Best currency exchange in Sydney (United Currency Exchange)

United Currency Exchange in China Town in Sydney is my go to FX exchange before I go overseas.

The location is a bit tricky to find. It is inside the One Dixon Street Shopping Centre. The shopping centre feels quiet to be honest. It is located on the lower level of the shopping centre (take the escalator down if you enter from the China Town street level) and it is located on the far side from the escalator (close to the exit) at the other end.

Today (May 26), I went there to exchange for some Thai Baht. Official spot is 23.34 THB to AUD. The rate I got was 22.3 at United. So roughly looking at a 5% spread. In the pics below (Pic 2), I took a picture of the rate at a FX shop in Town Hall. That other shop was quoting at 21.8 (much wider spread).

have been using United for multiple trips. I have exchanged all sorts of currencies with them, including Won, Dong, Rupiah, Yen, Ringgit. I can say in the Sydney CBD its rates have consistently been the best. Rule of thumb is these smaller currencies tend to attract wide spread.

The first time I found United was when I was exchanging for Won around 2 years ago. In Wynyard, a shop (one of those with a Western Union front) was quoting a spread of as much as 20%. Honestly, it was high way robbery. United beat that spread hands down.

Talk about exchanging money, another thing to look out for is one of those big name FX shops (Travelex)... The spot rate sucks... If you want to get better rate, you need to order a few days in advance.

Once I was changing AUD to Yen, I thought it would be easy. I wandered over to CBA and got the FX rate there. Then I went over to United, United actually beat CBA's FX for Yen as well.

It was about a month ago... I was exchanging for Rupiah (for Bali). The spread at United was 5%.. I thought that was unusually steep for United but when I checked with other shops, they were quoting spread like 8 to 10%.

Also dealing with United is straight forward. It doesn't play games. United quotes you the rate. Tell you up front how much you will get. No transaction fee. Counter is at the eye level so you can watch them counting the notes. The manager is the same guy in the past few years. 

Check out United next time you are going overseas and compare its rates vs. your usual shop. It is a hidden gem because its location is very well hidden.