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Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#21

Post by cik »

I have the same exact problem - living in Canada, with the same conditions. The reality is that it depends on the client, but here's what I do.

1. RBC has a USD account for $9/month. It's the cheapest in the country. For clients who insist on paying by ACH or cheque, that allows me to take USD inbound and hold them as needed.

2. I use a money changer (persepolis work, as do several on King Street) simply because the DIFFERENCE on the exchange can be as high as 1.5%, which is a little nuts. It's not automated (sadly), but companies like Freedman will pick up cheques from you - if you're not already downtown.

3. BTC + Coinbase. Some people are more than happy enough to pay in BTC. That in turn makes it easy to get other currencies without the pain.

#3 is by far the most cost effective - especially if you deal with the occasional non-US currency, as I do. The reality is that items #1+#2 combined helped me shave hundreds of dollars in exchange fees.

Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#22

Post by HNJohnC »

refurb wrote: post #20

You live in Canada and get paid in USD? Just deposit the check in your bank. It take a while to clear (up to 30 days), but the big Canadian banks give pretty good exchange rates since they exchange a lot of USD -> CAD.

" but the big Canadian banks give pretty good exchange rates "

Not this sadly.

Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#24

Post by KevinBongart »

abhididdigi wrote: post #19

I am surprised nobody here use XOOM ( https://www.xoom.com )

I've been using Xoom to send American dollars to France every two weeks for three years now, it works great, reliably, the interface simple, polished and offers a lot of useful features, the pricing is cheap and there's no surprise fees. Highly recommended!

Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#25

Post by graeme »

footpath wrote: post #18

How are you currently depositing the US cheques? Both TD[1] and RBC[2] offer cross-border banking accounts, meaning that you can open a TD/RBC account in Canada and a TD/RBC account in the US and link them together, which should allow you to transfer funds between them at an optimum rate. You should be able to deposit US cheques with their smartphone apps. The issue with this approach is that you will have to maintai…

I use RBC US (RBC Georgia) + XE Trade. Results in 1-2% more money. As long as you can wait 3 weeks to receive it, it's a good option. Transfers are free.

Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#28

Post by throwaway_32948 »

If you are converting large amounts and you are comfortable with purchasing and selling stocks online then a viable option is to use Norbert's gambit. This involves buying stock in companies traded on both Canadian and US exchanges, such as TD. You buy on one exchange (in your case on a US exchange), journal over to the other exchange, and then sell on other exchange. With the right online broker, journaling is automatic, and the entire process takes a few minutes to complete.

The final costs for the exchange are the trading fees (typically $10 per transaction for an online broker), the bid-ask spread, and any fluctuation in price between the buy and sell price (this can be in either direction---gains are taxable). Fluctuations over periods of a few minutes should be small for a highly liquid and stable stock. Always use limit orders to protect against any unusual events such as a flash crash.

There are lots of links found through a web search that describe the process and which Canadian online brokers make this easy to do. Also see http://www.northernraven.ca/financial/NGcalculator.php for a calculator that helps you select which stock to use. You want to select a stock with high liquidity (typically translates in a low bid-ask spread) and also a high unit price (to minimize the relative bid-ask spread cost).

The calculator at the link above shows that using today's prices to convert $10k can save about $80 versus a 1% currency conversion cost by using one of a number of stocks.

Re: Ask HN: How do you transfer money internationally?

#29

Post by vilius »

OT, but may be useful if someone is looking for cheap ways to transfer money within the EU. https://transfergo.com - offers transfers to bank accounts for a fixed fee of 2,5 GBP.

It works by issuing local payments, which are much cheaper. You make a local payment to TransferGo account in your country. In turn they use their foreign bank account to make local payment to your recipient.

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