Money transfers are a popular way of moving funds from one bank account to another. With the increase in online commerce and being able to shop worldwide, rather than just at the local stores where you hand over the money, there is now the need to pay for goods via electronic means. Bank wire transfers used to the about the only way to transfer money other than the third party money transfer services. All these required you to be physically present to initiate the transfer.
Nowadays it is possible to sit in your home and send money around the world. Of course this comes at a price and with so much competition out there it means a bit of research is required to avoid over paying for your money transfers. Competition is usually a good thing, just don’t get bogged down trying to compare every service or you may never end up making the transfer. Bank wires are still available although many now tend to be on the more expensive end of the spectrum. Email money transfers and other online money transfer services offer similar services and often for considerably less money. Just remember there are fees and charges at both ends of the transaction that have to be considered. Some of the newer services give the person transferring the money a few small charge and the person receiving the funds incurs a higher charge. This one can be down to marketing if you are a cynic and it gets people to use the service because many don’t care about the fees imposed on the recipient.
What it comes down to is how much money do you need to hand over in order to get the correct amount of money into the recipients account. You should consider fees, exchange rates, currencies, amounts and timing when deciding on the best method. What works for one transaction might not be the best for another. The amount can have a significant impact on the fees particularly if they are percentage based. At a minimum, look for one with a sliding scale (and preferably a small minimum or none) especially if you are transferring a large amount. With a sliding scale it is usually a higher percentage for smaller amounts and the percentage charges reduces as the amount gets higher. Flat rates are often better because it’s usually the same amount of work for $100 as for $1000 so why should you pay more?