Bank converted money in accordance with terms and conditions

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Bank converted money in accordance with terms and conditions

Categories:

Telegraphic transfers,

Summary:

In 2024, Mallory received an international money transfer from her father of $80,750 in New Zealand dollars to go into her foreign currency account, which was in US dollars. The bank converted the money so it could go into the account. Mallory complained about being charged a currency conversion charge. She said the bank should have contacted her when amounts in New Zealand dollars came into her US dollar account. She also said the bank's terms and conditions were unclear about whether other currencies would be converted into US dollars. She asked the bank to withdraw the balance of her foreign currency account and deposit it into another account with the conversion charge refunded.

Published:

March 2025

The bank declined to refund the conversion charge, saying it followed her father’s instructions to receive the money transfer into the foreign currency account, and to do that the bank had to convert the funds from New Zealand to US dollars. It also said it had no obligation to contact Mallory about the incoming funds. It offered a goodwill payment of $200.

Our investigation

We examined the terms and conditions of Mallory’s account and found it said that if the bank needed to convert a payment into another currency, it would make the conversion at the exchange rate applicable at the time it received the payment. New Zealand dollars were clearly “another currency”, so it acted in accordance with the terms and conditions when it converted those funds to US dollars. We found the bank’s conversion of the funds breached no duty or obligation to Mallory.