One of the more requested items on OMT is when people ask if we could list all of the money transfer methods that are available online at the moment.
Realistically the entire site here is about these different money transfer methods so there’s been a reluctance to write a specific piece of information about the methods that are on offer in one single place as it really should be giving a complete list of all of the information that we’ve had so far.
However, there have been enough requests, so here goes with the list of methods for transferring money that are currently available (or at least that I can think of at present). Please note that this is not a list in any order or best transfer options, it is only of the ones that I’ve thought of on the spot at present:
- Credit Card Withdrawal – there is nothing stopping you taking your credit card to an ATM that is available in a different currency and transferring money out of your account in a different currency. You will of course be charged whatever the prevailing rate at the time is.
- Debit Card / Bank Account Withdrawal – if there is a bank that is associated with your own bank in another country (most banks have affiliations with others internationally) then one method to transfer money into a new currency is simply to withdraw it from your account in a different currency over the counter at a bank.
- Cash – as old school as it gets, you could always walk up to any bank or exchange site (often at airports and where tourists will be) and change the money over for different currencies.
- PayPal – we have a bit of information on this site about PayPal where it’s possible for you to open an account with them in a different currency and transfer the money from one account to the next.
- Foreign Exchange Websites – also known as online money transfer, this is the method that the majority of OMT is dedicated to, you have options like MoneyGram (who are a little more focused on point to point transactions within their branches or you could work with others like Currency Online, Western Union, Xoom and the list goes on. With these sites you are generally depositing money into their accounts via one of the other methods like Credit Card / Debit Card / Bank Transfer etc and then they’re transferring the money to another specified bank account that exists in another country.
When you’re deciding which of these methods to use, the best piece of advice I can give is to use the one that you feel you trust the most and the one that is easiest for you to get the money available for you in a short amount of time.
At the time that you transfer the money through one of these methods, the last thing you want is to have the money delayed within the transfer (which can happen) so make sure you’ve completed the method that you’ve chosen well in advance of when you want to have the new currency actually in your account or in your hand. As with all transactions, these methods can be delayed so best to plan ahead!
If you have any comments about your experiences in using different money transfer methods and what has worked well for you then please add your comments below to help others out…