For those of us who have been sending money internationally for several years, we expect that there will be cost for transfers. The high fees are no longer surprising as that’s the way it is. When we get to discover that we can remit money for a fraction of the price of traditional methods, we surely will become surprised. There is more than just that surprise waiting for you when you discover this money services company that’ll enable you to send money for free.
Established money transfer methods
There were only a few methods of transferring money abroad for the longest time. These channels were through banking institutions, money transfer agencies like Paxum International or Western Union, and online peer-to-peer transfer services such as PayPal. These are tried and tested methods that do have their drawbacks, but being the forerunners in the industry, these are established.
Tapping the network
These companies paved the way for the network for moving funds to become secure payment systems. But, for the network to be tapped, the end-users have to pay per use, making every single transaction have associated cost. The cost of moving funds is due to the workload of the transaction for the financial institutions that are used for channeling.
About PayPal
There are no sign-up fees to join PayPal. The transaction fees are based on a certain percentage per remittance. Then, there is the exchange rate that will be applied to the amount you move from one currency to another. The withdrawal fees are applied by the linked account that you use, be it a bank, card, or money service. There are fees for funds that are returned to the sender.
About Western Union
When you use a money transfer service agency like Western Union, there are upfront fees per transaction. There is typically a minimum sending amount and based on a rate table, the transaction fee will be increased as the amount gets bigger.
Known for high fees
Bank-to-bank transfers have notoriously high fees. When it comes to these costs, there are outgoing fees. Aside from that, there can also be incoming fees. Note that the bank conversion rate is typically much lower than those of other exchanges, so one can suffer a loss from the exchange rate.
Those exchange rates
The main cost involved when going through some of those other online payment services is the cost of the exchange rate. Don’t expect the amount charged to you for the conversion to be the same as in the market or with your bank. Each financial institution will have a different exchange rate amount. It is only a matter of comparing this cost with the base rate to see if the percentage added on is fair and affordable.
About online payment services
There are other online payment services that you can use to link to your bank account. These solutions can be accessed online or through a mobile app and don’t cost as much as it would when making a secure transaction through your bank or through a money transfer service.