Currency exchange comparison

Our team looked at the cost of exchanging currencies with 5 popular banks in New Zealand (Westpac, ASB, ANZ, BNZ, and Kiwibank) using their 'Standard-equivalent' account offering (their subscription-free current account most similar to our Standard plan).

We found that using Revolut to exchange money is on average up to 8 times cheaper when exchanging NZD 1,000 into 4 other currencies.

The data for the research was collected at 14:00 New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) between Monday 29 June 2026 and Friday 3 July 2026. To do this, we used various data sources, including the currency exchange rates and currency exchange calculators available publicly on these banks' websites.

We calculated the 'cost to exchange' NZD 1,000 to AUD, GBP, USD, and EUR using each of the other providers. The 'cost to exchange' includes any taxes, fees, or commissions applied by the provider, in addition to what we'll call their 'currency exchange markup'.

The 'currency exchange markup' is the amount added to the mid-market rate by each provider when completing an exchange.

Ideally, a buyer would exchange money at the mid-market rate, which is the midpoint between the buy-and-sell prices of any 2 currencies. This is the best scenario because providers usually have different buy-and-sell prices, and the further they are from the mid-market rate, the less money the buyer gets from the exchange.

We then compared the average of the other providers’ 'cost to exchange' NZD 1,000 to AUD, GBP, USD, and EUR with our own. When you exchange with us, we use a variable exchange rate, and you may be charged a percentage-based exchange fee if you exchange outside our ‘market hours’.¹

This data was collected within our 'market hours' at 14:00 NZDT on weekdays between Monday 29 June 2026 and Friday 3 July 2026. That means the data we’ve used is based on exchanges not incurring an exchange fee (assuming the customer is within their fair usage limit). You can read more about our Standard plan (and our other plans) in our Personal Terms and on our Fees Page.

On average, Revolut was 12 times cheaper when exchanging NZD 1,000 to AUD, GBP, USD, and EUR on weekdays. By quoting ‘up to 8 times cheaper’, we can be confident that this remains true, even when rates fluctuate.

Revolut’s average cost to exchange was NZD 1.45, whereas the average cost to exchange at popular banks in New Zealand was NZD 17.60 when exchanging NZD 1,000 to AUD, GBP, USD, and EUR on weekdays.