What are ways people pay to a foreign bank account?

[Middleager]

We'll be going to Egypt, and had hired a guide (and driver) for a few days.  The guide asked for a deposit to be paid to her bank account.

 

A few months ago I used Xoom to pay to for a dive trip in Mexico.  Cad to pesos.  I could pay with my bank account or credit card, and Xoom's exchange rate is about in the middle between bank's retail rate and the whole sale rate (whee people trade large amounts).

 

This time the lady is asking to receive in US $.  So I tried TD Global transfer, and I could take money out of my TD US$ account, to pay to the lady's bank in Cairo.  TD charged USD $7 fee for this.  TD's exchange rate if paying with Cad $ is not very good.  The fee is also different depending on how you pay, and/or how the recipient receives. 

(Oh, during the set up, I had to enter a BIC (or SWIFT) number for the bank in Egypt.  I then remembered when Russia invaded Ukraine, the sanctions including shutting Russia out of the SWIFT banking system.  That was the first time hearing about SWIFT.)

 

Just wondering what other ways people have paid to foreign bank accounts.

[CDNPolar]

From what you are saying you are proposing it the right way.  You will have to use a SWIFT code and the exchange rates are just a factor of doing this kind of transfer.

[gnome12]

Wise.com

They show you exactly what the fees are. You can transfer in any currency. 
 

For me, it is connected to my EQ Bank account, but you can set up an account and link it to your payment account. 

[CaptainBazz]

What about an e-transfer? That would go straight to her bank account.

[LHT28]

I have only used guide that took VISA   

I do not like sending cash  in case  they do not turn up  at least with a CC I can have some recourse

[Middleager]

4 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Wise.com

They show you exactly what the fees are. You can transfer in any currency. 
 

For me, it is connected to my EQ Bank account, but you can set up an account and link it to your payment account. 

Ok, I'll look into that next time.  Xoom and TD Global Bank transfer work the same way.  Show you how much it'll cost to transfer X amount in Y currency to the recipient, and the fees.

2 hours ago, CaptainBazz said:

What about an e-transfer? That would go straight to her bank account.

Only works in Canada.  Not to any foreign accounts, not even US.

 

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

I have only used guide that took VISA   

I do not like sending cash  in case  they do not turn up  at least with a CC I can have some recourse

There are many countries/people who don't use CC much, including Jordan and Egypt.  I Xoom paid deposit to a dive op in Mexico for earlier this year, and we ended up with a very nice diving/snorkeling boat charter excursion for a group.

 

Yes there are some that do take CC with x% added for the charge, but there are still risks with those ops. 

 

These guides/drivers we'll be going with in Jordan and Egypt have good reviews and word of mouth recommendations, and  are much cheaper than the ops that take CC.

[Fouremco]

14 minutes ago, Middleager said:

Only works in Canada.  Not to any foreign accounts, not even US.

That's no longer the case. Interac does provide international transfers, albeit only for people with an active National Bank account.  https://www.interac.ca/en/consumers/products/interac-e-transfer/international-money-transfer/

[Middleager]

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

That's no longer the case. Interac does provide international transfers, albeit only for people with an active National Bank account.  https://www.interac.ca/en/consumers/products/interac-e-transfer/international-money-transfer/

Ok, good to know.  We don't have a National bank account.  National bank has a small presence, so hopefully that can be expanded to many other financial institutions.

[Dismomx5]

As mentioned above, I have sent international money by going to the bank with the SWIFT code and banking information. There was a cost, but I don’t remember what it was. 

[xman1111]

i use Xe.com money transfer to send money to my US bank account.

[Magicat]

We have a RBC Bank account which is the US version of Royal Bank.  We add a payee (person or company) and then pay them like a bill.  A cheque is generated and mailed to them.  Not as instantaneous as an e-transfer but works well in the US.  I have not tried it outside of the US. 

[frteach]

Get a USD funds VISA credit card, and you can load it with as much as you like from your own bank account. I have used this to pay for tours and guides in Europe many times. Reload it when it gets low, and you will see how much is left on it when you bank online. 

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, frteach said:

Get a USD funds VISA credit card, and you can load it with as much as you like from your own bank account. I have used this to pay for tours and guides in Europe many times. Reload it when it gets low, and you will see how much is left on it when you bank online. 

Why would you want to convert twice, once to buy US$ to fund the card, and again to the European currency that you are spending it in?

[Magicat]

I am told bitcoin is a great way of transferring funds without exchange rate fees.  However I don't know the fees required to purchase and sell bitcoin nor do I know the exact details on performing this action.  I just know my friend who is into bitcoin has done this to transfer funds from his home sale here in Mexico to his bank in Austria.  

[Atlantic Girl]

We set up a US chequing account with RBC  USA. With that came a  US Visa card and US debit card. We also have a US savings account with RBC Canada. So easy, to transfer money from our Canadian US account to that one. On  RBC banking online, the Canadian and US accounts can be linked. Buy US money when the exchange is better and keep it in our Canadian US account. Then we use our US Visa and US debit cards when travelling and just transfer money to the US chequing account when the Visa bill is due. No charge to get cash from many ATM’s when in the US for those occasions when you don’t want to pull out the Visa. Has worked great for us for 15 years of travelling. 

[Been There, Planning That]

23 hours ago, Atlantic Girl said:

We set up a US chequing account with RBC  USA. 

We do exactly the same with TD>

[Magicat]

8 hours ago, Been There, Planning That said:

We do exactly the same with TD>

With RBC Bank moving money between the US and Canada is seamless.  Just like moving money between you accounts and the transaction is immediate.  Last time I looking into TD, you had to wire your money to the US.  Is this still the case or have they made it easier?

[Been There, Planning That]

1 hour ago, Magicat said:

With RBC Bank moving money between the US and Canada is seamless.  Just like moving money between you accounts and the transaction is immediate.  Last time I looking into TD, you had to wire your money to the US.  Is this still the case or have they made it easier?

No, not in the years since we've had a TD Visa for US card and USD account.  Like you, we watch the dollar exchange rate and transfer from CDN to USD account as needed.  I do all this online and then should we ever resume cruising we withdraw cash for tipping from the USD account at the local bank.

[*Miss G*]

15 hours ago, Magicat said:

With RBC Bank moving money between the US and Canada is seamless.  Just like moving money between you accounts and the transaction is immediate.  Last time I looking into TD, you had to wire your money to the US.  Is this still the case or have they made it easier?

 

It’s just like a regular transfer of funds between accounts.  If I log into TD Canada I can see my TD US account and do a transfer.  RBC withdrew their physical presence from the US while TD was launching theirs.  I believe RBC still has a presence through PNC Bank.  I moved from RBC to TD for a more traditional experience and ease of use.  If you aren’t actually spending much time in the US then I guess a brick and mortar building is not as important.

[mrgabriel]

We also use RBC for U.S./Canadian cross-border banking. However, if I'm sending money to someone in another country, Paypal is an easy option. If you don't use Paypal (and we no longer use Paypal for a number of reasons), I would wire - which does cost some money. 

[Magicat]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

 

It’s just like a regular transfer of funds between accounts.  If I log into TD Canada I can see my TD US account and do a transfer.  RBC withdrew their physical presence from the US while TD was launching theirs.  I believe RBC still has a presence through PNC Bank.  I moved from RBC to TD for a more traditional experience and ease of use.  If you aren’t actually spending much time in the US then I guess a brick and mortar building is not as important.

Ok, good to know TD have upgraded the experience.  You are correct that RBC Bank uses PNC bank in the US.  It was handy when we disembarked in Boston and I was able to deposit our casino cash winnings into a PNC ATM.  But I was right across the street for the TD North arena so I am sure a TD machine would have been just as easy.

[Atlantic Girl]

In Florida any Publix ATM is also free for RBC debit cards.

[smrgrl]

We use the global money transfer option with CIBC which does include Swift info, we set up the payee and then choose the currency that the payee needs to receive.  Other than the cost of converting from CDN to Euro or other funds there is no admin fee. It is secure but has a limit of $2K per day.  Perhaps ask your bank to waive their fee to be competitive with the other banks.