Job Discussion Forums

[parched]

I will ask my colleagues for their opinions, though hearing of others' experiences throughout Oman can also be valuable. Someone who lives in a different city than I will but posts on this forum might share useful information, both for myself and for other readers.

I have looked up a list of banks in Oman and it would appear that the only two foreign western banks are HSBC and Standard Chartered. For wire transfers, I would prefer to use one of these.

For those who have wired money home to a U.S. bank without an IBAN, or have heard of others' experiences doing so, which banks get positive reviews?

[ETG]

Oman Arab Bank in Muscat is the best bank I have ever dealt with! I have never experienced such personal and professional experience ever - certainly not in Canadian banks.
Re remittances do check with your home bank - the extra charges are likely on their end.
E

[parched]

Thanks for sharing your opinion, ETG. I will check it out.

[madrileno]

[Tazz]

It's been clearly stated at least twice in this thread-regarding sending/ transfering money outside the country, but the OP seems unable to grasp the fact that the money exchanges-for example ' UAE money exchange'-branches available throughout Oman, is the simplest, cheapest, and quickest way of moving your money home-if it wasn't good value why would all the Indian workers here use it habitually to transfer relatively small amounts of money back home?

[veiledsentiments]

It is certainly mentioned often, but for many it is a concept that they don't relate to as they haven't experienced it. It has always been the cheapest way to do a wire transfer, but one still has the charges at one's bank in the home country. It cost $25 for me even back in the 90s.

To me, the disadvantage of using a money exchange was having to carry around that large sum of money. Although rare, thieves also knew that and cased banks on paydays. Friends in a nice area of Muscat had their home broken into and a couple month's salary plus summer pay for the two of them was stolen because they planned to wait until the next day to do the transfer and exchange. The police said that they had this happen every pay day.

Personally, I went to my bank and got a US$ check to myself and mailed it to the US every couple months. I never had one not arrive... and the total charge was minuscule.

VS

[ETG]

Tazz, I suspect one of the reasons so many Indian workers use the exchanges is that they don't have bank accounts.

[balqis]

As well as, the transfer rates at Western Union for Indians/Pakistanis are very low, minimial indeed, due to massive clientele. As well as, they very often do not have bank accounts not only in Oman, but also in India or Pakistan, in both countries due to rural poverty. In addition to this, in Pakistan. in the tribal Northern Pakhtoo provinces or Waziristan, as somebody told me, banks are too scared to open any branches due to looting and pillage. They don't have post offices or postmen there either.

In Oman, if you keep your money in the bank for a longer period of time, they give you a nice higher exchange rate, which is negotiable, when you eventually transfer it. But the amount needs to be of substance. I used to transfer my income by the end of each year, sometimes two years, so the money was substantial and I was able to negotiate the rate. If I remember well, the daily exchange rate at Western Union is on principle higher than in the bank, any bank I mean.

My bank in Nizwa was Muscat Bank, the souq branch. Nice service, excellent coffee served to all, rich and poor, dense with sugar and cardamon. Sweet, central to Nizwa, location, next to a bakery selling best sweets on earth made of pure almond or nuts and covered with real silver foil, hand made and very dear.
Nizwa, my darling beauty.

balqis

[veiledsentiments]

Keeping a year or two of income in a bank in this part of the world is not very smart IMHO... ask those teachers who were in Iran for the revolution or Kuwait when Saddam invaded.

You can quickly kiss all that money good-by... I have friends who lost all of their stuff and significant money in both.

VS

[parched]

Thanks for everyone's contributions.

There can be a challenge for Americans sending money home to small American banks from the Gulf region. Most small American banks don't have IBAN numbers, so a larger American bank must act as an intermediary as the money is sent. This requires a bit more service on the part of the sending bank, and it has been my experience that some banks don't want to offer this service. In fact, employees at my current employer's bank (in another Gulf country) don't even understand this situation. When I tried to explain to them, they insisted that I must "find" my bank's IBAN number. In order to wire money to the U.S., I had to open an additional account in another bank with American ties that will provide the service of wiring money through an intermediary bank.

In my current Gulf country, I also inquired at two different money exchange/transfer places that the laborers use. At the first, they said that they could only send money to specific countries, and the U.S. wasn't on their list. At the second, they told me (like my employer's bank) to "find" my American bank's IBAN number, and that no transfer could be done without it.

[veiledsentiments]

You could either use the system that I did and mail $ checks or you could open another account with another US bank that does the transfers. Then it is easy to transfer from one US bank to another... can usually be done online.

VS

[parched]

Thanks VS, I'll definitely explore those options.

I've been researching this topic and I learned that Oman hasn't adopted the IBAN system, unlike the rest of the countries in the Gulf. This is encouraging, and I'm hopeful that wiring money from Oman doesn't come with the restrictions I've faced elsewhere.

If anyone else has insight on this issue, it would be much appreciated.

[nomad soul]