Best way to send money overseas?

Question

I'm from the U.S. but I want to send money to someone in Spain. They don't have paypal, and can only receive the money by post mail. What is the safest way to do this?

Answer 1

1) send it through your bank directly to their bank. You'll be able to find out all the fees upfront from your bank

2) Western Union are fast, but their exchange rates are terrible and their fees expensive. The only time you would use them was if someone needed the money very quickly or if they were in a country with limited banking facilities. Spain is not one of these countries

3) Ask your friend to open a pay pal account. It doesn't take that long

4) Don't send a US check to Spain. When your friend cashes it in, they'll be charged very high fees. Their Spanish bank will also need to send the check back to the US to confirm that it's real. It can takes weeks.

5) If it's only a small amount and you're willing to risk it, you can send cash through the post in a registered letter. If ithe letter goes missing then you wont receive the money back, but if it's only $20 this may not worry you.

In all - sending a bank transfer from your bank to their bank account is the best and cheapest way.

Answer 2

1) Western Union

2) Bank to Bank Wire Transfering

(needs the routing # + account # of receiving person account: 9 digits + account #)

Answer 3

I'm not sure if it works the same way for every country, but I just had some money sent from Korea to the US. I've been living in Korea for the last 7 months and have been depositing my money into a Korean bank. A couple days ago I went to the bank and talked to one of the workers. We did an electronic transfer. I needed to give him the account number of the US bank; the bank name and branch name; address; and phone #. I spent maybe 25 minutes at the bank. The money goes through 3 days later. Hope it helps.

Answer 4

http://money-moneyloan.blogspot.com

Answer 5

Western Union Money Transfer.