Transferwise No longer have FSA registration Send money to the USA

Susan1942

I want to send £1000 to my Brother in the USA. This year my Granddaughter has attended an American University and I have paid her Dorm. fees. I send the money via my bank and Swift Transfer. I had to do it twice for the 2 Semesters. It cost me a fee of £25 to my bank and $25 by the bank in the US. This is about £44 depending the exchange. I asked the question on Friday on these forums and I was advised that Transferwise by Chico who answered my post. I had bombed an already discussion. I was looking at the articles on Martin Lewis articles have found that Transferwise no longer have FCA cover for cash transfers. Only for e money and I have no idea what eMoney is and how it works
I have noted from that article that there are several other companies who do transfers AZIMO TRAVEL MAXIMISER ETC,
What advice can anyone give me please.
My Brother has send me his bank details but he has not given me any International Bank Swift Tranfer number. He does not know what this is but will ask his bank.
For the US College
I needed the bank and address of their bank

ABA Bank Routing no which I understand is our Sort Code
Bank account no.

International Bank Acct (Swift Code)

My Brother has sent me everything as I say but I am not sure if I will need a Swift Code if I am sending the money by any of these companies.
I am elderly 77 so just want to made sure that I do all this correctly. I would appreciate any advice or recommendations'

Thanks Sue

colsten

I am not sure what you mean when you say Transferwise no longer have FCA cover for cash transfers. Transferwise is fully authorised by the FCA for international money transfers. Do you perhaps mean they have no FSCS protection? No international transfer is covered by FSCS.

TransferWise can only deliver USD to US checking and saving accounts if the account accepts third-party ACH payments. An explanation of ACH is here. The Transferwise rules for sending money to the US are covered here: https://transferwise.com/help/14/currencies/2932150/usd-transfers. I believe you simply need the routing number and account number of the recipient, along with their name and address and whether it's a checking or a savings account.

Regarding other firms such as AZIMO TRAVEL MAXIMISER ETC: never heard of them. I would always use Transferwise myself, if at all possible.

masonic

E-money is a stored form of monetary value created by a financial services company. There is some information here: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/payment-services-regulations-e-money-regulations#2

You would not be covered by the FSCS if the firm processing your e-money transfer went bust. However, you can mitigate this risk by not holding the funds with the provider for any longer than is necessary to complete the transfer.

Transferwise is probably your best option. Other smaller providers are at greater risk of becoming insolvent.

eDicky

If you sign up with TransferWise then begin arranging the transfer, you will see what details are needed. It will be the regular account details of the US account for receiving a domestic transfer by ACH, unlikely to include SWIFT/BIC.

Susan1942

Thanks so much for your responses. I did read a thread on MSE and when you go to the last page it talks about how Transferwise had at one time 2 different addresses or businesses. Things changed and it said that their eMoney was covered but not bank transfers . I had a lot of trouble finding the thread again.
You all obviously use Transferwise and if you state that you have had no problems using this company then that is probably ok with me. I did read a lot of info on that particular thread. It quite cleared stated that only eMoney was covered
You seem to think I don't need a Swift Code. I only know about it because the College of Charleston sent me all the information that I needed to complete. I actually did both transactions on my online bank account. I had gone into my bank but did not have my passport with me for identification. I don't drive so no licence. The bank told me that it was simple to do online and it actually was. The only problem was that I didn't know that there would be a charge of $25 from some middle bank so there was a shortfall in the payment received. I did ask the University if they make a charge but they don't. My Granddaughter paid this when she was arrived at the University. I learned the next time that $25 covers up to $5000 and by $5 for every thousand above this.
Thank you all for the advice you have given me, I do appreciate it.
I will sort it out in the next couple of days

Sue

londoninvestor

Susan1942 wrote: »

You seem to think I don't need a Swift Code. I only know about it because the College of Charleston sent me all the information that I needed to complete.

They'll be assuming that as a non-American you don't have an account which can send money by ACH (which is fee-free), and so that you have to use SWIFT. But Transferwise can send by ACH, so if you explain that to the college then they should be able to give you the appropriate details.

Susan1942

I have read the help article regarding what is required to process the transaction and there does not seem to be a requirement for Swift Code. Thank you all again Sue

londoninvestor

Susan1942 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your responses. I did read a thread on MSE and when you go to the last page it talks about how Transferwise had at one time 2 different addresses or businesses. Things changed and it said that their eMoney was covered but not bank transfers . I had a lot of trouble finding the thread again.

It's pages 24-25 of this:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1312755/sending-money-overseas-article-discussion

Briefly:

• Transferwise was formerly authorised only to provide payment services (i.e. to do money transfers but not to hold a balance on your behalf).
• It then switched to an e-money registration, which allows it both to do money transfers and to hold a balance for you (but note, that balance is not FSCS-protected).
• A poster on this thread didn't realise that e-money authorisation includes the ability to provide payment services, and so was under the misapprehension that Transferwise had lost its authorisation for money transfers.

I wouldn't get sucked into it, but to set your mind at rest you can see that according to the FCA, Transferwise "is a firm that has our permission to issue electronic money (e-money) and provide payment services."
https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000001EjC6SAAV

colsten

eDicky wrote: »

If you sign up with TransferWise then begin arranging the transfer, you will see what details are needed. It will be the regular account details of the US account for receiving a domestic transfer by ACH, unlikely to include SWIFT/BIC.

It's exactly what I did - logged into my Transferwise account and started a transfer to the us. They don't ask for a SWIFT code. Just a routing code, account number and name/address of the recipient.

In fact, if you don't have the recipient's bank details, all you need is their email address. Transferwise will then email them and ask them for their bank details. If the recipient doesn't respond, Transferwise will return your money. Not sure whether they will return the original amount or the amount after fees - so I would always try and give the proper bank details. It shouldn't be too hard to get an American account holder to know what their routing code and account number is.

Susan1942

Thank you so much for the explanations. I do appreciate it..I have all the information Bank address Sort Code Bank.Account no plus as it is a joint account my SIL name on.account etc
Looks like it is ready to go
Thanks a million She

Susan1942

I have started to fill in the form etc for the transfer Looked at the rate of the $ 1.16 My bank rate is $1.277 While Transferwise would actually cost me more than it would be rather than transfer via the bank. Am I reading this correctly? £25 + $25 would seem to be less expensive for £1000

Please check this for me and see if my thinking if correct Thanks Sue