Best Way to Transfer Money from my USA bank accounts to NEW Australian bank?

[FIreSurfer]

Thank you in advance--

Long story short, I've moved the family to Australia with my Melbourne born wife, and I'm having all the small but frustrating issues arise that do arise when you make a fairly abrupt first international move.

We've been here about 2 weeks, I've got a bank account with the local bank, and I'm discovering that none of my banks back in the USA will allow me to use their various web site tools to transfer funds directly to my Australian account.

We need to buy a car so my wife can start driving to her new job next week, any suggestions on how I can get money to Oz?
I have accounts with Fidelity, Vanguard, TDBank, US Bank, and I'm seeing these internet ads for TransferWise and other services.

Any suggestions on how I can get $10-15k to Oz?
Besides going back in time and doing the research before we left (We have a toddler and a teething baby so the move and the flight have all been a bit crazed)

Thanks!
FS

[alsoknownasDean]

Welcome!

There's always PayPal etc if you're prepared to wear the fees (or them taking a healthy cut on exchange rates).

Have you discussed it with your US bank/banks? Surely they can allow international transfers somehow? Even if it's through something as archaic as a check.

I'd be amazed if none of the US banks use SWIFT.

[FLBiker]

I moved to Canada from the US a couple of years ago, and I use Wise (formerly Transferwise).

Here's a link, if you're interested: https://wise.com/invite/u/davidr3152 (it's an affiliate link -- you'll get a free transfer up to ~$500).

I found (for Canada, at least) Wise offers much better exchange rates than the local banks.

There are other ways to do it.  Some folks use Forex trading sites, and there's a thing that's somewhat popular in Canada called "Norbert's Gambit" where you buy a stock that is inter-listed between the US and Canadian exchanges and have your broker journal it over from one to the other.  There might be something similar in Australia, I'm not sure.  For me, though, both of those things are a bit too complicated.  If your goal is to get the absolute best rate, though, they could be worth exploring.

[getsorted]

Seconded. Wise is cheap, fast, and the service has been great. I use it for US-UK transfers.