Send money to the United States from Australia
The US dollar is a Grey balance currency, provided by Lead Bank, which makes this the one corridor from Australia where a transfer can involve no exchange rate whatsoever. Dollars held in Grey go to a US bank account by ACH as a same currency payment. If you hold pounds or euro instead, one conversion into dollars happens and the rate is shown before you agree to it. Transfers from a funded balance arrive in one to two business days.
AUD
USD
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A same currency corridor, which changes everything about it
Most pages about sending money abroad are really pages about exchange rates. This one does not have to be. Grey holds US dollars in an account provided by Lead Bank, and paying a US bank account from that balance is a dollar to dollar transfer. Nothing is converted, no rate is quoted, and there is no margin anywhere in the transaction because there is no conversion for a margin to sit inside.
That reframes the question for an Australian. Instead of asking who gives the best rate, the useful question becomes how dollars reach you in the first place. An Australian consultant billing an American client, a contractor on a US project, an employee of an Australian company with an American parent, anyone whose income already arrives in dollars, is in the strongest position on this corridor. The dollars land in the Grey balance and go on to the United States untouched.
If your money is in pounds or euro, a single conversion into dollars happens when you send, priced and displayed before confirmation. And if your money is in Australian dollars, that is a step which happens outside Grey, because Grey holds no Australian dollar balance at all. Being precise about where each conversion sits is what makes an honest comparison possible.
Three steps from Australia to the United States
Open a Grey account
Free, roughly five minutes, and done from the phone. A single valid identity document verifies you, usually an Australian passport or a driver licence.
Get dollars into the balance
There is no Australian dollar balance on Grey. The US dollar balance is provided by Lead Bank and comes with its own account details, so a client or employer paying in dollars can pay into it directly.
Send by ACH
Enter the recipient's US routing number and account number, check the fee on the confirmation screen and send. ACH transfers from a funded balance arrive in one to two business days.
What a transfer to the United States costs
Because the dollar route has no exchange rate in it, the comparison against a bank becomes unusually stark. An Australian bank sending to the United States will price the transfer as an international wire regardless of the currency involved, charging a wire fee, using SWIFT, and passing the payment through correspondent banks that may deduct from the principal before it lands. A deduction in transit is the cost people forget, because it never appears as a fee on the sending statement.
On a recurring payment such as a semester of tuition or a monthly invoice from an American supplier, the difference is not a one off saving. It is the same gap repeated on a schedule, which is worth an afternoon of attention once and then never again.
How the rate works, and when there is not one
Sending dollars from the Grey balance provided by Lead Bank to an American bank account involves no exchange rate at all. The figure that leaves is the figure that arrives, subject only to the transfer fee, and there is nothing to fix at confirmation because nothing is being converted.
Sending from pounds or euro means one conversion into dollars at the point you send. Grey shows the rate alongside the fee, fixes it when you confirm, and applies what it displayed. Nothing is recalculated while the payment is travelling and no second conversion waits at the American end.
The timing is worth a sentence of its own, because ACH settles in batches on American business days rather than instantly. Sydney runs well ahead of the United States, so a Monday morning instruction in Australia reaches an American network that is still in Sunday evening. On a payment with a deadline, start two or three business days out and the calendar stops being an issue.
Grey against an Australian bank sending to America
An Australian bank treats a payment to the United States as an international wire even when it is dollars going to a dollar account. That means a wire fee, SWIFT, several days, and correspondent banks entitled to deduct along the way, so the amount that lands can be smaller than the amount instructed. Grey moves dollars from the Lead Bank balance into the American ACH network directly, which is the same network a domestic American payroll runs on. Australians already know how much better a domestic rail is than a cross border one, because the New Payments Platform settles between two Australian accounts in seconds. ACH is slower than that, but it is the local rail at the American end, and using it is why nothing is skimmed on the way.
What the recipient in the United States sees
Dollars in their American bank account, appearing as an ordinary ACH credit of the kind a salary or a refund arrives as. No Grey account is required at their end, nothing is installed and Grey takes nothing from them.
Any US bank account
Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and the rest all receive it. What you need is the routing number and the account number, which together do the job an Australian BSB and account number do.
ACH timing
Transfers from a funded Grey balance arrive in one to two business days. ACH settles in batches on American business days, so a weekend instruction is picked up on the Monday there.
GreyTag between Grey users
Where the recipient in America also holds Grey, GreyTag reaches them free and within seconds, which is the fastest route this corridor has.
How dollars reach your Grey account from Australia
The balance is filled by foreign currency arriving rather than by an Australian dollar deposit, and on this corridor the dollar account does most of the work.
An American payer pays in
The Grey US dollar account provided by Lead Bank has its own details. Give them to an American client or employer and their payment lands in the balance ready to move on.
Moved in by you
Transfer dollars into the balance from an account you already hold outside Australia, then pay the American account from there when it is needed.
Held ahead of the deadline
Given that ACH takes a business day or two, a funded balance is what turns a tuition deadline or a supplier due date into a straightforward date rather than a close run thing.
American billing cycles are monthly and Australian pay is usually fortnightly, so keeping dollars standing in the balance is less about cost than about never having to think about the calendar.
What Australians send to the United States for
Secondments and work abroad
Australians posted to New York, San Francisco or Houston covering rent and deposits before American pay begins, and companies moving staff who need money there first.
University fees and student costs
Tuition instalments, campus housing and living costs for Australian students at American universities, where deadlines are fixed and the amount is quoted in dollars.
Suppliers and contractors
Australian businesses paying American software vendors, agencies, freelancers and manufacturers, usually against an invoice already denominated in US dollars.
Family across the Pacific
Australians supporting relatives who settled in the United States, and parents in Australia helping children who moved for work and have not yet built up American credit.
This corridor is business and education heavy in a way most Australian corridors are not, and the amounts tend to be larger and less frequent than a family remittance.
Five reasons to use Grey on this route
Open the account, get dollars into the Lead Bank balance, enter the routing and account numbers and confirm. Where the balance is dollars, there is no rate on the screen to think about.
Grey operates in more than eighty countries. Transfers are encrypted, and you can watch one move from confirmation in Australia to the ACH credit in the American account.
FAQs
Is there an exchange rate when I send US dollars from Grey to an American bank?
No. The US dollar balance is provided by Lead Bank, so dollars to a US account are a same currency transfer with no conversion at all.
Can Grey convert Australian dollars into US dollars?
No. Grey holds no Australian dollar balance. You hold US dollars provided by Lead Bank, pounds or euro, and send onward from one of those.
What details do I need to pay someone at Chase or Wells Fargo?
The routing number and the account number. Between them they do the job an Australian BSB and account number do on a domestic transfer.
How long does an ACH transfer from Australia to the United States take?
One to two business days from a funded Grey balance, because ACH settles in batches on American business days rather than instantly.
When should I send so a US tuition deadline is not at risk?
Start two or three business days ahead. Sydney runs well in front of the United States, so a Monday instruction here meets a Sunday evening there.
Can an Australian business pay a US supplier or contractor through Grey?
Yes. Dollars go to the supplier's American bank account by ACH, which suits invoices already denominated in US dollars and needs no separate business account.
Why does my Australian bank charge a wire fee for a dollar to dollar payment?
It treats any payment to the United States as an international wire over SWIFT, regardless of currency, with correspondent banks that may deduct in transit.
My client in America pays me in dollars. Can they pay Grey directly?
Yes. The Grey US dollar account provided by Lead Bank has its own details, so income can land in the balance without a second account first.
Does my recipient need a Grey account to take an ACH credit?
No. The dollars arrive as an ordinary ACH credit in their existing bank account, though a recipient on Grey can be paid instantly by GreyTag.
Can I cover rent in New York before my American salary starts?
Yes, and dollars held in the Grey balance in advance mean a deposit or first month's rent goes without waiting on a conversion.
Is Grey a bank behind the ACH payout into a US account?
No. Grey Inc is a financial technology company rather than a bank, and licensed banking partners provide the banking services, with the dollar account from Lead Bank.
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