Many people around the world send money across international borders for multiple reasons, to rent or buy property, pay school fees and tuition fees, book foreign vacation trips, send money to friends and family, or purchase goods or services from a foreign merchant or vendor. Below are the top 5 methods of transferring money overseas.
1. Digital Wallet Transfers
You can easily send money between digital wallets instead of bank accounts. Digital wallets provide another common option available even in developing countries that don’t have traditional banking infrastructure. Both parties need to have the same international money transfer app installed on their devices in order to facilitate the digital wallet transfer. They need to have access to a digital wallet to invest or spend, such as a debit credit card or an associated bank account. Common digital wallets include Skrill, PayPal, and Google Pay.
2. Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Over the last decade, crypto exchanges have slowly become more and more mainstream which makes them a viable method to send money overseas. However, there are some disadvantages to using this method, even if both the recipient and the sender have similar crypto exchanges. Cryptocurrencies are very volatile, which means their values can change very quickly without any warning.
3. Cash Transfers
You can transfer money from your bank account to a foreigner who does not own a bank account. Especially in developing countries, a lot of people there are underbanked. Because of this, the sender also does not require a bank account. You can simply take the money to a cash transfer service branch, such as Western Union, and have the cash transferred to someone in a different country where they will receive the money in their currency. It’s often a convenient and fast method of sending money if one or both parties involved don’t own a bank account. This method is easy but also risky; even though Western Union needs the money recipients to present the transaction number and a photo ID, there is a possibility of fraud
4. Bank to Bank Money Transfer
The majority of the banks around the world provide international wire transfers, which are typically secure and fast as well as expensive. Some banks offer cheaper, slower transfers to a foreigner’s bank account with an associated bank or with the same bank. Bank to bank money transfers normally need providing the routing numbers and the account for both parties, normally an IBAN for an international account.
5. Third-Party Money Transfer Services
The majority of people would like to receive or send money back and forth to checking accounts. This can be achieved by linking a bank account to third-party money transfer providers such as OFX or Wise. These third-party money transfer providers send money in multiple ways, and they are normally cheaper compared to sending money via your bank by making use of a wire transfer.
The above list contains the fastest and safest ways to transfer money around the world.
