Foreign workers send billions of dollars a year all over the world sending money to countries like the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Mexico and Indonesia, and also transferring large amounts of sums usually quite small to pay for allowances, school fees , and make small purchases over the Internet, so the possible methods of money transfer have also increased substantially.
Sending money abroad to family members used to be the exclusive domain of banks and very few money transfer companies with offices in major countries. Since the advent of Internet banking, sending money home or sending emergency funds to your children has become a lot easier, but there are real hurdles that you need to be aware of.
The first thing to consider is the safety of your money, if you choose a major bank or use one of the more well-known money transfer companies, you can be pretty sure that at least your money will arrive, but this can be expensive. and it is often a slow method of sending money. The fees can easily go as high as $ 40 or more at each end and the currency exchange rates they give you can be very low.
So what other options are there?
For. Forex brokers are useful for transferring large amounts and generally quite safe; however, make sure the broker you choose is fully accredited by a financial services agency because your money moves through your accounts and therefore may be at risk. Fees and exchange rates are usually quite reasonable, but transfers can take a few days depending on the banks used, and the receiving bank may also impose a fee to clear the funds.
B. Sending a credit or debit card is becoming a popular option. It seems easy and there are many ATMs around the world to access money, however cards can be lost or stolen in transit. It may not be as likely if the cards are sent by courier, but that will cost you a lot. Cards can also have substantial fees associated with their use, so be sure to read the fine print and fee structure that any reputable card provider should provide. The currency exchange rates these companies use can be prohibitive, make sure you first know how much you are going to end up sending and how much it is going to cost you.
vs. You can send a check issued by a bank or post office, either in local funds or in the currency you need to send if you have that facility. With this method, you will at least know what it will cost before you get the check, but again, checks get lost in the mail and take time to mail.
D. Using one of the newer online money transfer organizations like Ezybonds, Xoom, or Paypal is the simplest option if you want to send money quickly. There are many other similar companies, but with this type of organization it is imperative that you ensure that the security of your data is good enough to prevent hacking. With these organizations, you must open an account, which means you will need to provide identification, so verify that the company has been around long enough to be well established or is backed by a major parent company to ensure that your private data be safe. Again, check the fees and exchange rates. Note that sometimes while they say there are no fees, there can be a charge of up to 4% of the money you want to send and that can be very expensive.