Sending Money Abroad – Western Union Alternatives
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011Each and every day, millions of people send money overseas using money transfer or money remittance services. Whether it be sending money home to help out family members, buying something online from a distant country, or paying an employee on the other side of the world, finding a quick and easy solution to transfer funds overseas is an important matter. Its often vital that the funds be available within a reasonable period of time, and that it is convenient for the receiver to receive said funds.
Unfortunately, along with that convenience and reliable comes a high price. If we look at the most popular money remittance service, Western Union, we will see that fees to send money overseas begin at $15 and increase to as much as $55. Now consider someone who sends money overseas to their family members once a week, that $20 per week ads up to $600+ in a year.
Today we will explore some of the alternative methods to send money abroad, and outline the costs as well as the pros and cons of each method.
MoneyGram – Very similar to Western Union, though the fees tend to be 25% to 50% lower. Like Western Union, Moneygram allows customers to send funds overseas, where they can easily be picked up by the receiver.
Pros – Cheaper, fast like Western Union
Cons – Fewer locations, often slow customer service, very poor website
Paypal – An online payment system that allows users to send payments to others, where they can be withdrawn to bank accounts.
Pros – Cheaper
Cons – Very slow, cannot send to many countries, requires a bank account, Paypal has a tendency to freeze accounts without warning or reason. Paypal is also not available in all countries.
Bank Wires – Bank wires are an excellent option , and often the cheapest method to send a payment when the amount exceeds $1000. Wire fees in Canada and the United States are usually $25 to $30. A wire usually takes 2-3 business days to arrive, and becomes available in the recipient’s bank account immediately upon receipt.
Pros – Cheaper, reliable
Cons – Slower, Requires recipient to have a bank account
In addition to the services mentioned above, there are literally thousands of alternate solutions that we will explore more in depth in the near future. These alternate options include methods that are capable of sending only to specific countries, as well as other online payment processors including Liberty Reserve and others. Please keep reading. Vansibel is here to help you with all of your money, loan, financing and fiduciary needs.