Currency Exchange in Lower Hutt

A Wellington suburb with better exchange coverage than most cities

Lower Hutt is part of the Wellington metropolitan area, and that shapes everything about its currency exchange situation — mostly for the better. The city of around 110,000 sits fifteen minutes from the Wellington CBD by car and about twenty by train, so its residents have easy access to the capital's counters. But it also has its own, because Queensgate is one of the larger shopping centres in the lower North Island and pulls trade from Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata, the Wairarapa and the eastern Wellington suburbs. The demand is a mix: public servants and their families with the travel habits that go with government salaries, the research workforce at GNS Science in Avalon and the science and engineering firms around Petone and Seaview, a large Pacific and Asian community with regular remittance needs, and Wainuiomata and Stokes Valley households sending money to family abroad. Hutt Valley residents are also disproportionately likely to fly out of Wellington rather than Auckland, which changes the airport calculus.

We earn a commission if you open an account with some of the providers listed on this page. It never changes the rate or fee you pay, and it never changes our rankings — our comparison figures come from each provider's published pricing.

Where to exchange cash in Lower Hutt

Both counters are in the same mall, which makes comparing rates unusually easy — you can walk between them in two minutes and take the better board. Do that: on NZ$2,000 the difference between two counters can be NZ$40 or more.

Operator	Address	Hours	Notes
Travelex	Ground floor, Queensgate Shopping Centre, Queens Drive, Lower Hutt Central 5011	Mon–Wed 9am–6pm, Thu 9am–9pm, Fri–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–5.30pm	Buys and sells cash, 40+ currencies. Ph (04) 260 2000. Travelex's own listing gives a slightly earlier Sunday opening than the mall's — check on the day
Travel Money NZ	Shop S110, Queensgate Shopping Centre, corner Queens Drive and Bunny Street, Lower Hutt	Reported as Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–5pm. Hours vary — confirm before you travel	Buys and sells cash. Ph 04 570 1100

Two caveats worth being straight about. First, we found conflicting Sunday hours for Travelex Queensgate — the mall's own directory says 10am to 5.30pm, while Travelex's store page gives an earlier start. Where sources disagree we have shown the mall's figure and flagged it rather than picking one silently. Second, some comparison sites additionally list a No1 Currency branch at the Queens Drive and Bunny Street corner. We could not verify that as a separate trading counter; No1 Currency's own published network is Auckland-based, and the address given is simply Queensgate's. It may be a stale listing or a duplicate of one of the two counters above. Don't plan around a third option.

Elsewhere in the Hutt Valley there is nothing. No operator has a branch in Petone, Wainuiomata, Stokes Valley or Upper Hutt.

Banks and ATMs in Lower Hutt

Do not walk into a bank expecting foreign cash. No major New Zealand bank now buys or sells foreign banknotes over the counter. ANZ stopped on 14 November 2020 and ASB on 2 July 2021. BNZ and Kiwibank have both also exited the service. Westpac — the last of the majors — ended in-branch foreign cash on 30 January 2026. Westpac now refers customers to Travelex with a promotional code, which is worth quoting at the Queensgate counter if you bank with them; ASB also directs its customers to Travelex.

The branches around High Street, Queens Drive and Petone's Jackson Street will still handle international transfers, foreign currency accounts and foreign cheques. None will change notes.

ATMs are abundant — inside Queensgate, along High Street, in Petone, at Naenae, Taita and Wainuiomata — and all dispense New Zealand dollars only. There is no foreign currency ATM in the Hutt Valley or anywhere in New Zealand. Your card converts money at an ATM overseas, not here.

What changing NZ$2,000 at Queensgate really costs

Counters build their margin into the rate on the board rather than charging a visible fee. The benchmark is the mid-market rate — the true midpoint of what a currency is trading at, the figure you see on Google. New Zealand retail counters generally sit 4% to 7% off it on majors like AUD, USD, GBP and EUR, wider on unusual currencies. A "0% commission" sign refers only to commission and is perfectly compatible with a poor rate.

On NZ$2,000 at a 5% spread, illustratively — check both boards on the day:

• Roughly NZ$100 of the NZ$2,000 never becomes foreign currency. At 7%, closer to NZ$140.
• Change NZ$300 of unspent notes back afterwards and the return spread costs another NZ$15–20.
• The same NZ$2,000 converted at the mid-market rate with a fee from 0.25% costs single-digit dollars.

Lower Hutt's real advantage is that having two counters in one building, plus Wellington's fifteen minutes away, means you can actually shop the rate — which almost nobody does, and which is where the easiest saving on this page sits.

Online alternatives compared

Option	Exchange rate used	Fees	Cash in hand in Lower Hutt?
Wise	Mid-market rate, no markup	Conversion from 0.25%. Free to open, no monthly fee, no minimum balance. Card NZ$14 one-off. ATM withdrawals free to NZ$400/month, then 2.69% above. No foreign transaction fee	No — withdraw local currency at your destination
Travelex, Queensgate ground floor	Retail board rate, margin included	Rate margin; ask about commission	Yes, seven days
Travel Money NZ, Shop S110 Queensgate	Retail board rate, margin included	Rate margin; ask about commission	Yes, seven days
Travelex online order	Online rate, margin included	Free above NZ$2,000, else NZ$10. Orders NZ$500–10,000	Courier delivery, or collect at the mall counter
Bank travel money card	Bank's own rate, margin included	Load and reload margins, withdrawal and inactivity fees	No

Wise holds 40+ currencies with local account details in 9+ including AUD, USD, GBP and EUR, and sends to 80 countries. See our Wise review for New Zealand, the travel money card comparison, and the best card to use overseas from NZ.

The split strategy

The Hutt Valley version: walk into Queensgate, compare the two boards, buy NZ$150–300 of cash from whichever is better for airport transfers, tips and your first day, and put the other 90% on a card that converts at the mid-market rate. Two counters in one mall means the small float costs you as little as a counter float can.

State the limitation plainly: Wise cannot hand you banknotes at Queensgate. It is an account and a card, not a bureau. If you need Australian dollars this afternoon, the mall is the answer — the great advantage of Lower Hutt is that you can have both.

Sending money overseas from Lower Hutt

Remittances matter in the Hutt Valley — Wainuiomata, Naenae and Taita have substantial Pacific and Asian communities sending money to family regularly, and small repeated transfers are where fee differences compound fastest. Third-party comparison data on a NZ$5,000 transfer from New Zealand to the United States: Wise NZ$16.37, XE NZ$30.18, OFX NZ$39.02, CurrencyFair NZ$41.56, TorFX NZ$50.51, Currencies Direct NZ$60.73, BNZ NZ$77.46, ASB NZ$84.58, Kiwibank NZ$108.39, PayPal NZ$226.85.

The Pacific caveat needs saying here, given who lives in the valley: Wise does not support transfers to Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea or the Cook Islands. For those destinations you need a Pacific-focused remittance provider or a bank service, and this page will not pretend otherwise. Fiji is supported, as is the Philippines.

See our guide to sending money overseas from New Zealand, with corridor detail for Australia, the Philippines and India. To benchmark your own bank, see NZ bank international transfer fees or the Kiwibank vs Wise comparison.

Hutt Valley technology and engineering firms invoicing offshore should look at Wise Business for batch payments, Xero integration and local account details for receiving foreign currency. On safety: Wise Payments Ltd operates in New Zealand as a foreign entity and is not licensed by a New Zealand regulator, but is supervised by the Department of Internal Affairs for anti-money-laundering purposes.

The nearest airport exchange desk

Wellington Airport is about twenty-five minutes from Queensgate and is where nearly all Hutt Valley international journeys begin. Our Wellington Airport currency exchange guide covers what's available there. The honest advice, though, is to use Queensgate instead: the mall counters are open seven days until at least 5pm, and airport desks carry the widest margins in the country precisely because their customers have no alternative left. Buying at the airport when you drove past two counters on the way is the single most avoidable cost on this page.

For more choice, Wellington CBD is fifteen minutes away and has several counters including Lambton Quay. Nearby pages: Palmerston North is about two hours north. See also currency exchange near me and the cheapest way to exchange money in New Zealand.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a currency exchange in Lower Hutt?

Yes, two — both inside Queensgate Shopping Centre on Queens Drive. Travelex trades from the ground floor, Monday to Wednesday 9am to 6pm, Thursday 9am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 5.30pm. Travel Money NZ is at Shop S110, reported as Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm.

Can I exchange money in Lower Hutt on a Sunday?

Yes. Both Queensgate counters trade seven days, which makes Lower Hutt better served than most New Zealand cities — the counters in Palmerston North, Nelson and Whangārei are all weekday-only. Confirm Sunday hours on the day, as Travelex's own listing and the mall directory disagree slightly.

Is it better to exchange money in Lower Hutt or Wellington?

Start at Queensgate, because two counters in one building let you compare boards in two minutes, and on NZ$2,000 the gap between counters can be NZ$40 or more. Wellington CBD is only fifteen minutes away and has several more counters including on Lambton Quay, so it is worth a look if you need an unusual currency or a large amount.

Does Queensgate have a No1 Currency branch?

We could not verify one. Some comparison sites list No1 Currency at the corner of Queens Drive and Bunny Street, which is simply Queensgate's address, but No1 Currency's own published network is Auckland-based. It appears to be a stale or duplicated listing. The two counters we can confirm are Travelex and Travel Money NZ.

Can I get foreign cash from a bank in Lower Hutt?

No. ANZ stopped selling foreign cash on 14 November 2020 and ASB on 2 July 2021, BNZ and Kiwibank have also exited the service, and Westpac ended in-branch foreign cash on 30 January 2026. High Street and Jackson Street branches can still send international transfers and open foreign currency accounts. Westpac and ASB both now refer customers to Travelex.

How much does it cost to exchange NZ$2,000 at Queensgate?

Around NZ$100 at a 5% spread from the mid-market rate, or roughly NZ$140 at 7%, depending on the currency and the day. Because there are two counters in the same mall, comparing the boards is the easiest saving available — and converting the same amount at the mid-market rate with a fee from 0.25% costs single-digit dollars.

Should I buy travel money at Queensgate or Wellington Airport?

At Queensgate. Airport desks carry the widest margins in New Zealand because they sell to people with no remaining alternative, and Queensgate is on your way with seven-day hours. Buy a NZ$150–300 arrival float at the mall and put the rest on a mid-market-rate card.

What is the cheapest way to send money overseas from Lower Hutt?

Where the destination is supported, Wise was cheapest in third-party comparison data on a NZ$5,000 transfer to the United States at NZ$16.37, against NZ$77.46 at BNZ, NZ$84.58 at ASB and NZ$108.39 at Kiwibank. Note that Wise does not support Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea or the Cook Islands — relevant to many Hutt Valley families. Fiji and the Philippines are supported.

Notes on sourcing

Verified: Travelex Queensgate location, phone number and hours, cross-checked against both Travelex's own store page and Queensgate Shopping Centre's own store directory. Travel Money NZ's presence at Shop S110 Queensgate and its phone number. ANZ (14 November 2020), ASB (2 July 2021) and Westpac (30 January 2026) foreign cash withdrawal dates, from each bank's own notices. Wise pricing, currency coverage, unsupported countries and NZ regulatory status, from Wise's own pages. Transfer benchmark from third-party comparison data.

Could not verify: Travelex Queensgate's exact Sunday opening time — the mall directory and Travelex's own page disagree, and we have shown the mall's figure with the conflict flagged rather than choosing silently. Travel Money NZ Queensgate's hours, which are directory-sourced rather than taken from the operator's own page. Any separate No1 Currency counter at Queensgate; we found no evidence and have not listed it as an option. Whether either counter charges commission on top of its board rate. Exact ATM locations, named by area. Live board rates — the NZ$2,000 figures are an illustrative 5–7% spread, not a quote. The exact dates BNZ and Kiwibank exited foreign cash: news reporting indicates BNZ stopped in April and Kiwibank in November 2019, but we could not confirm BNZ's year from a primary source, so no BNZ date is asserted here.