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think_balance
Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 67 Location: Japan
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:52 pm Post subject: Banking / Money Transfers to U.S. Accounts |
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Hello,
I'm curious what methods U.S. citizens use to transfer money back home.
I've read up on Lloyds (for use in Japan) but I am hoping there's a way one can transfer funds directly from their account in their host country back to their account in the U.S.
I'm specifically interested in doing this in Japan, but advice for other countries is appreciated. |
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tttompatz

Joined: 06 Mar 2010 Posts: 1951 Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:08 am Post subject: Re: Banking / Money Transfers to U.S. Accounts |
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think_balance wrote: |
Hello,
I'm curious what methods U.S. citizens use to transfer money back home.
I've read up on Lloyds (for use in Japan) but I am hoping there's a way one can transfer funds directly from their account in their host country back to their account in the U.S.
I'm specifically interested in doing this in Japan, but advice for other countries is appreciated. |
Bank wire.
You need the swift code of your bank and your routing/account number.
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think_balance
Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 67 Location: Japan
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:10 am Post subject: Re: Banking / Money Transfers to U.S. Accounts |
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tttompatz wrote: |
think_balance wrote: |
Hello,
I'm curious what methods U.S. citizens use to transfer money back home.
I've read up on Lloyds (for use in Japan) but I am hoping there's a way one can transfer funds directly from their account in their host country back to their account in the U.S.
I'm specifically interested in doing this in Japan, but advice for other countries is appreciated. |
Bank wire.
You need the swift code of your bank and your routing/account number.
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Are there any other options than wiring? |
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tttompatz

Joined: 06 Mar 2010 Posts: 1951 Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:15 am Post subject: Re: Banking / Money Transfers to U.S. Accounts |
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think_balance wrote: |
tttompatz wrote: |
think_balance wrote: |
Hello,
I'm curious what methods U.S. citizens use to transfer money back home.
I've read up on Lloyds (for use in Japan) but I am hoping there's a way one can transfer funds directly from their account in their host country back to their account in the U.S.
I'm specifically interested in doing this in Japan, but advice for other countries is appreciated. |
Bank wire.
You need the swift code of your bank and your routing/account number.
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Are there any other options than wiring? |
Bank wire is what you asked for "transfer funds directly from your account in your host country to your account in the US" - AKA foreign remittance.
Options (after you get them set up with your "host bank" include on-line, by phone or in person. In some countries (notably Korea) you can also do foreign remittances from the ATM machine.
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naturegirl321

Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:03 am Post subject: |
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It costs about $50 for a bank transfer.
You could also try Xoom, MoneyGram, and Western Union
They're all expensive so the key is to send large amounts only a couple times a year |
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think_balance
Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 67 Location: Japan
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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naturegirl321 wrote: |
It costs about $50 for a bank transfer.
You could also try Xoom, MoneyGram, and Western Union
They're all expensive so the key is to send large amounts only a couple times a year |
So, you don't know of a U.S. bank that allows a person to directly transfer money between a foreign bank and the U.S. bank for free / a smaller fee?
I can transfer money between two U.S. banks w/o a fee, was hoping the same could be done internationally but with a U.S. bank and a foreign bank. |
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tttompatz

Joined: 06 Mar 2010 Posts: 1951 Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:30 am Post subject: |
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think_balance wrote: |
naturegirl321 wrote: |
It costs about $50 for a bank transfer.
You could also try Xoom, MoneyGram, and Western Union
They're all expensive so the key is to send large amounts only a couple times a year |
So, you don't know of a U.S. bank that allows a person to directly transfer money between a foreign bank and the U.S. bank for free / a smaller fee?
I can transfer money between two U.S. banks w/o a fee, was hoping the same could be done internationally but with a U.S. bank and a foreign bank. |
Not going to happen. Even banks of the same company operate at arm's length from each other when operating in different countries.
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 738
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:40 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
Sarliz, this might work for you. Check out www.paypal.com to open a Paypal account. First, since you are in Mexico, it will be opened referencing your Mexican bank account. (I've done this and it went well) Then after your Mexican bank account is verified, add a US bank account to your same Paypal account. After that account is verified (only takes a short while) you should be free to upload money to your Paypal account from Mexico and withdraw it to your US account. They do the currency conversion at a rate that I consider to be fair.
You will have to do a bit of reading and research on the Paypal site if you aren't familiar with it. They will need your 18 digit CLABE which you can get from your bank (or maybe even your bank statement). My husband and I have both used Paypal for a long time. It's great for online shopping too, both in Mexico and outside Mexico. And with Paypal you can send money to anybody, anywhere (and RECEIVE it!) Transaction statements are produced for your records, and you can print them if you wish or save them to a document. Good luck... |
This is a quote from Samantha on the Mexico forum. I don't know why it wouldn't work for the OP. |
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naturegirl321

Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:56 am Post subject: |
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AGoodStory wrote: |
Quote: |
Sarliz, this might work for you. Check out www.paypal.com to open a Paypal account. First, since you are in Mexico, it will be opened referencing your Mexican bank account. (I've done this and it went well) Then after your Mexican bank account is verified, add a US bank account to your same Paypal account. After that account is verified (only takes a short while) you should be free to upload money to your Paypal account from Mexico and withdraw it to your US account. They do the currency conversion at a rate that I consider to be fair.
You will have to do a bit of reading and research on the Paypal site if you aren't familiar with it. They will need your 18 digit CLABE which you can get from your bank (or maybe even your bank statement). My husband and I have both used Paypal for a long time. It's great for online shopping too, both in Mexico and outside Mexico. And with Paypal you can send money to anybody, anywhere (and RECEIVE it!) Transaction statements are produced for your records, and you can print them if you wish or save them to a document. Good luck... |
This is a quote from Samantha on the Mexico forum. I don't know why it wouldn't work for the OP. |
Couple things about Paypal.
FIRST; the country you're going to has to have it. Not all do
SECOND; that country has to allow non-citizens to open an account. Again, not all do. |
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 738
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
Couple things about Paypal.
FIRST; the country you're going to has to have it. Not all do
SECOND; that country has to allow non-citizens to open an account. Again, not all do. |
Yes, NG is correct about that. But it does work in many countries, including Japan. Since the OP was inquiring primarily about Japan, it might be one possibility to consider. Here is a Japan-specific thread that might be of interest:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=87289
Last edited by AGoodStory on Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Guy Courchesne

Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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Paypal is a great idea but it too comes with transfer fees...2.9 percent I think, and they tend to nick you on exchange rates. If a bank charges a flat fee for a wire transfer, it's probably cheaper to send larger amounts through them than using paypal. |
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denise

Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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I had a regular monthly wire transfer from HSBC in Oman to Chase/Washington Mutual. I just set up a plus/premium account at HSBC. There was a monthly fee for the account ($12ish), and then Chase charged a fee ($17) for the incoming wire, but it was very reliable and hassle-free. I never had to do anything--with the plus account, the transfer went through automatically every month.
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naturegirl321

Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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denise wrote: |
I had a regular monthly wire transfer from HSBC in Oman to Chase/Washington Mutual. I just set up a plus/premium account at HSBC. There was a monthly fee for the account ($12ish), and then Chase charged a fee ($17) for the incoming wire, but it was very reliable and hassle-free. I never had to do anything--with the plus account, the transfer went through automatically every month.
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Lucky you. We set up an HSBC count in Peru, they wanted a lot of info, including our mothly and yearly salaries, but we could still open an account. We wanted to open up one here in Korea to transfer money, but nearly ended up in shock when they said we needed 500,000 dollars! to open an account.
Needless to say we left.
OP, bottom line: it varies country to country and how much you're sending. |
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