Legit companies to transfer money to USA

[Done--Really 331]

We use MoneyGram -- almost as widely available as Western Union, but much cheaper -- particularly over $1000. I saw that WU is toying with buying MG, and also that WU has lowered its fees for a couple hundred bucks, but I would hate to see MG go --

[mattmatt 1]

Sorry I probably should have mentioned this in the original post:

My financee (from Holland) has money in her Netherlands bank account. For discussion's sake, say it's over the reportable amount of $10,000 dollars. Since she'll be moving to America, she needs to transfer all her euros to a dollar account.

Unfortunately, the banks don't give the best exchange rate. For example, today's market rate is 1.12 dollars per euro. But a bank, will only give us, say, 1.0377 dollars per euros. The bank's rate is "based" on the market rate, but they take their own portion of it. So if someone were to buy dollars with their life savings of, say, €100,000, they should get $112,000, but they'll only get $103,770 through the bank. That's a loss of $8,230

[Jawaree 717]

Not only is Western Union expensive,b ut they report large

movement sums ASAP...what about paypal , your bank-card,or

bank draft...depending on how much money I would be careful

in taking the right steps & enquiring with an accountant here

or have your spouse do so...If its not a lot then paypal. I

take it that its more than 10G or you would put it in your pocket,

there is a way to declare it since U are relocating but I think U pay

them tax on it...bummer

[mattmatt 1]

Jawaree, I'm not trying to avoid the reporting requirement. I am just trying to find the best exchange rate possible. But anyway, from what I understand, the IRS won't tax the money brought into the USA; they will only tax the interest it earns once placed into an American account.

[intrigueace 14]

Just so I'm clear on the advice, can paypal be an option when it's lower than the "required to report" $10K? My fiancé is sending me a small amount to reimburse me for something and to help out on some of the visa costs so we were also trying to figure out the best way to do so.

[curt19 2]

This may not work in your situation. It sounds like you are trying to move money to the USA.

What i did eventually was go to my credit union told them I was traveling to a foreign country and was wondering if they had an ATM network I could use during my travels. I took that ATM card and sent it to my fiancé. (Delivered by her aunt) then I sent her the PIN number to the ATM card. Before I did all this the ATM card was for a separate account I setup for "travel". Then as I needed to send money to my fiancé. She could go to the ATM and withdraw directly from my credit union. In this circumstance there were no transaction fees.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Right, but if he doesn't have an account for the money to go to, how else would he get the money? It has to be a pickup location. Trust me if anyone has a better suggestion I'd love to know so I can save money.

Depending on how quick it is needed and whether there is a US bank with an office (and ATM there):

I used to move money around just by using an ATM in the target country, using the option to get US$; there was no fee for ATM usage (if you have that bank's ATM card) nor an exchage fee.

Not every target country would have the bank in question, but keep reading.

Alternatively, some US banks have agreements with other banks, for example Bank of America has one with Paribas PNB, with no fee ATM withdrawals. Of course, there are limitations to how much you can get out of an ATM on a single transaction and per day

And it could take some time to setup and have ATM cards in hand.

You would need to check with bank/s as well, I've used this method up until 4-5 years ago, no longer since now wife is here

[1stLoveRedo 111]

Just so I'm clear on the advice, can paypal be an option when it's lower than the "required to report" $10K? My fiancé is sending me a small amount to reimburse me for something and to help out on some of the visa costs so we were also trying to figure out the best way to do so.

Reporting is done If you bring $10k in cash or try to buy a cashiers check with cash for $5k or more

There isn't any risk of having taxes impounded if reported. You are absolutely ok to bring your own money.

The reason why reporting is done is for the purpose of tracking money or money laundering.

[MGill 2]

WorldRemit. I think the limit is 3000eur but the fee is like 4 eur. I haven't used it in about 4 months though. But I've used it loads. Take about 2/3 days max.

[Lauren and Kevin 55]

OK. From actual personal experience, I have used www.transferwise.com over a number of years they use a mid market real rate, small fees and so far for me - cheaper and easier to use than the rest.

Also - be aware that with a USA bank, if you use other methods, like the transfer, then your receiving bank in the USA also charges a $15-$17 fee for receiving the money - when you use transferwise it does not, so that hidden fee is avoided too!

[Avandongen 83]

Jawaree, I'm not trying to avoid the reporting requirement. I am just trying to find the best exchange rate possible. But anyway, from what I understand, the IRS won't tax the money brought into the USA; they will only tax the interest it earns once placed into an American account.

What we did from my husbands Netherlands bank account (Rabobank) to transfer to US.

Most normal living expense transfers (which were sometimes in excess of 10k+) , which also include furniture for house and so on we put the money into Paypal then in turn transferred it to a PayPal Debit Card. Large amounts of cash to purchase house and so on were done through Moneycorp. Paypal and Moneycorp have ALWAYS been very good and transferred in timely manners. If you need any info on these websites are:

PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/home

Paypal Prepaid - https://www.paypal-prepaid.com/account/authenticate.m

Money Corp - http://www.moneycorp.com/uk/

If you have any questions I will gladly answer them, send them to my PM.

[Mike-eeh and Odie 192]

We use Western Union, Xoom and Remitly.

[Jawaree 717]

Jawaree, I'm not trying to avoid the reporting requirement. I am just trying to find the best exchange rate possible. But anyway, from what I understand, the IRS won't tax the money brought into the USA; they will only tax the interest it earns once placed into an American account.

No no I did not think that was your intent I was just cautioning you

please research XOOM and think about them the rates are reasonable

[SabeehNajam 15]

No no I did not think that was your intent I was just cautioning you

please research XOOM and think about them the rates are reasonable

can we use XOOM to send money TO the US?

I was trying their service today but they dont list the US as one of the countries where i can send money too :S

[CAMama3 1]

transferwise, xe, your area forex--we used canadianforex, but they have a european branch too, I think. Their rates are all usually .01 below mid-market. Low fees. Paypal rates aren't that much better than a bank, IMO.

Like pp said, be aware of any charges your banks might charge sending/receiving the money and look up how the exchane company wants to you to send them the money and any fees/limits on your bank account. We had been using canandianforex-- I could pay by bill pay/debit (free from my Canadian account), but they deposit via wire transfer and my bank here charges $15 for that. Some do debit, EFT/ACH, wire transfer, etc, so find the one that will work best with your bank accounts and their fees..

Edited June 3, 2015 by CAMama3