Sending Money Overseas article discussion

Dr_Dr · 21 June 2014 at 8:08PM

I am the executor of someone who I knew long ago.

This person spent time in The Gambia and has named someone there as a beneficiary (of a very large sum).

I know nothing about this person. All I have is a name and effectively a Box number. I have written three times to try and make contact but have been unsuccessful so far. I do have some other leads though and am reasonably confident that I will get through.

There is a great deal of corruption in The Gambia.

My concern is this, when I make contact with someone, how do I know this is the correct person, how can I protect myself against someone simply saying they are the person and how can I tell that the bank I am sending the money to is the right place?

Any advice received with extreme gratitude!

atticusfinch99 · 9 July 2014 at 11:56AM

Hi,

I'm starting as a student in the US in August, and will need to make regular transfers from my Dad to me once I'm there.

My question is, is there any down side to using online services such as transferwise.com for regular transfers such as this in the amount of around say $2,000 per month?

Our bank has no linked banks where I will be, and specialist plastic is not an option - so the two options for sending regular payments in the article aren't ideal for me. Also, we recently transfered money to my future housemates directly through our bank (Handelsbanken), and in addition to the fee we knew we were charged, the recipient was charged a $15 fee and he received slightly less money than what was removed from our account. So that was very unimpressive.

It seems to me the online fee-free route is the best, but why is it not recommended for regular payments? I also saw that the Post Office have a service for regular payments to the US, does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

m5rcc · 9 July 2014 at 12:01PM

atticusfinch99 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm starting as a student in the US in August, and will need to make regular transfers from my Dad to me once I'm there.

My question is, is there any down side to using online services such as transferwise.com for regular transfers such as this in the amount of around say $2,000 per month?

Our bank has no linked banks where I will be, and specialist plastic is not an option - so the two options for sending regular payments in the article aren't ideal for me. Also, we recently transfered money to my future housemates directly through our bank (Handelsbanken), and in addition to the fee we knew we were charged, the recipient was charged a $15 fee and he received slightly less money than what was removed from our account. So that was very unimpressive.

It seems to me the online fee-free route is the best, but why is it not recommended for regular payments? I also saw that the Post Office have a service for regular payments to the US, does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

I would personally have a specialist credit-card that offers spot rates for day-to-day stuff which can be paid more often that the standard Direct Debit date but I don't see why you can use a P"P site for regular payments. I use CurrencyFair (offer better rates than Transferwise) for regular payments to Spain with no issues...

simon.seabiscuit · 8 September 2014 at 6:26PM

Hi everyone,

I am planning to get married overseas in Hong Kong early next year - my fiancee has dual citizenship and has a HSBC account over there. Up to now my fiancees sister who is based in Hong Kong has helped pay for various deposits and we owe her around 120000 HK dollars (approx £9000). Also we plan a quick trip back to Hong Kong just before the wedding to sort out various things.
Plan is to pay back fiancees sister now and then to transfer some money to my fiancees hong kong bank account (maybe up to 10k+).
I've already got a quote from my own bank barclays which is planning to charge £35 and rate not great. Reading Martin's article the best way is to use the specialist companies such as Curriences Direct or HiFX - is that correct? And if so has anybody had any experience using these companies

Many thanks in advance

Emanef · 10 September 2014 at 11:37AM

Hi all

I'm after some advice please. We're in Dubai and my wife is still paid in sterling into a UK HSBC account. She has a UAE local HSBC account so can transfer money through that, but it's not the best exhange rate.

I've looked at XE and Western Union in comparison to a HSBC transfer and on a £2000 transfer Western Union gives us around £12 more AED than XE and £26 more than HSBC.

Are there any other options I should be looking at?

And is Western Union (online) reliable? I've always thought it was some sort of dodgy thing as you always see queues of foreigners outside their shops sending money all over the place!

Thanks - I know this may already have been asked but there are 100+ pages to this thread and it's just too much to wade through effectively!

grumbler · 10 September 2014 at 12:10PM

https://www.fxcompared.com/Content/money-transfer-from-UK-United%20Arab%20Emirates-below-3000-amount-2000

Re WU, I think it's perfectly reliable unless you pay to some fraudster.

baby_frogmella · 10 September 2014 at 12:31PM

Emanef wrote: »

Hi all

I'm after some advice please. We're in Dubai and my wife is still paid in sterling into a UK HSBC account. She has a UAE local HSBC account so can transfer money through that, but it's not the best exhange rate.

Does she have a HSBC Advance account in UAE? If not convert it to one and you'll find you'll get excellent exchange rates when transferring to/from a bog standard UK HSBC current account using the online Global Transfer service. Fee is only 25 AED or so per transfer and transfers are instant.

fletchdt · 26 October 2014 at 1:16PM

Hi, I have just moved back to the England after living in Cambodia for 8 years and i would like to send money back to my wife on a regular basis who is still living over there at the moment. I have tried a few money transfer companies listed in the article but they either dont send money to Cambodia or the amount i want to send is below the min amount that they can send. Does anybody have any recommendations please?

I was also thinking of sending the money by Paypal. Does anyone know if my wife sets up a new Paypal account in Cambodia, can be linked direct to her bank account?

Thanks

grumbler · 26 October 2014 at 1:47PM

fletchdt wrote: »

Does anyone know if my wife sets up a new Paypal account in Cambodia, can be linked direct to her bank account?

Do you really think that it's better to ask this on a UK forum rather than check/ask https://www.paypal.com/kh/webapps/mpp/home?

Withdraw money from my account

That said, I don't see Cambodia in the list, but be prepared to get charged ~4% for currency conversion and ~0.5% for sending. Check other e-wallets like Skrill and Neteller.

The cheapest option is a UK card that doesn't charge for currency conversion and that you can send to your wife, but after 8 years away you are unlikely to get one. However, you can try getting a card that charges ~2.75% - that will be cheaper than PP.

Cheap Travel Cards

bleeper999 · 3 December 2014 at 10:31AM

For some years now I've been sending travellers cheques to my relatives in Australia for Xmas presents.
You have to sign in both places, but if you put their name in the "Payee" space, it acts just like a cheque without all the hassle.
Travellers cheques are free, you only pay for the value of it, and are so light they dont add anything to the weight of the card you are sending it with! The recipient just pays it into their bank like an ordinary cheque.... Simples!
Sadly, banks are trying to do away with travellers cheques.
:beer:

Sending Money Overseas article discussion

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