Paying via Transfer to Foreign Bank Account

[audreyh1]

OK - thanks.

[bingybear]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Yeah - OK. Thanks. I have a message into Fidelity Private Client Group, and I'll call them if they don't answer my questions sufficiently. I didn't find anything on the Fidelity site about buying foreign currency.

look at these links. fidelity uses one of their subsidiaries


capital markets


foreign currency wiring

I did my transfers over a decade ago.

[HarveyS]

I trade USD for Singapore $ on the Fidelity web site. Your rep can walk you thru this. The trade requires you go to the black trade tab, then at the bottom of the screen choose "expanded". Then you can find currency. They charge a 1% currency conversion fee.
Then I visit my local branch to fill out the paperwork for the wire transfer of SGD to a singapore account. This may be a problem if there is no local branch as I believe you have to visit in person for the paperwork. Check with your rep.
Since you will be making multiple transactions, request to be set up with a "Standing Instructions" form. Then you can just call in your request. For me, easy peasy.
I was just at Fido yesterday doing this, and learned of the standing instructions.

[audreyh1]

Thanks.

I don’t have a local branch, but I believe they will accept mailed instructions.

[deserat]

I've read this thread with interest as I may be moving back to Europe for a few years. I also have European clients and they pay me in Euros. I belong to a credit union that allows foreign bill pay, Service Credit Union, and they have an IBAN number associated with my account as well as a German address for one of their branches. I have my account with them for that reason: the IBAN number as it allows electronic transfer of funds throughout Europe.

If you are willing to have another account, then you might look into Service Credit Union. I've found I can live in Europe and not worry about FBAR or other issues due to the dual numbering system: ACH and IBAN.

[audreyh1]

Very interesting.

[deserat]

Just to add - if you are living on the economy in Europe, nowadays you have to send many of your bills electronically -your rent, your water, electricity, etc. Having the account with an IBAN allows them to pull from your account, like the ACH in the USA...so if the account you want to send money to has an IBAN, the amount can be pulled or pushed in Euros - I don't know if this also works that way in GBR, although, I wouldn't be surprised if it does.....you choose the base currencyfor your account (US$) but the credit union manages the exchange, etc, receiving the monies in the currency sent and then converting as it hits your account.

Hope that helps.

[deserat]

OK - just went and looked at their website it's even better than I thought. They offer international bill pay in 19 different currencies to 40 different couuntries and they offer a V Card, which is the chip and pin card used throughout Europe - exclusive to Europe. They also have an IBAN and BIC code for your account. This essentially makes your account a European account.

You just need a checking account there. Membership criteria is here: https://servicecu.org/about-scu/become-a-member/

Info in their international services is here:
https://servicecu.org/military-banki...onal-services/

[bigreader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigNick Yes. You can either "Send $1000" or "Ensure the other party gets €1000". If you choose the latter, it will say "You need to send us $1145.67" or whatever. The rate is fixed for about 24 hours. Another TransferWise product is their "borderless bank account". This is kind of like a 2-stage transfer. First you send money (say, in USD) to your borderless account. Then, at any later point, you can send € from that account to a € payee, or £ to someone in the UK, because your borderless account also has Euro (SEPA) and Sterling (BACS) account numbers, as well as ABA and ACH routing numbers. Conversions are done at the mid-rate and their commission is usually a fraction of a percent. Even better, but not yet available to US customers, is that you can get a debit card for the borderless account. With this, you have a card that works in Switzerland like a CHF card, in Germany like a EUR card, and in Denmark like a DKK card. You can put a balance in each of those currencies on it and convert between them at any time. Every payment is done in the local currency. If you try to pay 100DKK and your DKK balance is only 80, it will convert a few EUR or USD to DKK and charge you a couple of cents. On a trip round Europe this can save a lot of money in card usage fees. I very rarely get enthusiastic about any consumer item, but I unhesitatingly recommend TransferWise. (They have a referral program. DM me if you want to be my first official referral - there is a bonus for both of us!)

I haven't used TransferWise for very long, but I am a fan. They recently opened the debit card option to US residents as a test. It has limited withdraws (I think $250 a month) but I signed up and will try it out when I travel.


BR

[Cut-Throat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I have a tour that requires payment by bank transfer (they say wire) and will send me the instructions for transferring funds to their company bank. Payment will be initially 30%, the remainder a couple of months later. The total is ~ €6500. I'm sure Fidelity handles foreign bank transfers. But I don't know the fees involved or yet how to set such a thing up. Is this something that I should try to do via TransferWise? And do I set up an account with them? It's all very mysterious to me. Thanks for any help. Audrey

I have been in a similar situation and I said I could pay with PayPal in Euros and cover all the Fees..... They agreed and that is how I did it

[bigreader]

PayPal also has a service called Xoom for foreign payments that is, I think, a bit cheaper but not as cheap as TransferWise.



BR

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat I have been in a similar situation and I said I could pay with PayPal in Euros and cover all the Fees..... They agreed and that is how I did it

I thought PayPal fees to the vendor were like 6%.

I went with Fidelity for the deposit. Compared with the VISA 0% euro conversion rate for the same day I paid like 2.55% for the transfer, no other fees and the recipient got the full amount in Euros.

[Cut-Throat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I thought PayPal fees to the vendor were like 6%. I went with Fidelity for the deposit. Compared with the VISA 0% euro conversion rate for the same day I paid like 2.55% for the transfer, no other fees and the recipient got the full amount in Euros.

Paypal Fees are around 2.9%

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat Paypal Fees are around 2.9%

When I paid some deposits I saw much higher fees.

[Scrapr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 When I paid some deposits I saw much higher fees.

We take CC for our business and 2.9% is about right.

You say you paid deposits.Like for tours and such? Maybe the vendor doubled up to capture some margin?

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrapr We take CC for our business and 2.9% is about right. You say you paid deposits.Like for tours and such? Maybe the vendor doubled up to capture some margin?

Deposit for a B&B reservation. The statement in euros was from PayPal and showed the PayPal fees.

[audreyh1]

OK - I have another application. This time a potentially large gift to a family member with a European bank account. I will probably cut up transfers into chunks. I don't intend to use the borderless account feature.

From this thread and another recent one (http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ise-95948.html), several of you have been very comfortable with Transferwise and used it repeatedly. But the recent online review articles have quite aggressively negative comments, such as this one from NerdWallet https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/bank...erwise-review/ . At some level the negative comments seem a bit orchestrated as they repeat on different articles, but it's still intimidating.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 OK - I have another application. This time a potentially large gift to a family member in Europe. I will probably cut up transfers into chunks. I don't intend to use the borderless account feature. From this thread and another recent one (http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ise-95948.html), several of you have been very comfortable with Transferwise and used it repeatedly. But the recent online review articles have quite aggressively negative comments, such as this one from NerdWallet https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/bank...erwise-review/ . At some level the negative comments seem a bit orchestrated as they repeat on different articles, but it's still intimidating.

I followed your link and don’t see any negative comments, let alone aggressively negative comments. Am I missing something?

I made a $20k transfer recently after the UK pound dropped below $1.20 and it was the usual smooth same day experience. I have free wire transfers with my US bank so use the wire option instead of ACH which is cheaper and faster.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan I followed your link and don’t see any negative comments, let alone aggressively negative comments. Am I missing something? I made a $20k transfer recently after the UK pound dropped below $1.20 and it was the usual smooth same day experience. I have free wire transfers with my US bank so use the wire option instead of ACH which is cheaper and faster.

In the reader comments section below the article:

• Stay away from Transferwise. They are do not care about customers and put you in (awkward) situation (usually called blackmailing)....
• All these 5 star reviews are fake, generated by their PR marketing team so don`t fall for positive reviews as they are fake....
• I've tried to send only 1000 dollars to my partner abroad, after 3 days of waiting and while they are saying that the money should arrive today, suddenly the account has been deactivated and I can't login anymore. no reason, no explanation.
• TransferWise just took $1000 from my business checking account. Their phone number was even on the transaction. I"VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS COMPANY....
• SCAMMERS AND THIEVES, STAY AWAY!
  I have sent all requested documents and info and got my account verified. After that I got two payments for legally and hardworking earned money from well-known company that have impeccable reputation. TransferWise simply deactivated my account without any warning, question or explanation and stolen 680$ that I had on my account....

And those are just the lead-ins on the first comments. It continues in a similar vein.

I see similar reader comments on other TransferWise review articles.

[bigreader]

I do see the comments. My experiences, which generally have been the transfer of money to payees in Europe and in Euros, have been great. If you are concerned, you have the right idea in breaking the transfer into more digestible bites. If you are still concerned, you might want to look at Xoom (which is a PayPal company). I have used them in the past. They were very good, cheaper than PayPal or my bank, but more expensive than TransferWise.

I never know who to trust on the internet, but Transferwise's Trustpilot rating is quite good with a huge volume of reviews and positive recent reviews.


br