Can anyone recommend a bank that does cheap international wire transfers who don't care about the amount? (i.e. same fee for transfering $1000 or $100,000) Currently I'm looking at Fleet which is $17 per transfer and First Union which is $12 per transfer but there is a $25 monthly fee. Any help/recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
This is actually one of c2it major selling points if your recipient's country is listed on c2it.
You don't get the kind of service (speed) and legal protection you get with wires, though; you get what you paid for. There's also a $2000 per 4-day limit.
<< This is actually one of c2it major selling points if your recipient's country is listed on c2it.
You don't get the kind of service (speed) and legal protection you get with wires, though; you get what you paid for. There's also a $2000 per 4-day limit. >>
Thanks for your prompt replies, although I need something more secure than c2it, and if c2it has a $2000 per 4 day limit, that will do no good since I plan to send varying amounts that can range up to $30,000. Any other suggestions?
Check with your local credit unions and see if they offer international wires.
Is the $12 per transfer-fee a special rate? That's really cheap! Taking a glance at Wachovia.com, I see a bunch of accounts with low fees/ reasonable fee-waiving requirements.
The lowest cost of international wire transfers I have seen is at State Farm Bank: http://www.statefarm.com/bank/fees.htm I do not have an account at StateFarm so I can not tell if there are any hidden fees. I do not think there are any because State Farm seems to be a very customer-friendly bank.
Smith Barney offers free international wire transfers thru Citibank for "qualified" accounts. Check at your local branch about minimum balance requirement for this service.
IMO, c2it is not a good solution. It's exchange rate is not good. If you send big money, the fee is not important, care about only the exchange rate. Only if the target account accepts dollars, then think about the fee
<< I am curious what "plus costs" means and how you can initiate wire transfers without operator. >>
Plus cost usually means the bank itself cannot perform the wire. In BofI's case, it relies on Bank of America, aka FEE-SHARK, for incoming and outgoing int'l wires.
This is often true for smaller banks, including credit unions. That's why you should ask the bank to state clearly in writing what fees you'd incur, both from the bank itself and third-party banks.
However, I would rather spend $30 for sending money abroad with a well-established bank that does thousands of such transfers a day than save $10 and send my money with Tijuana Savings and Loan.
*BECU does not charge a wire transfer fee. However, the member may be charged a fee by any financial institution that originates, receives or processes the transaction; this especially applies to international wires.
That sounds to me they may not be able to handle the wires themselves; they may have to go thru agent banks like BofA.
I guess one of the factor you may want to consider is the total amount you wanna transfer. I regularly wire money outside US. If it's less than $2000-$2500, c2it is better. For more amount, bank wire transfer is better because they give better exchange rate. So eventhough they charge $30, you will end up saving money.
<< This is actually one of c2it major selling points if your recipient's country is listed on c2it.
You don't get the kind of service (speed) and legal protection you get with wires, though; you get what you paid for. There's also a $2000 per 4-day limit. >>
Thanks for your prompt replies, although I need something more secure than c2it, and if c2it has a $2000 per 4 day limit, that will do no good since I plan to send varying amounts that can range up to $30,000. Any other suggestions? >>
Are all of your transfers going to the same country and same person? If yes, then tell that person to ask his/her bank for its "correspondent account" information in the US. Once you have that, then you make your DOMESTIC wire transfer to that "correspondent account", i.e. RECEIVING BANK is the bank-correspondent in US BNF CUSTOMER is the foreign bank BNF ACCOUNT NUMBER is the "correspondent account" number Most importantly MEMO (sometimes called ADDITIONAL INFORMATION) field: "Further credit to (name of the person), account number (account number) with (foreign bank name)"
I have done it several times, and it works perfectly, never had problems. Basically this way instead of making an international transfer, you make a domestic one, which is usually faster and cheaper.
<< IMO, c2it is not a good solution. It's exchange rate is not good. If you send big money, the fee is not important, care about only the exchange rate. Only if the target account accepts dollars, then think about the fee >>
I second that....wanted to send about US$1,500 overseas but only c2it's exchange rate stopped me. Exchange rate wise, it will cost me $100+ if I use c2it (instead of wire transfer) -- this wil clearly offset any charges from wire transfer.
If you are sending money on a regular basis to someone you can trust (eg family), then the best method might be to send them an ATM card. This is what I did. I requested a second ATM card from BoA. Charges-wise, the FOREIGN ATM might charge you a nominal amount. Exchange-rate will be based on inter-bank rate (same as money transfer). This works well for me.
Be careful with credit unions and small banks. Smaller banks often do not have a large wire operations staff or SWIFT membership. They most likely will have to use an intermediary bank, like Citi or BofA. This is where "other costs" get you, and often the receiver. Also, if your bank info isn't accurate, this is where the "lost" wires get stuck, and your bank or credit union has to do extra research.
VagrTiger could you be more specific. Let's say I want to send 5000 to india someaccount@ bank of india in india. there is bank of india in US, NY too. So how would i save the hefty 30 dollar fee? Thanks
<< VagrTiger could you be more specific. Let's say I want to send 5000 to india someaccount@ bank of india in india. there is bank of india in US, NY too. So how would i save the hefty 30 dollar fee? Thanks >>
Well, I thought that I was specific. But I will try again.
In your case if Bank of India, NY, is a branch of the same Bank of India, in India, then give them a call and ask if it's ok to wire money to them for an account holder in India.
If it's not a branch of Bank of India in India (like HSBC bank USA is not a branch of HSBC bank UK, but they are affiliated), then contact your bank in India, and ask their "correspondent account" info in the US. Their "correspondent account" can be with Bank of India, NY, or it can be with another bank in US (you don't care). Then follow the intstructions in my previous posting.
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