, some of the IMT suppliers outright refrained from providing online calculators to consumers that are seeking to find pricing information.

Working To Better IMT Providers

After the ACCC had successfully intervened and reviewed the state of the foreign currency conversion within the country this year, they’ve concluded some promising results. The regulator stated that over half of the 26 most prominent online FX suppliers that it hard reviewed, now leverages an online calculator on their website, or otherwise improved the one already existing. This will make things easier for the consumers at large that are seeking to compare the total price of FX services with various different suppliers.

Several of these suppliers that were reviewed, have stated that they were working towards meeting the guidance that the ACCC had laid out. The ACCC itself has also continued in engaging with the suppliers that have been deemed to fall sort of the current best practice.