Banking interanationally?

[Dauntedpoet]

My SO is in England and I am in New Hampshire USA. We are constantly trying to get money back and forth and its a nightmare! We've been using wire transfers which cost at least $35 each time.. it adds up. Does anyone have any idea's? or tricks and tips to get money back and forth internationally that is reliable and affordable??

[mllebamako]

I usually just use Western Union or MoneyGram. I think it depends which countries you are sending to/from but from France to Mali, I pay 8.50 euros.
It's really easy to use and you can do it online with a credit card although I believe it's cheaper to go in and do it in person.

[Moon]

We go through this, too. He can very easily transfer money to me from Finland, but I can't get money to him very well. We're trying PayPal next and seeing if that'll be a better option.

[squeeker]

There have been a few times my boy and I have had to do money transfers as well... We just use PayPal... it seems to work fine, I think there's a small fee for withdrawing it into your bank (like less than $2) and it takes a few days to come through but it works pretty nicely for us.

[Zephii]

The few times Obi has had to send me money it's been a cheque in the post. Slow, but cheap.
HSBC bank has good accounts for transfering too, I don't pay anything for my international transfers at the moment. (I think it's about to change and that will suck.)

[KatyCakes10]

My SO and I have a joint account in Canada where he lives, but soon we will be opening a joint account in Florida too. If either of us needs money, we online transfer.

[garnet]

Rane & I used xoom (www.xoom.com), and transfered 1k for a $3 fee, which I didn't think was too bad. It was faster than paypal, and we had no complaints.

[ms3]

If it is really back AND forth, maybe you could do what I do with my SO: When we're together, it's always the hosting person that pays everything in the respective country. I'm not sure whether that makes sense or is possible in your case. For us, it's of course also a good way to balance the very different purchasing power.

[lucybelle]

Would it be possible to open up an account in England? Or an account that has a branch in England so you could access money that way?

[MystChic]

I've used Western Union, but their fees do add up!

I'm in the process of getting my SO as an additional cardholder on my account. So I can post him an ATM card, and he can post me one.. and we just withdraw if we need too.

[Cucaratcha]

I have never done that, but I'd probably do it by PayPal if I had to...

[Sarah M]

Is there no way you could use internet banking and simply transfer the money? Sorry if this is a really stupid answer...!

[MystChic]

Is there no way you could use internet banking and simply transfer the money? Sorry if this is a really stupid answer...!

Hmmm - when I tried this, my bank (one of the "Big 4" in Australia) wanted to charge me a $30 fee, and then a foreign transaction fee, then you've got the conversion rate ontop of that. Western Union were cheaper, surprisingly.

[Altessa]

My boy was going to transfer me some money using Western Union, but in the end, since he was coming to visit me, he just handed me the money in person. I am still curious about the fees Western Union charges though. I tried looking for the fees on the website but although they mentioned that they do charge fees, I couldn't find their rates. Could someone tell me roughly how much they charge or where I could find the rates?

Edit: After some poking around, I think they only have rates for US or Canada listed on their website. I probably have to visit them or call to find out for my country. I am still interested to know how much Western Union charged you guys though!

[mllebamako]

My boy was going to transfer me some money using Western Union, but in the end, since he was coming to visit me, he just handed me the money in person. I am still curious about the fees Western Union charges though. I tried looking for the fees on the website but although they mentioned that they do charge fees, I couldn't find their rates. Could someone tell me roughly how much they charge or where I could find the rates?

Edit: After some poking around, I think they only have rates for US or Canada listed on their website. I probably have to visit them or call to find out for my country. I am still interested to know how much Western Union charged you guys though!

It depends on the countries. From France to Mali it costs me 8.50 euros. I think from the US to Mali cost me $10.