Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

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markfaix
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Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:47 pm

Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by markfaix »

I'm looking to wire money to Korea. Because of a bad experience with my local bank (slow, expensive, bad customer service, see below), I am looking alternative ways to send money in the future.

What international wire service providers have you tried? Has anyone tried Fidelity, or xe.com or usforex.com (from TFB's blog)? How was the experience, and how long did it take for the wire to be received?

Thanks,
Mark



Other options I've tried:
1. My local bank: $50 wire fee, 6% on the conversion spread. I sent a wire about 2 weeks ago, and the recipient still hasn't received, and they can't trace the money.
2. Vanguard: can't do int'l wire online, needs signature guarantee then mail paper to them.
bonaire27
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by bonaire27 »

I use UKforex (same company as USforex) quarterly to transfer money from Europe to the US. It works very well and is very easy to use. As far as time to transfer money, it depends on the country. From Switzerland to the US is 3 days from when I make the transaction. You could call them and ask how long it takes for Korea.

I also have an account with XE Trade but every time I check, UKforex has the better rate. Also note, that you get a better rate with the more money you are transferring.
Louis Winthorpe III
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by Louis Winthorpe III »

Try Xoom.com. It's a great service. Fast (often within a couple of hours, nearly always same day), reasonably priced, and you can use it from the comfort of your home or office.
sunspotzsz
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by sunspotzsz »

whatever you use, stay away from xoom.com.

they are not safe. My bank account got hacked after using them and it took me weeks to get things worked out. xoom was not helpful at all.
Louis Winthorpe III
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by Louis Winthorpe III »

sunspotzsz wrote:whatever you use, stay away from xoom.com.

they are not safe. My bank account got hacked after using them and it took me weeks to get things worked out. xoom was not helpful at all.
Interesting. I've used them for years and never had any problems. If your bank account was hacked, was your bank able to provide assistance?
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Nuvoletta
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by Nuvoletta »

We've used Western Union for Europe several times recently after our credit union stopped doing it. 4-5 days, seemed to work fine. I suspect any delay came from the other end given other experiences we've had with the mail over there. :) But otherwise fine. Seems like it was about $50-$60. Only issue was a limit on the number of euros that we had to figure out by trial and error putting different amounts in. We did it on-line.
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kramer
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by kramer »

Louis Winthorpe III wrote:Try Xoom.com. It's a great service. Fast (often within a couple of hours, nearly always same day), reasonably priced, and you can use it from the comfort of your home or office.
Xoom does not offer service for transfers to South Korea.
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kramer
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by kramer »

My Canadian friend uses this service:

http://www.canadianforex.ca/

He has used it to transfer money to both the USA and Asia. I don't think it is restricted to Canadians (in fact, I think it is an Australian company), but I am not sure.

It seems like once a target account has been added, the transfer was taking something like 5 business days. Their phone service was really good. He said it was the best deal for a Canadian.
bonaire27
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by bonaire27 »

Yes, I believe the *forex team is solid. They also have a better currency exchange rate than a bank or Western Union, I believe.
EZ James
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by EZ James »

I had planned on sticking the results of my wire transfers on a thread I started last year but I can see you need information right now so here goes:

I had the task of transferring funds to 8 people in the Philippines who did not have bank accounts. I first fronted them with enough money to set up two accounts each using Western Union and Lucky Money as transfer agents. That worked, the only problems were delays due to limitations in the allowed number of transfers per month and the cumulative amounts.

I then filled the accounts they set up and that gave them the resources to set up more target accounts for me to transfer to.

Since December I made a total of 72 wire transfers using Citibank as an agent. The transfers were $30 each but the cost increased to $40 on the first of this month. The transfers were all originated online; the cost is higher if you have them do it in person.

The exchange rate you get is good for four minutes and I did not try to game the rate nor did I shop for a better rate. I know I could get better rates but most likely at higher transfer cost.

The only problems were from my furnishing incorrect information for SWIFT codes in the case of two banks and incorrect account numbers for two cases. The SWIFT code problems were due to banks merging and the lesser bank incorrectly assuming they could use the code for the acquiring bank.

In each case Citi investigated, assisted in fixing the problem and REFUNDED the wire fee even though it was not their fault.

I think they normally predicted 10 business days for the transfer but it was usually around 5 days or so.

Great service from Citi!

I still have to transfer smaller amounts and will use the two agents I mentioned previously. The process will take longer but that is moot considering that the people have the bulk of what is due.

EZ
kd2008
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by kd2008 »

Do you have a Vanguard account? For transfers over $5000, Vanguard offers international wire transfer for free. Only the transferring bank charges about 8 bucks. The initial setup is cumbersome. You need to get the right form - Vanguard reps are not knowledgeable about it at all - make sure it is not one time wire transfer form (https://personal.vanguard.com/us/litera ... _mode=true) but the "International Wire Transfer Option form" - this one sets up you bank information in Vanguard system and once setup, you can log online and click and wire transfer the money. you need to get signature medallion guarantee etc. Once the account is setup, it is easy to transfer money.

PS: Sorry didn't read the update to OP's post. I guess Vanguard is out of the picture now.
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siamond
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by siamond »

I was a CurrencyFair customer, but they closed doors in the US. I switched to US Forex, only did one transfer so far from Europe to the US, but it went well, cheap & fast. Can't remember the exact delay involved, but this was truly minimal.
sunspotzsz
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by sunspotzsz »

Louis Winthorpe III wrote:
sunspotzsz wrote:whatever you use, stay away from xoom.com.

they are not safe. My bank account got hacked after using them and it took me weeks to get things worked out. xoom was not helpful at all.
Interesting. I've used them for years and never had any problems. If your bank account was hacked, was your bank able to provide assistance?
Somebody transferred $1400 from bank account to Vietnam using xoom. I was glad that I found early, thanks to yodlee.
I got my money back but it was a lot of trouble, spending hours on the phone with xoom and bank. eventually, bank helped.
Karamatsu
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by Karamatsu »

Just FWIW and seconding what EZ said, I just use Citibank. Between the US and Japan the funds are usually available within 24 hours, I've never had any troubles, and (if you have an account with them) you can do it all on-line. Another alternative that I've used in the past is a local branch of the destination bank. Sometimes they can just directly deposit funds into the foreign account.
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dratkinson
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by dratkinson »

I've used Western Union to send money to China. Worked as advertised.

I asked recipient to see what money transfer services were available to their bank. WU was: it's a service provider located inside some Chinese banks. Problem solved.
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
Kircheis
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by Kircheis »

I just wired money to South Korea, so this post is pretty timely... I used Bank of America (as I have an account with them). The wire cost $45 and took one business day to get there. I wired the money at 9 AM CST on Monday and the money was there by Tuesday afternoon Korea time. The money was sent in dollars to the Korean Exchange Bank and I think they charged $10 at that end.
armeliusc
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Re: Int'l wire: Service providers? How fast?

Post by armeliusc »

I use Citibank. If you are going to do this quite regularly, it may worth it for the recipient to also have Citibank account in Korea. Then you can use their "Citibank Global Transfer" service for free. This is what I've been using; in fact I set up Citibank saving account only for this purpose. Korea is on the list of countries that can use this service. Usually the transfer takes about several days; Citibank claims 24 hours I think, but I could never get my relative on the recipient side to check their bank account within 24 hours to confirm that.

Hope that helps.
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