Questions about exchanging cash in Sydney
Everything people ask at the counter and on the phone, in one place - rates and fees, identification, opening hours, buying, selling back, and how to find us upstairs at Suite 202A, 60 York Street, NSW 2000.
Visiting our counter
Where we are, when we are open, and what happens when you get here.
Suite 202A on Level 2 of 60 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, about four minutes' walk from Wynyard. We are upstairs rather than at street level, so the lobby and the lift are part of the trip.
Suite 202A on Level 2 of 60 York Street, NSW 2000. Come through the ground-floor lobby, take the lift one floor up, and our counter is on Level 2. We are not at street level, which is the single thing most first-time visitors get caught by.
No. Walk in any weekday between 9:30am and 5pm. The one time it is worth calling first is a large amount or a less common currency, so we can have the notes and the note sizes ready rather than sending you away.
No. We are open Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm, and closed on Saturday, Sunday and NSW public holidays. If a holiday falls midweek it is worth calling to confirm before travelling in.
Come in. We serve customers up to 5:00 PM. If you are exchanging a large amount it is worth calling first, so the notes are counted and ready when you arrive.
Yes. There are no stairs between the York Street entrance and our counter - lift access the whole way.
Buying foreign cash
Getting the currency, the amount and the note sizes you actually need.
We currently hold 22 currencies. The live board on this page lists every one of them with today's rate, and it is the same board our counter works from, so it is the quickest way to check before you travel into the city.
Not for the common currencies - walk in any weekday between 9:30am and 5pm. Call ahead on (02) 8014 4222 for a large amount, a currency we see less often, or a particular mix of note sizes, and we will have it ready rather than sending you away.
Yes. Call us with the currency, the amount and the note sizes you want. This matters most for larger amounts and less common currencies, where what is on the shelf changes from day to day.
Yes, and it is worth doing. Tell us when you order or when you get to the counter and we will make it up that way where the stock allows. A single large note can be awkward or refused outright at a market stall or a taxi in some countries.
Selling foreign cash back
Changing leftover travel money back into Australian dollars.
Yes. We buy foreign banknotes over the counter at Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000, and pay you in Australian dollars on the spot. There is no appointment and no commission - the rate confirmed at the counter is the whole deal.
Good, resaleable condition. Notes that are badly torn, taped, heavily marked or water-damaged may be declined, because every note we take is either sold to the next traveller or sent back to the country it came from, and both of those buyers can refuse it.
Generally the ones we sell. The live rate board lists every currency we currently hold, with today's rate in both directions, so it is the quickest way to check before you come in.
Call us on (02) 8014 4222 before you travel. Larger sums and less common currencies depend on what we can take that day, and a phone call means you find that out before you carry cash into the city rather than at the counter.
Rates and fees
How the number is set, why it moves, and what is and is not added on top.
Through the trading day, as the market moves. The board on this page is live and carries the time it was last updated, so you can always see how current the number is.
Yes. These are our actual counter rates, not indicative marketing numbers. Rates move during the day, so the figure at the counter is whatever is current when you are served.
No. There is no commission and no service fee. The difference between our buy and sell rate is the entire margin, which is why the number on the board is the number you get.
Google shows the mid-market rate, which is a wholesale reference price for electronic trades with no cash involved. Physical banknotes have to be bought, insured, flown in, counted and held in a safe, and nobody in the world sells them at mid-market.
Because they are two different jobs. Notes we sell you were bought, insured and held in advance. Notes we buy from you arrive unplanned, and have to be checked, sorted and either resold here or sent back to the country they came from. The gap between those two numbers is how the business earns anything - there is no separate commission or fee on top.
Call us before you come in for larger amounts. It also lets us make sure the currency and the note sizes you want are ready at the counter.
We can tell you where a currency is sitting, but rates move during the trading day, so the rate that applies is the one at the moment you exchange. The live board on our exchange rates page is the fastest way to see where things are right now.
Paying, and identification
What you can pay with, and what you need to bring.
Cash only. We do not take card payments at the counter at the moment, so bring Australian dollars in cash to buy. If you are selling foreign cash to us, we pay you in cash.
Yes. You can register online and request your exchange before you come in, and you get a ticket to show at the counter, so there are no forms to fill in when you arrive. It takes a minute or two. Get your ticket
Bring valid photo identification. Currency exchange is a regulated service in Australia and identification is required for certain transactions under AML/CTF obligations.
Who we are, and what happens if something goes wrong
The registrations you can check for yourself, and how to raise a problem.
Yes. Currency Wise Exchange Pty Ltd, ABN 18 675 798 302, ACN 675 798 302, an Australian private company registered on 14 March 2024. You can confirm all of that on the public ABR register without taking our word for it.
Yes. Currency exchange is a regulated service in Australia, and we are registered with AUSTRAC, the financial crime regulator. That is also why you will be asked for identification at the counter.
Email contact@currencywise.com.au with the date and what happened, or call and ask to speak to the manager. We are one store, so it goes straight to the people involved rather than into a queue.
Wholesale and bulk currency
The side of the business that supplies other exchanges and institutions.
Yes. Supplying other bureaux de change and financial institutions is where this business started, and it is still a core part of what we do alongside the retail counter.
Yes. We buy foreign banknotes as well as supplying them, which is useful if you are holding a currency you have stopped dealing in. Tell us the currencies and the approximate amounts and we will quote.
No. The rates published on our exchange rates page are retail counter rates for individual customers. Wholesale is priced on the currency, the volume and the day, and is quoted directly.
Currency Wise Exchange Pty Ltd is AUSTRAC registered, ABN 18 675 798 302, ACN 675 798 302. Currency exchange is a regulated service in Australia, and identification and record-keeping obligations apply to wholesale dealing as they do to retail.
Email contact@currencywise.com.au or call (02) 8014 4222 during dealing hours. Include the currencies, volumes, denominations and timing, and we will come back with a rate.
Email contact@currencywise.com.au with the currencies, volumes, denominations and timing you need, or call the desk during business hours. There is more detail on our wholesale page.
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.
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