Job Discussion Forums

[alfred_utton]

specifically, how do I pay my credit card bill? my credit card company only accepts on-line payments from accounts within the US. I have a checking account in the US, but I don't know how to get money to it from my Banco National account here.

I would prefer to avoid having to pay fees via Western Union and such.

[ls650]

Did you try asking the bank in Costa Rica if you could wire a direct deposit from there to your checking account in the USA?

The process will vary somewhat from country to country. Yes, there will be fees, but they may not be that much. When I wired money from Indonesia to my home account, the fee was about $10 at each end.

[Glenski]

You prefer to avoid paying fees to send your money someplace? The only way to do that is to tuck cash in an envelope and mail it. (somewhat sarcastic reply, I know, but you are being unrealistic about not wanting to pay for money transfers).

Does Costa Rica have a postal banking system that permits you to do this somehow?

What about going through Lloyds?
http://www.lloydstsb.com/internet_banking.asp?iblink=Find+out+more

[High Plains Drifter]

These are all good questions and I'm surprised at how at how seldom they are asked.

Western Union's fees are so high that that makes no sense except for emergencies.

"my credit card company only accepts on-line payments from accounts within the US" Online credit card payments are the way to go I've been doing it for years from all sorts of foreign countries. Wire transfer money from Costa Rica to your US checking account. There are also fees involved in this, but there's no way around it. I've never tried this, but I suppose you could avoid wire transfer fees by mailing a check from Costa Rica to your bank. That would be much slower but might be the cheapest way to do it.

[dyak]

[Chasgul]

The usual Cost:Convenience ratio. Costs usually rise in proportion to convenience, there ARE ways to pay less or not at all but they involve hassle.

[EnglishBrian]

You want to try transfering money to Lithuania! The only account I'm entitled to have open here only accepts international transfers in Pounds, Euros, Dollars and one or two other major European currencies. When I worked in Asia and the ME, I had to transfer my winnings to my UK account changing them into pounds, then transfer them from there to Lithuania, changing them again into Litas. Nightmare and cost a bomb in charges.

[Justin Trullinger]

I've always wondered how secure sending cash would be...maybe we could try an experiment. Write your name and address on a piece of paper, and put it in an envelope, along with the local equivalent of $100. Then PM me for my address, and post it to me. When we see where the money actually arrives from, we'll know who has the most honest postal service...

Any takers?

Justin

[alfred_utton]

it looks like I'm going to be able to transfer the money though my bank here to my bank in the US for around $22 a pop.

a

[Volodiya]

A very long time ago, in a rather remote and undeveloped part of the world, I solved this problem by exchanging my cash for personal checks, made out to me, from people whose wages were paid by direct deposit in the U.S.- meaning they needed cash in the local currency, from time to time. I then mailed the checks to my bank in the U.S. I was lucky. Never had a check bounce, or a check get lost in the mail, over about twelve months.

[moonraven]

Banking and Western Union services cost money. That's how those folks stay in business. In Mexico it usually costs about 40 bucks a pop, so CR is cheaper. In some companies it is a percentage. When I was going to do it in Ecuador to Mexico I was going to get hit twice--as they were going to transfer it to a bank in Miami first!