Getting paid from the US

poetrybug

Hi!

So I'm doing some work for a company based in the US and will be receiving regular payments from them. Tax stuff is sorted but figuring out the cheapest way for them to send the money and me to get it is a pain!

An international transfer would cost them over $100 and Paypal would sting me on the exchange rate. Atm the cheapest option looks like them posting me cheques but then I'd have to post the cheques off to the bank's special 'foreign' team and they *could* end up taking 6-8 weeks to cash.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Any advice would be much appreciated!

terra_ferma

check this out:
https://transferwise.com/getpaid

This guide is for sending money, but international or USA based services should work both ways
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange

poetrybug

Wow thanks! The Transferwise thing looks great, I can live with 1% fees. Are there any hidden catches?

duchy

I used to pay US$ cheques into my HSBC account without issue.

PenguinJim

If you have a US bank account, you can easily beat the banks with UKForex - better than the best MSE TravelMoneyMax check. UKForex are here, or you can hunt down my referral thread in the referral forum and we'll both get a £10 Amazon voucher, too!

terra_ferma

poetrybug wrote: »

Wow thanks! The Transferwise thing looks great, I can live with 1% fees. Are there any hidden catches?

The only 'catch' is that they take a little bit extra to cover themselves against exchange fluctuations, something like 0.5%, but it will show in full before you pay. I used it twice and I got the full amount back both times. The money was received very quickly (it was in Europe).
I will be using them from now on, much cheaper and easier to use than my bank.

Hezzawithkids

Can't they transfer funds direct into your bank account using the IBAN number? Every bank account has one and it's how I got paid from overseas for a while. You may need to pay a fee for each transfer but it should be <£10.

poetrybug

They're thrilled with the Transferwise thing, looks like the best option. Thank you Terra Ferma!

Hezzawithkids- unfortunately it would cost $110 from their end!

Stevie_Palimo

I often receive payments into my account from two Company's in the states and neither has ever stated a fee being levied to pay me !!!

terra_ferma

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

I often receive payments into my account from two Company's in the states and neither has ever stated a fee being levied to pay me !!!

This is what Wikipedia say about it:

In the United States, domestic wire transfers are governed by Federal Regulation J[5] and by Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code.[6] US wire transfers are costly, for example, as of November 2011 the Bank Of America charged $25 to send a wire and $12 to receive one within the U.S. For international transfer, it charged $35–$45 outgoing, $16 incoming.[7] However, fees may vary from bank to bank. Credit Unions charge a little less. For example, Delta Community Credit Union has an outgoing fee of $15 for domestic wires, and varying fees for international wires. However, they do not have an incoming wire fee. ACH transfers are much less expensive or even free of charge as part of online banking packages.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_transfer#International

Stevie_Palimo

terra_ferma wrote: »

This is what Wikipedia say about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_transfer#International

Well that is new to me and I have never had any money deducted nor told of fee's being paid there end to pay me.