NZD New Zealand Dollar
Buy and sell New Zealand Dollars in Sydney
Crossing the Tasman? Pick up New Zealand dollar notes at our Level 2 counter - Suite 202A, 60 York Street, NSW 2000 - at a live rate and 0% commission, then sell back whatever comes home unspent. Weekdays 9:30am to 5pm.
How to get your New Zealand dollars
Look up the rate, ride the lift, leave with the notes.
Check today's NZD exchange rate
Both directions sit in the one calculator: how many New Zealand dollars your A$ buy today, and how many A$ come back for the notes you return with.
Visit our store
Find us upstairs at Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000, four minutes' walk from Wynyard, or call (02) 8014 4222 beforehand and the notes will be set aside and waiting.
Get your cash
You watch the count, the notes change hands straight away, and the same counter buys back whatever the trip leaves over.
Key information about the New Zealand dollar
Two polymer note series, five coins, and the Pacific islands that spend it too.
Nicknamed the Kiwi, the New Zealand dollar has been the country's money since decimalisation in 1967, when it replaced the New Zealand pound. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand issues every note and coin, and one dollar splits into 100 cents. For a nation of five million it is traded heavily, floating freely since 1985 and quoted around the clock.
All five notes - NZ$5, NZ$10, NZ$20, NZ$50 and NZ$100 - are polymer, and two series share the tills: the 1999 Series 6 and the brighter Series 7 of 2015-16, with Sir Edmund Hillary on the NZ$5 and Kate Sheppard on the NZ$10. Both spend identically. The NZ$20 still carries Queen Elizabeth II; a King Charles note is years away.
With Auckland three hours away, buying New Zealand dollars in Sydney the day before a flight is routine at our York Street counter, where the Kiwi is one of 22 currencies on the board. Bring photo ID and walk in, or phone first to have the notes set aside; once home, the leftovers sell back at the live buy-back rate.
New Zealand Dollar details
- Currency
- New Zealand Dollar
- Code
- NZD
- Symbol
- NZ$
- Subunit
- 100 cents
- Central bank
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand
New Zealand Dollar in use
- Banknotes
- NZ$5, NZ$10, NZ$20, NZ$50, NZ$100 - all polymer, in two current series (Series 6 from 1999 and the Brighter Money Series 7 from 2015-16); paper notes have not been printed since 1999 and are no longer seen
- Coins
- 10c, 20c, 50c, NZ$1, NZ$2 (the 5c was withdrawn in 2006, so cash totals round to the nearest 10 cents)
- Used in
- New Zealand, plus the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Pitcairn Islands
- Also used
- The Cook Islands also mint their own dollar coins and notes at par with the New Zealand dollar, but those are not accepted back in New Zealand, so spend them before leaving Rarotonga. No other currency is pegged to the Kiwi.
Series 7 notes are brighter than Series 6, with a large clear window, yet both are fully valid - take either as change. Carry mostly NZ$20s and NZ$50s and keep NZ$100s to a few.
Today's NZD exchange rate in Sydney
Two live counter rates, one AUD to NZD pair: the selling rate prices the New Zealand dollar notes you take away, the buying rate prices the notes you return with. Both tables are worked from the calculator's current figure and move whenever it does.
Buying New Zealand dollars in Sydney
A$1 = NZ$1.2262
A$ across the counter, Kiwi notes back.
- Commission is 0%, so the rate you are quoted already is the whole price of the notes
- The counter is cash only at present; please bring Australian dollars
- Ask for a spread of NZ$10s and NZ$20s alongside the NZ$50s - small notes suit farmers' markets and roadside honesty boxes
Selling New Zealand dollars back in Sydney
NZ$1 = A$0.7914
Bring the Kiwi notes home, leave with A$.
- You agree the count, we pay the Australian dollars there and then
- Whole, clean notes only - anything torn, taped or badly scuffed may be refused
- Series 6 and Series 7 polymer notes are both current New Zealand dollars; Cook Islands dollars are a different currency altogether
Rates here are the counter's live figures and shift through the trading day. The calculator's timestamp is the timestamp for both tables, and whatever rate is confirmed at the counter as you exchange is the final word.
What things cost in New Zealand
Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown prices; small towns run cheaper, ski season and the summer holidays dearer, and big-ticket tours - Hobbiton is NZ$130 - sit on top.
New Zealand travel money tips
The one thing to get right across the Tasman, plus three smaller ones.
Cards run the country, cash covers the corners
New Zealand went card-first years ago: an EFTPOS terminal sits on every counter, and cafes, taxis and market stalls take a tap without blinking. The catch is the cost - each tap on an Australian card can carry your bank's overseas fee, a conversion margin and, at many tills, a contactless surcharge. A modest float of New Zealand dollars from Sydney covers the farmers' market, the roadside honesty box and the holiday-park laundry without any of that.
Things to see in New Zealand
Fiords, geysers, film sets and a harbour city three hours from Sydney - and a few Kiwi notes for the market stall, the honesty box and the takeaway pie.
Why exchange New Zealand dollars with us
Stocking up before the Tasman crossing or cashing in the notes that came home with you: one registered counter in the Sydney CBD, one live timestamped rate for each direction.
0% commission, no fees on top
The AUD to NZD rate we quote is the whole price: 0% commission, no service or handling fee attached. Whatever number of New Zealand dollars the calculator shows for your A$ is the number counted onto the counter.
Live, timestamped counter rates
Every figure on this page comes off our own rate board, moves with the market during trading hours and shows the time it was last changed - one rate for the notes you take, another for the notes you return.
Registered, reviewed, guaranteed
Currency Wise Exchange is AUSTRAC registered, trades under ABN 18 675 798 302, and is rated on Google across 59 public reviews; the Best Price Guarantee covers every transaction in writing.
Rated on Google by 59 customers
Every one of these was left on our Google profile by someone who came up to Level 2. We cannot edit them or take them down.
"Nice attention, customer service and good rate"
"Great people. Great rates. Great location. Sunil is the best."
"Thanks sunil. Great service and great rates"
"Pretty good rates, the place is clean and comfortable to wait in."
See what customers across Sydney say about our rates and service.
Read them all on Googlearrow_forwardCommon questions about New Zealand dollars
Something we have not covered? Call (02) 8014 4222 while the counter is open.
Today's rate lives in the calculator above, shown two ways: what New Zealand dollar notes cost you, and what we pay when you sell them back. It refreshes through the trading day because the Kiwi trades constantly against the Australian dollar, and the figure quoted to you at the counter is the figure your exchange settles at.
Upstairs at Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, a four-minute walk from Wynyard station. Trading hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm; there is no appointment system, so simply come in with photo ID. To have the notes ready when you arrive, call (02) 8014 4222 before you set out.
The buying table further down this page answers that for A$1,000 and four other common amounts, priced at the counter's live selling rate; when the calculator's rate moves during the day, the table moves with it. Treat it as a close guide - the New Zealand dollars counted out at the counter follow the rate confirmed at that moment.
No. Our New Zealand dollar rate carries 0% commission in both directions, and there is no service or handling fee sitting behind it either. Should the calculator show your Australian dollars buying a particular number of Kiwi notes, that exact number is counted out to you; sell back, and the buying rate is likewise the full story.
Normally, yes. New Zealand is Sydney's short hop, so the Kiwi is asked for often and is one of the 22 currencies the counter deals every weekday - walking in is usually enough. Where the amount is large, or you want specific denominations, a call to (02) 8014 4222 before you leave lets us check and put the notes aside.
A spread of NZ$20s and NZ$50s does most of the work, with a few NZ$10s for coffee, markets and the honesty box at a roadside fruit stall; NZ$100s are fine for a hotel bill but awkward at a market. Any note you are given may be Series 6 or the brighter Series 7 - both are current polymer notes and spend identically, so there is nothing to avoid.
Yes. Bring them back to the counter you bought them from and they are exchanged at the live buy-back rate in the calculator. What matters is condition: notes we buy go straight back into stock for the next traveller, so they should be clean and whole, not torn, taped or water-stained. Series 6 and Series 7 polymer notes are both current.
Less than almost anywhere - New Zealand is one of the most card-based countries in the world, and an Australian debit or credit card taps at nearly every till. Cash still earns its place at farmers' markets, honesty boxes, holiday-park laundries and small-town op shops, for koha at a marae, and as a fallback when a rural terminal loses signal. A modest amount for those, with the card for the rest, is the usual approach.
Yes. Photo ID comes to the counter with you, in either direction. Australia's AML/CTF regime classes currency exchange as a designated service, which places identification obligations on us for certain transactions, so bring it whatever the amount. Have it out when you reach the counter and the rest is quick.
Need a different currency?
New Zealand dollars are one of 22 currencies we deal - open the full rate board for today's rate on every one, in both directions.
