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ironopolis · Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 379

For years I'd always used the post office for sending money back (to the UK). I know there were some countries you couldn't use them for sending money to for some odd reason - I recall friends from both New Zealand & Ireland being told to go away.

But personally I always found it the easiest and cheapest way to send money. Dunno if this is anything to do with the impending privatisation, but recently the post office's foreign remittance service has gone right down the toilet. For a start, as a couple of people have mentioned above, they've more than doubled the charge for sending money.

They've also drastically reduced the number of post office branches you can send money abroad from. I used to get excellent service from my local PO, who got to know me fairly well and did all the paperwork very quickly. Then, when they were stopped doing it, at the bigger PO I went to, it was always someone processing the transaction who had never done an overseas remittance before and would take ages asking various other people what to do.

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Thanks Jim.

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Good analysis Jim,

Spoken like a true mathematician.

You only forgot to note in your conclusion that Lloyds is the best way for sending 10,000 yen. However, as the amount of money that you wish to transfer increases, the higher exchange rate that you pay through Lloyds recoups a larger and larger chunk of your money until it at some point it will be more economical to use the option that has the lowest exchange rate, irregardless of the fixed charges.

And for two brownie points, can anyone tell us at what point it becomes more economical to use the citibank option? The post office?

wabisabi365 · Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 111 Location: japan

Something I have been doing is purchasing Canadian traveller's cheques at MUFJ Bank, making them payable to myself and signing both signature lines. I send them home. I could send them directly to my bank and have them deposited, but to keep somewhat regular letter writing with the folks, I type up a page or two of what I'm up to, and enclose $500 to $1000 to be deposited into my account to cover a loan and a credit card debit that come out each month. My dad deposits them directly into my account. He doesn't have to sign since they are payable to me and there is no cash involved. So far so good. But, these aren't huge amounts. When I've transferred more, I've gone the bank wire route.

I actually learned this from someone who has been using this method since 1996 and he's never had a problem. But, there's a first for everything... Just putting the idea here as an option you may not have thought of. (Sorry - I haven't read through all the links posted in this thread; perhaps this was already mentioned...)

kinshachi · Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 50 Location: Sydney

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

johncanada24 · Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 119 Location: Canada

Neongene · Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 51

I have a Business Paypal Account, would I be able to put money onto my Paypal Account from Japan somehow, then withdraw it into my Canadian Bank Account perhaps?

Trying to figure out how the hell this would work. Anyone?\

Update: I found this page off of PayPal's website, it looks like it might be possible.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries-outside

G Cthulhu · Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject:

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Like a previous poster mentioned, I used to buy travelers' checks at a bank here and send them to my bank in America. I would then send checks to my creditors on accounts due every month. It worked fine for me and I paid off my debts.
Enjoy,
s