Online foreign money transfer is big business, as can be ascertained by simply putting “money transfer” into your search engine. There are hundreds of online remittance sources worldwide, but some of the most popular for online remittance are PayPal, Western Union, Xoom, Obopay and Moneygram.
Transferring money online is a fast, simple and effective way to get your money where you want it. Transfers can take from only a few seconds to a few hours, so long gone are the times when it took two or three days, with your money earning interest for the money transfer companies, rather than you or your recipient.
The online transfer process is similar, whichever company you choose to use. Instructions are clear and concise and if you send money to the same recipient regularly, you get to store most of the information securely, so you don’t have to complete the details every time. Convenience and security are two major features of these online money transfer platforms.
You need to check the charges and read reviews. They all say they offer the best deals, but do they? The fee should not be the only aspect you check because a cheap fee may not mean good service.
PayPal has a good reputation. Money gets transferred from one PayPal account to another instantly worldwide, while their charges are transparent. The only difficulty with PayPal is getting your money out of the account. You don’t get a plastic card to withdraw funds so although you can use the money in your PayPal account to purchase goods, if you want real cash you have to transfer it to a bank account, debit or credit card and this can take time: in fact several days. For US residents, a PayPal debit card can be issued to allow instant access to funds through an ATM, but credit checks are performed which may present difficulties for non-US residents.
Money transfer companies like Western Union, Xoom, Obobay and Moneygram charge more, but get your money transferred quickly and reliably: and you get cash paid into your account so you can withdraw it immediately. You also have the option of the recipient being able to collect cash from a large, worldwide network which only requires photo-identification.
Ikopo offers a pre-paid Visa card. You purchase the card with a one-time fee, load as much money as you want to send and the card is sent by FedEx to anywhere and anyone worldwide. The recipient simply puts the card in an ATM, enters a pre-set PIN and gets cash. The other benefit is the card can be used anywhere the Visa sign is displayed to pay for any goods and services.
Obopay are investigating using cell phone technology in a bid to grab a lucrative sector of the money transfer market. Cell phone money transfers are popular in Africa, India and China but are yet to develop fully in the U.S. There are concerns about security so the amounts that can be sent tend to be small at present.
Remember you need to sign up before you can use any of the online money transfer services. Make certain you use a reputable company and don’t simply use one because it’s cheap. Read independent reviews and make your own comparisons, and if you are in any doubt, don’t use them.
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