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What's the Best, Fastest, Cheapest Way to Wire Money?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by JuanValdez, Oct 8, 2009.

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  1. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    I need to send money to someone across the country and I need for him to be able to access and spend that money more or less immediately. Western Union used to be the way to go, but they want to charge me 8.8%. Surely in the Age of the Internet, this service can cost much less. My only concern with alternatives found via Google is I'm worried I'll find out too late that there is a some delay for the recipient to get the cash out.

    Anyone with experience or knowledge have any recommendations for me? It's important because this guy in Nigeria is going to send me $240 million, but I need to cover some of his administrative expenses!
     
    #1 JuanValdez, Oct 8, 2009
  2. Fatty FatBastard

    Fatty FatBastard Member

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    Does the person have a paypal account? That would be the cheapest.

    What about a bank account? You could inquire about a bank to bank transfer fee.

    Is your bank national? You could see if they could get to the funds at a branch in their area.

    Other than that, check the fees at moneygram, cash net USA, customhouse, etc.
     
    #2 Fatty FatBastard, Oct 8, 2009
  3. tim562

    tim562 Member

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    Sweet, sign me up to.....
     
    #3 tim562, Oct 8, 2009
  4. wakkoman

    wakkoman Member

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    8.8%?

    I thought Western Union had a charge of $10 bucks or so. If you are sending a small amount, you can look into Greendot.

    Your friend will need to sign up for a Greendot card, which is a Visa/Mastercard Debit card and you can buy a Moneypak at CVS for example and load an amount up to $500 and then he can load that cash on his card. Their is a monthly fee for the card. I believe it's somewhere around $5

    https://www.greendotonline.com/contents/login.aspx
     
    #4 wakkoman, Oct 8, 2009
  5. countingcrow

    countingcrow Member

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    My mom uses Wal-Mart to transfer money to her family in west Texas.

    I don't know the rate right off hand but I'm sure it's chaper than Western Union and all the recipient has to do is go to the Wal-Mart where you send the money to retrieve it.

    Give them a call and find out how much it'll cost you.
     
    #5 countingcrow, Oct 8, 2009
  6. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Thanks FFB. Banks take too long. Wells Fargo said up to 48 hours. I thought about Paypal. My concern there is he'd have to transfer money from the Paypal account to his bank account; how long before the bank says the deposit is complete and he can withdraw that money?

    Wakkoman, I'll check out greendot.
     
    #6 JuanValdez, Oct 8, 2009
  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    I relented and went with the usurers at Western Union and paid their predatory rate. Unfortunately, the recipient lives in a very inconvenient place. Thanks to the few people who tried to help.
     
    #7 JuanValdez, Oct 8, 2009
  8. SirCharlesFan

    SirCharlesFan Member

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    Man, I dated a girl whose family owned a gas station that had a Western Union outlet. It was in a really poor part of town so the WU outlet was usually very busy. I was shocked at how much it cost to send money through Western Union. In the end, I guess I understand why they do it, as most of their customers are usually very desperate for money.
     
    #8 SirCharlesFan, Oct 8, 2009
  9. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    If you have their bank account number and they are using the same bank as you, you can transfer funds immediately. I don't know about if it's a different bank, but you see them wiring money in movies all the time, so maybe you just need the account #.
     
    #9 Oski2005, Oct 8, 2009
  10. Yonkers

    Yonkers Member

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    Wow, I just went to their site and chose that I'm sending from the US to someone in the US. For $1000 the cost is $86 if I want immediate and $60 if I can wait til the next day.
    8.6%... what a rip.
     
    #10 Yonkers, Oct 8, 2009
  11. Yonkers

    Yonkers Member

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    Oddly enough, I can send $1000 to Vietnam for only $20.
     
    #11 Yonkers, Oct 8, 2009
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Member

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    Lol, I get more responses after I pull the trigger than before. Western Union does cost far too much, but considering my recipient was in the middle of nowhere, and the only method I could find to deliver quickly (without him having to drive for 4 hours or cross an international border) was a conveniently located Western Union agent, I guess they earned their money in my case.
     
    #12 JuanValdez, Oct 8, 2009
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