Trying to Send Money

[Hank_ 9,174]

My wife's been here for 10 years. I use to use Wells Fargo, when she still lived there but then we switched to Xoom soon after she arrived here and we closed the Wells Fargo remittance acct. We closed the WF acct because it was too expensive compared to Xoom. If I remember right WF said no fee's after the initial $5 fee for the service (which is understandable) however, each time the recipient would draw $ from an ATM in the Philippines they would be charged a $3 fee for doing so. I called WF here in the US and inquired about this and WF said they do not charge other than the initial $5 service fee, and I told them I can prove you wrong because my fiancee is having to pay $3 per withdraw.

WF said well we do not charge the fee that must be the bank and their ATM. I told them you should state that on your website before people sign up for this account, which by the way, WF and\or the ATM's in the Philippines did NOT charge this $3 fee when we first had the acct. Okay, so $3 plus 4.99 is not such a big deal but the straw that killed the camel is the ATM's would only let you withdraw like $200 per day or something, so if you had sent 600,800,1000 plus it adds up pretty quick just to pad the banks pocket.

You know Wells Fargo negotiates this remittance service with the banks in the Philippines and they knew they were starting to charge the $3 per withdrawal fee, they were deceptive and that's why we sought a different option. I won't even go into the trouble I had trying to get them to correct the name on the recipients debit card for the Philippines. After the 6th time I went off on them in a voice mail, I'm sure they still have that one saved and break it out at Christmas party's to get a good laugh.

Xoom is fast, it's a one time fee and the recipient can receive the $ in one lump sum. You may have to provide some information at first on the first few transactions because your own bank or Xoom may hold it until you call them, because they are trying to make sure it's not a stolen card or hacked transaction, but once you do 4 or 5 transactions and they see it is valid, you will not have to call anymore and just click through for an easy 1 minute process and done.

My wife just tried this new service that is slightly cheaper but it is a bit slower for the recipient to receive the $ where Xoom is instant or within an hour. If it goes more than an hour you know you need to call them.

REMITLY is cheaper than XOOM, the fee charged for INSTANT transfer; XOOM = $4.99, REMITLY = $3.99 and a better exchange rate.

[tyler007 26]

I'm just glad there is competition otherwise we would all be screwed.

[Greenbaum 12,262]

WF still charges $5.00. Money is in BDO within minutes. BDO does not charge to withdraw the funds using an ATM. Exchange rate is better then most of the remittance company's that others have quoted. Been using WF for 3 years and never had a problem. As old Uncle Harry used to say "your mileage may vary".