If you’re someone who travels the world for fun or for work-related purposes, knowing how to send and receive money while you’re constantly on the go will be a very valuable skill to have.Four top ways that travelers use while abroad to transfer money to wherever in the world.Find information about send and receive money.
If you’ve never had to send money internationally yet, you may understandably believe that it’s incredibly difficult to do so.
In reality, there are a multitude of ways you can easily send and receive money while you travel the globe.
Here are the top four best methods to send and receive money while traveling the world and their respective pros and cons:
Method #1 – Money Transfer Service
The first method is just to use a money transfer service such as Remitly.com. Many people directly prefer money transfer services over other options such as bank wire transfers because the fees for sending the money are significantly less.
A money transfer service will also be a very ideal option if you need to have money sent quickly, such as for unexpected emergencies where you may need to send money to a close family member.
You can either walk into the physical establishment of a money transfer service, or you can use their services on their respective websites or apps as well.
International Wire Transfer
This is probably the most well-known method for sending money internationally. But does that make it the best?
One of the biggest appeals to international wire transfers is that the limit to the amount of money you want to send at once is very high, usually anywhere from $50,000 up to $250,000. So if you have that much money you want to send, it’s certainly easy to see why an international wire transfer with your bank would be appealing.
But on the flip side of things, the fees with international wire transfers are also quite high, and in addition to paying the fees of your bank you’ll need to pay the fees of your recipient’s bank most likely too. Higher fees won’t mean much with large sums of money, but for smaller sums like a few hundred dollars or so, they certainly do.
Last but not least, wire transfers are also slow, and can take up to five business days before they finally complete. Therefore, be sure you plan ahead before moving ahead with a wire transfer instead of a faster alternative.
Money Orders
A money order is simply an amount of money paid at your post office or bank and that is then written to a recipient.
One of the downsides to money orders is that they are best done in person at a post office or bank, because there are few online money order services that are truly reputable.
The best time to use a money order service is if you want the funds to be guaranteed; this is why many businesses will prefer money orders over other transfer options.
Cost is also an issue with money orders, as the fees can vary anywhere from ten to fifty dollars. As with wire transfers, processing times are slow and they can take several business days to arrive at the recipient.
PayPal
Do you have a PayPal account? If so, you can most certainly use it to send money internationally.
In fact, making international payments with PayPal is rather convenient and simple. PayPal currently allows one to send money in twenty different currencies to a hundred and ninety different currencies. You are able to preview the conversion rates before you submit.
In order to send the money, all you need to know is either the phone number or the email address to the person you are sending the money to, which isn’t any different than if you were to send the funds domestically.
One of the negatives to using PayPal, however, is it’s not the best choice for sending larger sums of money. This is for security purposes as PayPal will often delay or even entirely block larger transfers that they view as suspicious, and if that happens to you, you will need to contact them to have it resolved.
But for any smaller sums of money, and specifically sums that are two thousand dollars or less, PayPal should be one of the simplest options there is for sending money internationally.
Sending and Receiving Money While Traveling
All in all these are the four best ways for you to send and receive money while you have fun traveling across the world.
