Transfer money to the US

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Transfer money to the US

martyyn

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#240411 6-Sep-2018 14:44

I need to transfer some money to a good friend of mine in the US, and no he's not my long lost Uncle :)

We used Paypal last time as it seemed simple enough, but the buggers not only added a 4% fee to the amount at my end, they also removed around 8% at this end.

Is there a better/smarter/cheaper way to do it ?

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#2085081 6-Sep-2018 14:54

I haven't done US recently, but I sent some money to Australia the other day with TransferWise. It takes a couple of days but it's much cheaper than PayPal. Hopefully the US rates are similar.

langi27

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#2085083 6-Sep-2018 14:57

I used transferwise to get money to Japan, worked a treat. https://transferwise.com

CrashAndBurn

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#2085084 6-Sep-2018 14:57

You guys can try OrbitRemit (https://orbitremit.com/r/ubmjdi - Referral Link).

I have used it for 3 different countries already and normally takes a business day or 2 max.

knoydart

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#2085085 6-Sep-2018 14:57

I use Oz Forex, who appear to be waiving fees at the moment. I presume as the transfer game is getting tight as Western Union appears to be attempting to cut fees for transfers world wide.

I've used them over the past 12 years without compliant. Unfortunately the amount of compliance for registration seems to keep increasing, so be prepared to submit your granny's hair colour along with 10% of your offspring to the nearest banking regulator. /s

Senecio

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#2085093 6-Sep-2018 15:09

When you used Paypal did you send it as a gift. If you send it as a gift from you PayPal balance or a verified bank account there there should be no fees?

michaelmurfy

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#2085116 6-Sep-2018 16:00

Guys - if you're going to post referral links please don't try and hide them.

Also it is worth taking a look at your banks fees also - ANZ for example charge $9 for IMT's (Here) and is safer than going via a tool like Transferwise. This however depends how much you're sending. If it is thousands then I'd personally do it via a bank than a third party tool.

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CrashAndBurn

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#2085122 6-Sep-2018 16:06

michaelmurfy:

Guys - if you're going to post referral links please don't try and hide them.

Apologies. I guess I missed that rule. Plus I do see it from time to time on other threads.Hiding it wasnt my intention, but more of utilizing the hyperlink feature. But I do get your point.

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cshwone

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#2085124 6-Sep-2018 16:14

+1 for Oz Forex.Used them monthly for 14 years. Never a hiccup.

stinger

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#2085129 6-Sep-2018 16:28

+1 for Transferwise. Used it many times to transfer money between Australia and New Zealand.

martyyn

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#2085151 6-Sep-2018 17:24

All sounds great, I'll check out the bank and transferwise.

I was sure I'd sent the money as a gift previously but there is nothing on the transaction I can see to tell me one way or another.

MichaelNZ

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#2085155 6-Sep-2018 17:44

michaelmurfy:

Also it is worth taking a look at your banks fees also - ANZ for example charge $9 for IMT's (Here) and is safer than going via a tool like Transferwise. This however depends how much you're sending. If it is thousands then I'd personally do it via a bank than a third party tool.

It's the banks I don't trust.

TBH when it comes to sending money anywhere the banks only understand SWIFT which is a rip off.

Given how much the banks have been trying to shut down the remittance companies (there is a reason TSB is their bank of choice) and how they basically suspect anyone who is not a citizen of New Zealand to be a money launderer (some banks are worse than others) it's the banks who should not be trusted.

I have sent many payments overseas with Orbit Remit and they have never seen me wrong. I can send money to bank accounts overseas or cash pickup - which in the case of the Philippines is a necessary option due to bank accounts being less common there.

OFW's (Filipinos who are working in NZ) send a lot of money to the Philippines via Orbit Remit and the like (OR is the most popular) and Orbit Remit and their contemporaries have built a whole business around this sort of stuff. The banks don'ty have a clue what to do in this sector because they would have to slash their charges to compete so they are left trying to pretend they are far safer than they are.

When I first started using Orbit Remit I also wondered if I could really trust them so I tested the waters with a few small payments. I did the same when I started using their cash pickup service while I was in the Philippines. I quickly found out this works and the players can be trusted.

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sbiddle

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#2085170 6-Sep-2018 18:40

MichaelNZ:

Given how much the banks have been trying to shut down the remittance companies (there is a reason TSB is their bank of choice) and how they basically suspect anyone who is not a citizen of New Zealand to be a money launderer (some banks are worse than others) it's the banks who should not be trusted.

Banks have incredibly strict AML laws they have to comply with. Some companies offering payments sit in a bit of a grey area when it comes to full AML compliance.

Geektastic

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#2085256 6-Sep-2018 21:19

sbiddle:

MichaelNZ:

Given how much the banks have been trying to shut down the remittance companies (there is a reason TSB is their bank of choice) and how they basically suspect anyone who is not a citizen of New Zealand to be a money launderer (some banks are worse than others) it's the banks who should not be trusted.

Banks have incredibly strict AML laws they have to comply with. Some companies offering payments sit in a bit of a grey area when it comes to full AML compliance.

It also leads to really silly situations. I did a trip to Burma a few years ago and had to transfer some funds to a US based travel company. In the transfer form, I described the transfer as "money for Burma trip".

Got a call the next day from ASB telling me the transfer was blocked because I could not transfer money to Burma. I explained that I was not doing so - I was transferring money to Wells Fargo in San Fran. In the end, after one of those circular Groundhog Day bureaucratic nightmare conversations in which I have to restrain my temper and the urgent need to cave someone's head in with a blunt object, I told the bank to cancel the transfer.

The next day, I did exactly the same transfer again, but left out the word Burma on the form. Sailed through without a hitch....

UHD

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#2085285 6-Sep-2018 23:02

Geektastic:

sbiddle:

MichaelNZ:

Given how much the banks have been trying to shut down the remittance companies (there is a reason TSB is their bank of choice) and how they basically suspect anyone who is not a citizen of New Zealand to be a money launderer (some banks are worse than others) it's the banks who should not be trusted.

Banks have incredibly strict AML laws they have to comply with. Some companies offering payments sit in a bit of a grey area when it comes to full AML compliance.

It also leads to really silly situations. I did a trip to Burma a few years ago and had to transfer some funds to a US based travel company. In the transfer form, I described the transfer as "money for Burma trip".

Got a call the next day from ASB telling me the transfer was blocked because I could not transfer money to Burma. I explained that I was not doing so - I was transferring money to Wells Fargo in San Fran. In the end, after one of those circular Groundhog Day bureaucratic nightmare conversations in which I have to restrain my temper and the urgent need to cave someone's head in with a blunt object, I told the bank to cancel the transfer.

The next day, I did exactly the same transfer again, but left out the word Burma on the form. Sailed through without a hitch....

Of course the bank blocked that transfer. Part of the AML regulations mean a financial institution can be held liable if they knew a transfer was intended to end up somewhere it was not permitted to go even if the actual transfer is going somewhere legit.

Geektastic

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#2085796 7-Sep-2018 17:02

UHD:

Geektastic:

sbiddle:

MichaelNZ:

Given how much the banks have been trying to shut down the remittance companies (there is a reason TSB is their bank of choice) and how they basically suspect anyone who is not a citizen of New Zealand to be a money launderer (some banks are worse than others) it's the banks who should not be trusted.

Banks have incredibly strict AML laws they have to comply with. Some companies offering payments sit in a bit of a grey area when it comes to full AML compliance.

It also leads to really silly situations. I did a trip to Burma a few years ago and had to transfer some funds to a US based travel company. In the transfer form, I described the transfer as "money for Burma trip".

Got a call the next day from ASB telling me the transfer was blocked because I could not transfer money to Burma. I explained that I was not doing so - I was transferring money to Wells Fargo in San Fran. In the end, after one of those circular Groundhog Day bureaucratic nightmare conversations in which I have to restrain my temper and the urgent need to cave someone's head in with a blunt object, I told the bank to cancel the transfer.

The next day, I did exactly the same transfer again, but left out the word Burma on the form. Sailed through without a hitch....

Of course the bank blocked that transfer. Part of the AML regulations mean a financial institution can be held liable if they knew a transfer was intended to end up somewhere it was not permitted to go even if the actual transfer is going somewhere legit.

They knew no such thing, nor had any way to do so. Going on holiday in Burma is no sort of criminal offence.

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