Comparison of Money Transfer Methods

[peterfe]

Yes, excellent post, OnMyWay. I did a similar comparison about a year ago and came to more or less the same conclusions. Just now I'm only using Western Union and Transferwise. Let me add one or two more points.

With Western Union, it's best to register with them. Before I did that, I sometimes found that they would reject a transfer (without giving a proper explanation) to the same person to whom they'd accepted a transfer a few days before! After I registered, I've never had that problem.

What with anti-money laundering rules, etc., it's always best to appear as "normal" as possible when using these companies. If you're British, and you tell them your address is in the Philippines and try to use a card from a bank account in Germany, you can be quite sure you'll be refused! Some companies (but not Transferwise) may ask for proof that you live in the UK or wherever you are a citizen, which could be difficult, especially in these lockdown days.

Finally, don't transfer a large amount (more than about 20 000?) for cash pickup if you live in a small town. They often don't have enough cash, and with the lockdown, you may not easily be able to travel to a larger town/city to pick it up instead.

[OnMyWay]

13 hours ago, peterfe said:

Yes, excellent post, OnMyWay. I did a similar comparison about a year ago and came to more or less the same conclusions. Just now I'm only using Western Union and Transferwise. Let me add one or two more points.

With Western Union, it's best to register with them. Before I did that, I sometimes found that they would reject a transfer (without giving a proper explanation) to the same person to whom they'd accepted a transfer a few days before! After I registered, I've never had that problem.

What with anti-money laundering rules, etc., it's always best to appear as "normal" as possible when using these companies. If you're British, and you tell them your address is in the Philippines and try to use a card from a bank account in Germany, you can be quite sure you'll be refused! Some companies (but not Transferwise) may ask for proof that you live in the UK or wherever you are a citizen, which could be difficult, especially in these lockdown days.

Finally, don't transfer a large amount (more than about 20 000?) for cash pickup if you live in a small town. They often don't have enough cash, and with the lockdown, you may not easily be able to travel to a larger town/city to pick it up instead.

One question for those of you who use some of the transfer services.  When I used them years ago they seemed to have a lot of strict limits on how much you could send and typically around $3000 was the limit.  However, if I remember correctly you could go through an approval process to get a higher limit.

This time when doing this test, not one mentioned anything about limits.  Of course, I was not doing an actual transfer.  I just punched a high amount into Transferwise, and it said the most a recipient can get is p480,000, around $9,500.  Conveniently just under the $10,000 limit that requires reporting to the U.S. Gov.

Do these all have some limits built in?

 

[OnMyWay]

On 4/4/2020 at 2:37 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

It is hard to compare all the methods because they change.

A month or a year from now their fees may have changed like Moneygram did to me.  A couple of years ago I had a friend in the US who would send my money to me via Moneygram.  Perhaps they had a special on but the fee was only $5 back then and I could instantly pick up US$ in cash at any L'Huillier.  With the bonus for exchanging actual US cash in the Philippines (rather than doing it through online methods) I easily made up the $5.  But now I see their fee for sending US$1,000 is up to $16

And the methods do not work the same for everyone.  My experience with both Moneygram and Transferwise is that the fee is diferrent depending on which country the sender is sending from.  That said, it is a great comparison in the opening post.  Respect to OnMyWay 

Dave, for bank to bank, Moneygram may be the best right now!  I'm going to add it to my list.  No fees and excellent exchange rate.  However, the other methods have a low exchange rate and fees!

Bank to bank

Debit card to cash pickup, $25 + terrible rate!  Over p3000 more than bank to bank!

[GeoffH]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Do these all have some limits built in?

To the best of my knowledge yes, although the limit varies from company to company.

[Onemore52]

I have been using World Remit for a few years now and have never had any problems with them, on the rare occasion there has been a stuff up they are quick to respond to my queries.

[OnMyWay]

Question for those who use these services.  If you are using them to get your money for living needs, what is the typical amount you transfer?

The reason I ask is that I am going to update the charts and instead of doing two, one for 2000 and one for 5000, I will just do one.  I was thinking 3000 usd might be a good example amount.  Too much?  Not enough?

[GeoffH]

I don't think there is a right amount but I will say that I've never had a problem with sends of 30,000 peso or less but I have had delays (from my bank, from MHLullier, from Western Union and from World Remit with larger amounts).   Sometimes 'extra information' is required, sometimes a call to my bank, sometimes not enough cash at the branch etc etc.  

And I seem to hit a hard limit at just over 130,000 peso with Western Union, not sure if it's my bank in Australia, SWMBO bank in the Philippines or Western Union but it's a hard limit for me (mostly I use Western for bank sends).

World Remit I can transfer more than that but there is a limit at the local MHLullier for pickups so I always stay under 100,000 peso (most times way under) or I run the risk that we have to visit to 2 or more of the branches to get that much peso.  You have to remember that 100,000 peso is a huge amount of cash for the locals.

 

[intrepid]

Over the four years living here we have used several services.  Because of the exchange rates we prefer to send dollars and have a very good local money changer.  Usually in the amount of ~$2000.  and also several hundred monthly to family members.                                                                                 My observations;

Moneygram; Fee was average but we found lower                                                                                             Western Union;  Free transfers back 3 years ago but suddenly my account was banned and after many calls and attempts no one could explain why or what was needed to correct.  Just gave up on WU.                                                                                                                                                                           Xoom;  Fees were average and transfer were fast.  After about a year several had an issue when we really need money fast and was delayed 3 days.  Called Xoom and was told it was a random check picked by computer.  After talking with a supervisor they released the money and gave a fee free transfer the next month.  After that we started check depositing. Bank lines had us looking for another way.                                                                                                                                                      Currently;  Back to Xoom doing bank deposit which has a lower fee but still have to wait in bank line to withdrawal.  With the Virus our money changer is closed and we didn't notice an open one hearby so we Xoomed  direct to our peso account and took a big hit on the exchange fee.                                       The Plan;  Try TransferWise

Edited April 6, 2020 by intrepid

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

If you are using them to get your money for living needs, what is the typical amount you transfer?

That typical amount varied over the years.  At my highest I was sending over 250,000 pesos at a time.  At the lowest about 25,000 pesos.

[Gator]

On 4/5/2020 at 4:59 PM, Onemore52 said:

I have been using World Remit for a few years now and have never had any problems with them, on the rare occasion there has been a stuff up they are quick to respond to my queries.

Same with me. Only twice that I can recall were there any issues with them. Both times were delays of about 2-3 days, otherwise the funds are available within minutes of sending it. In case there is an issue, I like that they have local customer service lines to call from many different countries; including the Philippines.