Send check card makes money transfer easy?

[Henia 11]

Hello all.

My ATM check card and CC are such a great thing when traveling and transferring money between US and Euro.But in my SO's country ATM machines are far too few. I have actually not even seen one, yet. But was told where one is. So it to not have to wire myself money via Western Union or take all the Euros I can out in Europe (while on transit) and only to have to exchange them anyway in DZ. I am wondering 2 things here:

1, is it easier to just open an account in my SO (dollar or euro account) or just transfer money from my exsisting accounts?

2, Also I was wondering if anyone here has gotten second card for SO...how they did it and how it worked out? I am not sure if I want to do this. My husband wants to add me to his accounts there but I am not seeing the point. I donnot give him money and only time he gives me money is when I am with him.

Anywho comments welcome.

[Robor007 0]

I'm curious about this as well. When I visited my fiancee & wife many places took my visa check card and visa credit cards and I was able to withdraw cash from several ATM's in the malls. I was considering getting a 2nd card that's in her name and sending it to her. It's free for me to add her to my account and I've got to send her some paperwork soon anyway so it wouldn't cost anything additional. Should I need to wire transfer her money it would cost about $20 so that would actually be money saved.

Edited January 18, 2007 by Robor007

[Henia 11]

I'm curious about this as well. When I visited my fiancee & wife many places took my visa check card and visa credit cards and I was able to withdraw cash from several ATM's in the malls. I was considering getting a 2nd card that's in her name and sending it to her. It's free for me to add her to my account and I've got to send her some paperwork soon anyway so it wouldn't cost anything additional. Should I need to wire transfer her money it would cost about $20 so that would actually be money saved.

Yes I was thinking the same thing. In a emergnecy situation much much easier then let's say Western Union. I donnot think my husband would use it but you never know...emergencies do come up. Esp in this visa process...

[payxibka 10,048]

I'm curious about this as well. When I visited my fiancee & wife many places took my visa check card and visa credit cards and I was able to withdraw cash from several ATM's in the malls. I was considering getting a 2nd card that's in her name and sending it to her. It's free for me to add her to my account and I've got to send her some paperwork soon anyway so it wouldn't cost anything additional. Should I need to wire transfer her money it would cost about $20 so that would actually be money saved.

This is exactly what I have done. I gave my fiancee an ATM card (it is actually still in my name) on a seperate account that is not linked to my accounts in the event she loses it or has it stolen. When she needs money, I transfer funds into her account and she finds the ATM by her house that is a part of the ATM network and withdraws the cash. Dependent on the financial instituition you select, the money is may be available almost immediately. The last time I was in Ukraine, I sat in front of a computer terminal, transfered money to the account and 10 minutes later she was able to withdraw it. The ATM charge is $1.00 per withdrawal. I taught her to withdraw the entire amount that I transfer in or she would do it in $20 increments. The card has a $400 per day limit and I have never even come close to needing that in one shot.

If some of you have an existing Paypal account they have an ATM (debit) card. You can limit it to only withdraw "live" cash from the account or link it to your normal funding account. The drawback is that it takes 3 days or so to fund but it is an option if you already have an account rather than setting up a new one.

[Henia 11]

I'm curious about this as well. When I visited my fiancee & wife many places took my visa check card and visa credit cards and I was able to withdraw cash from several ATM's in the malls. I was considering getting a 2nd card that's in her name and sending it to her. It's free for me to add her to my account and I've got to send her some paperwork soon anyway so it wouldn't cost anything additional. Should I need to wire transfer her money it would cost about $20 so that would actually be money saved.

This is exactly what I have done. I gave my fiancee an ATM card (it is actually still in my name) on a seperate account that is not linked to my accounts in the event she loses it or has it stolen. When she needs money, I transfer funds into her account and she finds the ATM by her house that is a part of the ATM network and withdraws the cash. Dependent on the financial instituition you select, the money is may be available almost immediately. The last time I was in Ukraine, I sat in front of a computer terminal, transfered money to the account and 10 minutes later she was able to withdraw it. The ATM charge is $1.00 per withdrawal. I taught her to withdraw the entire amount that I transfer in or she would do it in $20 increments. The card has a $400 per day limit and I have never even come close to needing that in one shot.

If some of you have an existing Paypal account they have an ATM (debit) card. You can limit it to only withdraw "live" cash from the account or link it to your normal funding account. The drawback is that it takes 3 days or so to fund but it is an option if you already have an account rather than setting up a new one.

Can anyone care to give us a review/opinion of PayPal?

[payxibka 10,048]

Can anyone care to give us a review/opinion of PayPal?

I have heard mixed reviews. It has worked perfectly for me when I have used it (internationally as well) but others have said that PayPal's fraud protection system has "shut down" the card without notice and that the Customer Service is not the best when trying to resolve. These comments may have been prior too eBay purchasing them.

[Robor007 0]

Can anyone care to give us a review/opinion of PayPal?

I do not like PayPal. I made a transaction from my account while I was in the US to a person in the US. I made another transaction to this same person while I was in the Philippines and it went through but soon after PayPal recalled it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for fraud protection. But it was impossible for me to fix this issue from the Philippines. I tried to go through their process to prove it was me who made the transaction. I provided a bunch of personal info but the final step was I had to have PayPal call the number on my account to verify it. That's not possible when my number is a US line and I'm in the Philippines. I explained this several times in Email and they kept giving me a 'canned' response including how to resolve it. It wasn't until I said, 'Forget it. I'll just use Western Union instead and oh by the way I'll be withdrawing my funds and canceling my PayPal account'.

Here's another reason... I have a friend who sold an XBox for $250 on Ebay. The guy paid via PayPal so he shipped the XBox. Later Paypal said the funds were fraudulent and took them back. He never got the money or XBox back. I sell some things on Ebay now and again and I'd be super pi$$ed if that happened to me. I've heard other 'horror stories' about people accepting PalPal funds for payment only to have them yanked back because they were fraud. Maybe it's gotten better but I only deal with small items and PayPal just in case.

[Robor007 0]

That's an excellent point about the separate account just in case the card is lost or stolen. I was thinking of just adding a card to mine but I like your idea a lot better. Once she's here we can cancel the spare account and merge the funds into the main one.

[Henia 11]

Can anyone care to give us a review/opinion of PayPal?

I do not like PayPal. I made a transaction from my account while I was in the US to a person in the US. I made another transaction to this same person while I was in the Philippines and it went through but soon after PayPal recalled it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for fraud protection. But it was impossible for me to fix this issue from the Philippines. I tried to go through their process to prove it was me who made the transaction. I provided a bunch of personal info but the final step was I had to have PayPal call the number on my account to verify it. That's not possible when my number is a US line and I'm in the Philippines. I explained this several times in Email and they kept giving me a 'canned' response including how to resolve it. It wasn't until I said, 'Forget it. I'll just use Western Union instead and oh by the way I'll be withdrawing my funds and canceling my PayPal account'.

Here's another reason... I have a friend who sold an XBox for $250 on Ebay. The guy paid via PayPal so he shipped the XBox. Later Paypal said the funds were fraudulent and took them back. He never got the money or XBox back. I sell some things on Ebay now and again and I'd be super pi$$ed if that happened to me. I've heard other 'horror stories' about people accepting PalPal funds for payment only to have them yanked back because they were fraud. Maybe it's gotten better but I only deal with small items and PayPal just in case.

Huh... good to know. Thanks for sharing. I have heard alot of PayPal over the years but was always wearey about any money exchange/purchasing online (until recently started buying some items online...but still not totally convinced worth it)

Does anyone have a clue to what the fee range is for money transfer between accounts (checking types) from US from my account to another persons or from theirs to mine?

Edited January 18, 2007 by Henia