In our connected modern world, many of us may find the need to move money across borders for one reason or another. Whether it’s work related, say for instance, to pay international suppliers for e-commerce products, or for personal reasons – ie, sending money to friends or family, we will all have to make an international money transfer at one point or another.
Thankfully, due to recent developments in financial services, its easier than ever to send money internationally. Here are some of the best ways to send money anywhere around the world.
#1 – Money Orders
Money orders are generally cheap to buy and therefore, purchasing a money order is one of the most popular ways to send money overseas. While each money order is guaranteed by the issuing post office or bank, you don’t have to have a bank account to cash a money order. Though money orders are popular, this method of sending money can prove time-consuming and at times, costly. This is only a good choice if your recipient doesn’t need the funds immediately.
#2 – Bank Transfers
Most banks offer bank transfers for customers, but obviously, you can only use this method if you have a bank account. Although in-country bank transfers are low cost, banks charge much higher fees for international transfers which involve multiple currencies. Though faster than other methods, bank transfers (even in 2021) are not instantaneous.
#3 – PayPal and Amazon Payments
These days, PayPal is perhaps the best-known online money transfer service. Co-founded by Elon Musk, the legendary entrepreneur who went on to create SpaceX and Tesla, millions of people use PayPal to instantly send funds to anyone, anywhere. Paypal has become a staple tool for buying and selling in the modern world, and the best news is, they charge only modest transfer fees to the recipient.
On the other hand, using Paypal requires both senders and recipients to register with PayPal and use the platform’s online account dashboard. It’s also necessary to link your PayPal account with a nominated financial institution if you want to withdraw the funds for use. And, although PayPal is a fairly well-established company, a number of users have found fault with their customer service.
Amazon Payments (AP) is Amazon’s answer to PayPal. However given that PayPal was the pioneer in online payments, Amazon remains a distant second in terms of popularity.
#3 – Money Transfer Agents
Transfers using money transfer agents are sometimes called a wire transfer. Although this type of transaction costs a bit more, you get what you pay for. A money transfer agent (MTA) can help you transfer cash overseas in a hurry. Well-established MTAs include Western Union, Moneygram and Ria. If you need to transfer money to the Philippines or anywhere for that matter, using an MTA is probably the most versatile, fool proof method.
No Comments