There are so many ways you can get money to friends, family members or even organizations you support even when they’re located across the globe. But how you do so will depend on whether you want the most reliable safe way to send money or the fastest way.
You may also have to choose a way for your recipient to receive their funds that accommodates either their technology access or ability to receive parcel deliveries. The following are some of the best ways to send money either by regular mail, online or another electronic delivery system.
Sending Money Via Money Order Or Cashier’s Check
If you’re not as comfortable using apps or computer technology to send money, a cashier’s check or money order can get it sent internationally.
Cashier’s checks are checks that are backed by funds that are withdrawn from your bank account, and once the beneficiary is designated, only they can receive the funds.
If you don’t have a bank account or prefer having money sent another way, you can buy a money order and send it overseas.
Cashier’s checks have much higher limits than money orders which often have limits of $1,000 or even less when sent internationally.
But money orders may also be able to be exchanged into local currency easier than cashier’s checks, and they can be cashed out without needing to be deposited in a bank.
Both cashier’s checks and money orders can be canceled and resent if there are problems with transfers, but the downside is they both can take a long time to receive.
Sending Money Via Wire Transfers To International Banks
If you want a way that’s both reliable and quick to send money overseas and your recipient has a bank account, an international wire transfer is by far the quickest way to do it.
Your recipient may have their money within minutes or seconds depending on how reliable the wire transfer system is between the two banks.
The only bad news is the fees for international wire transfers are extremely high, even more so than the already high domestic wire transfers.
Plus not every bank offers international wire transfer services. If you don’t want to pay exceptional high fees or do a direct bank account to bank account transfer, there are better options.
Sending Money Via Specialized Electronic Transfer Services
There are other ways to transfer funds electronically or even send money online that do have fees, but not nearly as expensive as wire transfers.
The way these services work is that you can visit a local agent location which might be at your local retailer or supermarket and fill out forms, and then pay with cash, debit or credit card to electronically transfer funds to your intended recipient.
Or you can visit the transfer service website or app to transfer the funds and have your recipient receive them the way they want.
If it’s easier for them to receive the funds in cash, you can select cash pick up for them and they’ll visit a local agent to do so.
But you can also have them sent to their bank account if they’re comfortable with that. Just note that sending to a bank account can take a little longer.
Sending Money Via App To App Transfers
There are also payment apps out there in which you can send money directly to your recipient and it can be received instantly and sometimes with no fee.
All that doing so requires usually is for both the sender and recipient to have an account on the app, and usually, just the recipient’s email is all that’s needed to send the funds.
Just note that not all money transfer apps can be used in every country, and those who want to withdraw funds in cash may need to have a bank account connected for withdrawal or a debit card that comes with the app.
The bottom line is money can be sent just about anywhere in the world if you use a service that reaches the location you wish to send to.
Weighing both transfer fees and exchange fees is important, but so is checking reviews for how reliable money can be received using a particular company or app’s electronic transfer fees.
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