Sending money abroad

davidlizard

Not sure if this is best asked on the travel board or the current account board ...

We have a requirement to send money to Greece half a dozen times a year, each transaction being around £30-£50, and usually to different people.

We usually send this via an IBAN transfer, but our bank (Alliance and Leicester) charges us £16 each time to do this.

Can anyone advise on the cheapest way (that is reliable of course!) to send such sums of money to Greece.

For example, are there any no strings bank accounts worth having that do very cheap IBAN transfers, or are there other ways to send money. Things like Western Union are no use as the nearest office is usually a 3 hour ferry ride away for many recipients. I am not confident sending cash in the post.

All advice gratefully received.

Dave

poe.tuesday

I send cash in a registered letter to Germany, it's a new system that the post office has, go and chat to them to see if it's the same for sending cash to Greese

loobs40

I would never send cash through regular post. Last year a friend sent us some euros in a card within a card in an padded envelope.

The envelope arrived minus the cash.

josie

davidlizard wrote: »

Not sure if this is best asked on the travel board or the current account board ...

We have a requirement to send money to Greece half a dozen times a year, each transaction being around £30-£50, and usually to different people.

We usually send this via an IBAN transfer, but our bank (Alliance and Leicester) charges us £16 each time to do this.

Can anyone advise on the cheapest way (that is reliable of course!) to send such sums of money to Greece.

For example, are there any no strings bank accounts worth having that do very cheap IBAN transfers, or are there other ways to send money. Things like Western Union are no use as the nearest office is usually a 3 hour ferry ride away for many recipients. I am not confident sending cash in the post.

All advice gratefully received.

Dave

Lloyds do an economy rate for £10 - takes up to 5 days from memory, but as long as you've got the IBAN number should be fine.

Murtle

What about using nochex or paypal?

dzug

International Recorded Delivery is the way to go - £3.50 plus the normal postage plus I think a small amount for extra insurance (up to £100 - the maximum for cash).

A few countries don't allow cash in the mail - you'd need to check if Greece is one of them.

Crabman

Paypal is an option - free for you and they only pay a small fee to withdraw the balance.

Or, dependent on trust, you could set up a Nationwide Debit Card with second accountholder as the individual in Greece though remember that the statements and any balances are dealt with by you in this country. It basically functions as if you were abroad and spending on the debit card.

Read Martin's article for the full details and other ways: Sending Money Overseas: Moving money large or small

Article Discussion Thread

poe.tuesday

dzug wrote: »

International Recorded Delivery is the way to go - £3.50 plus the normal postage plus I think a small amount for extra insurance (up to £100 - the maximum for cash).

A few countries don't allow cash in the mail - you'd need to check if Greece is one of them.

that's the one I use, never had any problems with money going missing

dzug

Having checked the rules, Greece is one of the countries that does NOT allow cash (notes, coin) to be sent by post. This means that if you send it:

the chances of it getting there are reduced
you forfeit any right to compensation if it goes missing, even if you pay for insurance.

mcfisco

£30-£50 ...... I'd probably just send it normal post as a letter & take the chance as long as I didn't need any proof of delivery.

Saying that, I have no idea what the Greek postal system is like for missing letters etc.

davidlizard

Many thanks all. I think paypal looks like being the way to go, otherwise I will use Lloyds.

The Greek postal service don't seem too bad (my postcards home seem to get here eventually) - its the one in the UK I don't trust, given every single item of any bulk that is delivered will almost certainly been pilfered, but thats a separate rant on the consumer vent board.

Cheers all.