I am well aware of the deficiencies of the US banking system I have taught it. I am a dual national USA -EU and maintain a UK bank account for the easy banking transfers.Leeraar wrote:Professor,Professor Emeritus wrote:You sister is transferring South african RAND South Africa does have exchange controlsLeeraar wrote: My sister lives in South Africa. She can go online and transfer money from her bank account to any other bank account in the country. Then, she e-mails proof of the transaction to the recipient and she is done. (To the recipient the bank transaction is only identified by a transaction ID, not by the sender's name or account number.) It costs nothing in bank fees to do this.
It is basically impossible for me to send money to a bank account in South Africa. (I am a book collector and also need to pay people to do research at the state archives.) Believe it or not, I have to resort to Western Union. Pay Pal does not work either.
L.
You cant just send dollars to someone in South africa
I pay my south African travel agent every year on a secure payment site that will take paypal, credit cards debit cards or almost anything else. It acts as the foreign exchange compliance point.
You are missing the point. It has nothing to do with exchange controls. It has to do with Paypal (until recently) not being able to send funds to ZA, and with the stupidly archaic attitude of the USA banking system to the rest of the world. My problem is sending ZAR 200 (USD 20) to some individual to buy a book, or ZAR 4000 (USD 400) for a week's research in the archives. In ZA (or, I believe, in Europe) I can just make a no-cost transfer to their bank account.
Let me ask: We are both in the USA, I presume. How do I send you an amount of about $20? In ZA, if I know your bank account number, it is done in a few seconds at no cost to either of us.
I could rant on: In the USA you pay to use an ATM. In other parts of the world they have figured out that ATMs are far cheaper than live tellers. At my local bank (I only ever go there to get signature guarantees) they have greeters and free coffee and donuts, but they charge for the ATM. Go figure.
L.
But you are still confusing the issues when you talk about South Africa. I can maintain a dollar bank account in the UK or a Euro account in the USA. You can't do that in South Africa.
That is what "exchange controls" are. its why you cant say ZAR200 = USD 20 You can't freely keep rand outside the country or dollars in it. Your transaction HAS to go through the exchange control system. Your sister cant (without special permission) send 20 USD from her bank to anyone.
Nothing new about this
Until very recently and under a lot a pressure the German banks charged a fee to transfer Euro to another Euro country Political pressure and EU regulation stopped that
Bank of America lets me send money to any email account . the recipient has to have it set up (this is how I send money to my daughter)
I pay my housekeeper by direct bank transfer at Bank of America. I pay my insurance with electronic checks.
I can send you an electronic check without fee.
Here are the regulations from Standard bank in South africa
Accepting foreign currency
What do I do if a customer/guest wants to pay me in foreign currency?
If your business is related to tourism, such as hotel, retailer or restaurants, you may accept foreign currency.
What do I need to do for my business to be able to accept foreign currency?
You do however need to sign an undertaking with us. We will pass this on to the South African Reserve Bank as stipulated by the Exchange Control Rulings.
Click here for a copy of the declaration to accept foreign currency. Please complete it, print it on your letterhead and hand it to a consultant at a Standard Bank foreign exchange, bureau de change or Money Change outlet.
How long can may I keep the foreign currency?
You must convert the foreign currency into rand on the next business day after receiving it.