Pay by BIC Code, Swift Code, IBAN, BLZ

[sengsational]

I've run into this twice in so many years where a smallish proprietor said that credit card fees eat them alive, so said I could pay 1.039 time the fee in PayPal (3.9% is PayPal's cut), or I could transfer the money directly to their bank. In this case , it's just €200 for the deposit.

My first thought was just use PayPal (that's what I did last time), but I wondered if anyone here has tried the other. Searching this site didn't turn up any of those banking wire terms, so if anyone has used that method, they didn't relay any successes/failures.

If this is a wire as opposed to ACH, I have a feeling that a bank or credit union would probably charge $20 or $40 or something, so PayPal would be the better deal. But if it's is ACH, then it could be free/cheap. I've messaged my credit union and will report back on what they say. But if anyone has any experience, please advise.

 

[braumeister]

Likely it would just be a wire transfer.

Here are the abbreviations:
List of abbreviations used in bank funds transfers

 

[Alan]

We have done this a few times, last time for a place we were renting in Ireland in 2013. It's bank to bank but is not a wire but I'm not sure exactly what it is.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Very common here in Europe. Nobody writes checks anymore, and often this type of bank transfer, using BIC, IBAN, and some type of PIN is the ONLY way that many people and businesses will accept your payment. I do this several times every month for various businesses.

 

[Fedup]

We used credit card I believe for protection. But I think we did pay a small fee.

 

[Totoro]

Very common here in Europe. Nobody writes checks anymore, and often this type of bank transfer, using BIC, IBAN, and some type of PIN is the ONLY way that many people and businesses will accept your payment. I do this several times every month for various businesses.

Only France still does checks I believe. For the rest of us checks feel like the stone age of payments. I haven't seen a check around here since the early 90s or so.

Most bank transfers within the EU are free (private) or a few cents at most (commercial), and we all use BIC/IBAN since a few years.

My local bank (not the cheapest one) charges 0.1% of the amount for wiring outside the EU, with a maximum of 55 EUR per transaction.

 

[Alan]

Very common here in Europe. Nobody writes checks anymore, and often this type of bank transfer, using BIC, IBAN, and some type of PIN is the ONLY way that many people and businesses will accept your payment. I do this several times every month for various businesses.

Same with me, don't ever send checks, even transferring money between friends and relatives is easy, bank to bank, free and completes within a couple of hours.

UK banks have been trying to do away with paper checks for years and even set a deadline a few years back for the demise of the paper check. However, within the last couple of weeks they have given up on that plan and announced that they will soon introduce the ability to do mobile paper check deposits that will clear and be in your account the same day.

 

[Meadbh]

In Canada we commonly use a Interac etransfers to pay small businesses and transfer money between friends. Transfers are treated like debits and may be free, depending on your account type. Do you have this in the US?

Interac - Faster Payments

Edited to add:
Maybe not. It seems to be a Canadian thing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interac

"As of 2001 the number of transactions completed via Interac Direct Payment has surpassed those completed using physical money."

 

[akck]

When I was w*rking many years ago, we had to sent a quick payment to Europe. I think we needed an IBAN number, but our local bank wasn't part of the system. I ended up arranging payment through our custodian bank (had international dealings), and sent a timely payment. So, check with your bank to see if they're part of the system. Later, I saw that my credit union could make foreign payments as they had a partnership with an international bank.

 

[sengsational]

I got a reply from my credit union. They said international wire transfers cost $45

Obviously not going that route since PayPal is only $8.

... announced that they will soon introduce the ability to do mobile paper check deposits that will clear and be in your account the same day.

I wonder if these merchants will be able to accept US paper checks....I could just email them a picture of the check and they could deposit it.

 

[Meadbh]

I wonder if these merchants will be able to accept US paper checks....I could just email them a picture of the check and they could deposit it.

I think that is highly unlikely, but I suppose it's worth asking.

 

[Alan]

I got a reply from my credit union. They said international wire transfers cost $45

Obviously not going that route since PayPal is only $8.


I wonder if these merchants will be able to accept US paper checks....I could just email them a picture of the check and they could deposit it.

They do accept paper checks from US banks and convert them to £ provided you have a UK bank account but mobile check deposits from foreign banks is highly unlikely to ever happen.