A fairly new company started by the people at Skype and backed by some big names.

https://transferwise.com/u/c2755

imagine actually getting the actual exchange rate (mid-market rate) when sending money. Well this company does just that. check them out.

Not only that, you can do it easily from your computer or mobile device. I hate having to go into my branch and deal with someone who's never done a wire before and having a 50/50 chance they screw it up.


if anyone wants $4500 of free transfers just shoot me a PM or post your email. I'll send you one of those email invites, they give me a little credit and also save you all fees for the first $4500 sent.

thank you guys for all the PMs. I'm pretty excited about this service because I do wires all the time and think the rates and fees are absurd.

Just as an example of what a transaction looks like with transferwise.

Sent $4000 to my brother in Spain yesterday.

$4000 USD = 3,530.89 Euros. done.

If I were to have done it the traditional way, via Wells Fargo, heres how it would've looked.

Wells Fargo rate for Euros was 1.1766

$4000 USD = 3399 Euros, then of course the wire fee of $35. final amount sent 3364 Euros.

So just in transfering $4000, I saved about $200. And I didn't have to go into my bank to do any of it!


I have no ties to this company. Just excited about the service it offers. You can use this link below to signup and receive your first transfer of up to $4500 free.


https://transferwise.com/u/c2755

I don't use my bank to send money abroad now. Have used this for the last year or so and have found it very good. The only problem I had was sending money to Belgium once and it took 9 days, which caused me some embarrassment.

That is interesting and unfortunate. My transfers have either been completed by the next business day, or at the most 2 business days. I guess it depends on the amount and destination.

Cool. I will have to try it. I am a banker and I agree American banks charge way too much for this service. It is not that hard and European, even African banks are much better and fairer regarding wire transfers.

i used my Wells Fargo account to transfer euros to Poland. wire sent on 9/23. 9 days later it hadn't arrived. i checked with my banker and the transfer had gotten lost in the system. resent it on 10/2. the outfitter received it 10/12( today). absolutely pathetic. next time i will try this. it certainly couldn't be any worse.Bobby, PM sent!!

Ive been using monex for a couple of years now. I get mid market rates or close to them and next day settlement if not same day even in africa.

The guy that started it is a mate and a fellow hunter.

Its good that the banks dont have the monopoly on transfers now and we get better rates.

K

I am trying the service. It took 3 days for my bank to transfer the money to TransferWise. We will see how quickly it gets transferred to SA.

Pls send me the email invite. Any idea if they have experience transferring $ to Namibia?

quote:

Originally posted by jackalhunter:
Pls send me the email invite. Any idea if they have experience transferring $ to Namibia?

Doesnt look like you can do Namibian $$

In regards to Namibia it depends on which bank you are transferring to. I transfer funds to FNB and it generally takes two days. However, I have an account manager at FNB watching for the funds so it is a little more streamlined than wiring to someone's account. Shouldn't take more than 4 days. Just notify the receiving party and forward the wiring instructions and they can track it better on their end.

Previously I have not had an issue with wires but things have changed.One of the two last ones was sent to a US bank.It was a large amount and took over two weeks to go through.I was stressed to hell over the whole time.The other one I sent two weeks ago overseas and it has still not arrived.

I have had at least four or five of my wires to Africa take more than two weeks. I just thought that was the norm.

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:
I am trying the service. It took 3 days for my bank to transfer the money to TransferWise. We will see how quickly it gets transferred to SA.

The transfer from Transferwire to the SA account took place in less than a day. I was very pleased and will be using their service again. Last time it took me too trips to the bank because the branch manager made a mistake on the form and it bounced back to him a few days later. Inconveniencing me and delaying the transfer.

Good to hear. I will be trying later this year as I finish out my payment for a Burkina safari..

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:
I am trying the service. It took 3 days for my bank to transfer the money to TransferWise. We will see how quickly it gets transferred to SA.

The transfer from Transferwire to the SA account took place in less than a day. I was very pleased and will be using their service again. Last time it took me too trips to the bank because the branch manager made a mistake on the form and it bounced back to him a few days later. Inconveniencing me and delaying the transfer.

That happens very often. That's why it is always a good idea to send the wire instructions to the receiving end so that they can ensure the transfer takes place. The sad thing is, the transfer takes a split second to send the data to the receiving bank. Why it takes them another few days to "process" it is simply the time value of money in play. The longer they have it, the more $$$ they make.

Just wanted to resurrect this thread to see how the service has been working for people? I've been using it without any problems and saving money (and time) with each transaction. I love it.

You can use this link for a first transfer for free

https://transferwise.com/u/c2755

I have used it a couple more times and I am very pleased. They say the transfer should arrive by a date a few days in the future, but mine have arrived in seconds.

I used TransferWise last year after my bank decided to stop doing international money wires. It was quick, easy and cheaper than any other option at the time. My outfitter confirmed receipt in his bank account the next morning.

I use this for a lot of transfers, however you cant use it for all countries/currency because it doesn't recognise them all..

Saves me a lot of money with the better exchange rate and small fee for sending.. My business account charges me £20 to send the money and a crappy exchange rate, but I do get a print out of confirmation which is great as you just email that across to the recipient.

For example today if I send 10,000 euro to Spain I get charged £8515 plus £43 sending fee, where my bank wants £8910 plus £20 sending fee.

Thanks to OP Bobby for this find.

I just tried it for the first time to wire a few hundred US to Germany to pay for some optics I sent over for repairs. Decided to try this as a "test run".

Only took a couple of minutes TOTAL to set up an account and send the money. Got there the same day. Exchange rate was close to market and the fee was a little over $9 US. My bank would have charged $45 and the exchange rate they quoted SUCKED!

So far, I plan on using it again when needed.

Ugh, I just look at the transfer rate for RSA, by bank is $45, look like they will be more. There fee plus the SWIFT fee.

Wesheltonj:

It all seems to depend on if you are sending US $ and paying in US $. and the total amount. On the other hand as in my initial test above, I had to pay in Euros.

I had to send E460.00. Going through my bank, the total for the wire transfer fee PLUS the exchange rate difference they charged, would have been $526.00. With TransferWise the total was $490.00.

If I was just wiring USD to pay for something overseas that was billed to me in USD (like most safaris) and the amount I was wiring, the flat $45 bank fee might be a better option.

The key here seems to be the better exchange rates they offer and possibly, depending on the total amount, the transfer fee. Always pays to shop and to have and compare options. This also saved me a trip to the bank.

I am trying to send funds to Namibia. US dollars and staying US dollars. Do they wire funds to Namibia?

quote:

Originally posted by Bama15:
I am trying to send funds to Namibia. US dollars and staying US dollars. Do they wire funds to Namibia?

I received this from TransferWise
We do not support same currency transfers. We can only transfer the money from one currency to another. With USD we are also not able to transfer it outside of the US.
Meaning that if the USD bank account is located outside of the US (for example in Namibia), then we are not able to complete the transfer.

That would eliminate transferring funds to Zim as well.

I have used this service so far to convert dollars to Euros. Easy, quick and a lot less than the 50.00 my bank charges for an international wire and a much better conversion rate. Plus, and this is big for me, I don't have the hassle of having to stop by the bank and deal with it.

I think this service only works when you are converting currencies for bank members that are a part of Sepac. I tried to send dollars to Maurisius for A Rusa hunt and it would not let me.

The WSJ has written about this company several times, as has Forbes. I am thinking about using it to pay my employees outside the USA. BofA gives me two free wires per month, but I burned one yesterday when I bought an investment property.

The way this works is pretty ingenious: they pool money that people want to send, and then transfer it within the country. For example, if I want to send $1000 to Canada, it matches me with someone in Canada that wants to transfer $1000 to the US. My money goes to the Canadian's US recipient, and the Canadian's funds go to my Canadian recipient.

AZ - The biggest potential benefit is not the wire charge but the daily rate they select. They claim to use the current mid rate for the exchange. Many banks do not and you wind up getting less transferred on top of processing fees and delays. Definitely something to investigate.

I've used XE before, which I found to be cheaper than the bank.

It looks like transferwise gets you about the same rate, but XE took about a week for the money to arrive. This was known when I did it so no issue, but quicker is always better.

Has anyone used both?

I am just getting ready to transfer for Safari in Benin...
I just learned that with my Charles Schwab investment accounts they will do wires for almost spot and no fees!!

Cheers,

quote:

I just learned that with my Charles Schwab investment accounts they will do wires for almost spot and no fees!!

I was just speaking with my broker at Ameriprise and inquired if they also do wire transfers for clients. He told me they also do it with no fees.