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SoylaMBPolymath
Joined: 21 Jan 2011
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 Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:33 am Post subject: A question about wiring money... |
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I wired some money to my mother for my younger sister, who is taking a trip with her school to tour a few colleges. My bank, in Iksan, was very helpful and assisted me with the calculations so as to ensure that the amount I wired would be at least $250USD after fees. However, I checked with my mother and while she received the money the next day (much quicker than I had anticipated), she only received $230USD. I double checked my paperwork and the amount withdrawn from my account. The total cost of the transfer was 285,657 Won, minus the 11,000 Won fee, the transfer itself was for 274,657. I've used a couple of currency converters and each has converted the amount at above $250USD. I asked my mother to check with her bank to inquire as to whether or not they charge fees for receiving wires. She banks with a credit union. They said that they do not tack on any additional fees. My bank was closed before I could go and ask them any questions, but do any of you have any similar experiences to relay? Or might you have any ideas as to what went wrong?
I intend to help my mother with money throughout my stay in Korea and am a bit concerned that this didn't go through exactly as I had wanted it to.
Thanks for reading. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:43 am Post subject: |
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I believe that both banks involved take out a fee -- my US bank takes out $20, regardless of the amount wired -- $20 out of $200 or $20 out of $10,000, which seems to match up with your amounts. My US bank is BoA (Bank of America, not the Korean pop singer).
Check with your bank in your home country and see if the fee was from them -- I would bet ship-won that that is the case.... |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 2:40 am Post subject: Re: A question about wiring money... |
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| SoylaMBPolymath wrote: |
I wired some money to my mother for my younger sister, who is taking a trip with her school to tour a few colleges. My bank, in Iksan, was very helpful and assisted me with the calculations so as to ensure that the amount I wired would be at least $250USD after fees. However, I checked with my mother and while she received the money the next day (much quicker than I had anticipated), she only received $230USD. I double checked my paperwork and the amount withdrawn from my account. The total cost of the transfer was 285,657 Won, minus the 11,000 Won fee, the transfer itself was for 274,657. I've used a couple of currency converters and each has converted the amount at above $250USD. I asked my mother to check with her bank to inquire as to whether or not they charge fees for receiving wires. She banks with a credit union. They said that they do not tack on any additional fees. My bank was closed before I could go and ask them any questions, but do any of you have any similar experiences to relay? Or might you have any ideas as to what went wrong?
I intend to help my mother with money throughout my stay in Korea and am a bit concerned that this didn't go through exactly as I had wanted it to.
Thanks for reading. |
Since the receiving bank was a "credit union" you can be assured that there was AT LEAST one more intermediary bank between them and Korea and you can also be assured that the middle bank took out a fee for handling the transaction.
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 4:22 am Post subject: |
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I had this same thing happening to me before finally being notified of a $20 fee from an 'intermediate bank'.
Between my Korean bank, US bank, and this mystery bank, I used to shell out around 60 USD per transfer. |
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SoylaMBPolymath
Joined: 21 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 6:24 am Post subject: |
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Interesting. That was most certainly not mentioned or in any way brought to my attention by the tellers in Iksan. I don't think they were out to deceive me. Perhaps they assumed I was aware that such was the usual course of events, especially with credit unions. I intend to pay them a visit on Monday and ask them if that is in fact the case.
Is there anyway to cut out the proverbial "middle man"? Or is this just the price I must pay to send my mother money? |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 6:52 am Post subject: |
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| SoylaMBPolymath wrote: |
Interesting. That was most certainly not mentioned or in any way brought to my attention by the tellers in Iksan. I don't think they were out to deceive me. Perhaps they assumed I was aware that such was the usual course of events, especially with credit unions. I intend to pay them a visit on Monday and ask them if that is in fact the case.
Is there anyway to cut out the proverbial "middle man"? Or is this just the price I must pay to send my mother money? |
The best way to reduce fees is to use larger but less frequent transfers.
However, this increases the risk from fluctuating exchange rates. |
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SoylaMBPolymath
Joined: 21 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:27 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| SoylaMBPolymath wrote: |
Interesting. That was most certainly not mentioned or in any way brought to my attention by the tellers in Iksan. I don't think they were out to deceive me. Perhaps they assumed I was aware that such was the usual course of events, especially with credit unions. I intend to pay them a visit on Monday and ask them if that is in fact the case.
Is there anyway to cut out the proverbial "middle man"? Or is this just the price I must pay to send my mother money? |
The best way to reduce fees is to use larger but less frequent transfers.
However, this increases the risk from fluctuating exchange rates. |
That makes sense.
I think I will just suck it up.
My mother needs the money and I want to be able to send it to her. Monthly transfers are better than every two months.
Thank you all for your insight into this matter. |
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davai!
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Location: Kuwait
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 11:58 am Post subject: |
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The best way to reduce fees is to use larger but less frequent transfers.
However, this increases the risk from fluctuating exchange rates. |
Unfortunately this is wrong. The BEST way to AVOID FEES is to buy American Express Travelers Checks and Airmail them home. There are NO FEES and the wait time is usually no longer than a week (to the US).
Make sure to get receipts.
Once you sign them and fill out the "Pay to the Order of" section out, they cannot be cashed by anyone else but that payee (you can even make it out to yourself and send it directly to your bank).
This is perfectly safe, although there is a small/tiny risk that Kpost/ USPS will lose them. In that case you can get a refund via your receipts. A hassle, yes, but unlikely. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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| davai! wrote: |
| Quote: |
The best way to reduce fees is to use larger but less frequent transfers.
However, this increases the risk from fluctuating exchange rates. |
Unfortunately this is wrong. The BEST way to AVOID FEES is to buy American Express Travelers Checks and Airmail them home. There are NO FEES and the wait time is usually no longer than a week (to the US).
Make sure to get receipts.
Once you sign them and fill out the "Pay to the Order of" section out, they cannot be cashed by anyone else but that payee (you can even make it out to yourself and send it directly to your bank).
This is perfectly safe, although there is a small/tiny risk that Kpost/ USPS will lose them. In that case you can get a refund via your receipts. A hassle, yes, but unlikely. |
Either way you have the cost of exchanging won for dollars and exchange rate risk.
Isn't there a fee to purchase - 1% to 4% - at least for those who do not have a valid American Express card? Do you know somewhere to buy them with no fee? And then the cost of mail isn't free either.
It will come down to the percentage rate and size and frequency of the transaction. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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| SoylaMBPolymath wrote: |
| ontheway wrote: |
| SoylaMBPolymath wrote: |
Interesting. That was most certainly not mentioned or in any way brought to my attention by the tellers in Iksan. I don't think they were out to deceive me. Perhaps they assumed I was aware that such was the usual course of events, especially with credit unions. I intend to pay them a visit on Monday and ask them if that is in fact the case.
Is there anyway to cut out the proverbial "middle man"? Or is this just the price I must pay to send my mother money? |
The best way to reduce fees is to use larger but less frequent transfers.
However, this increases the risk from fluctuating exchange rates. |
That makes sense.
I think I will just suck it up.
My mother needs the money and I want to be able to send it to her. Monthly transfers are better than every two months.
Thank you all for your insight into this matter. |
If your mother can budget the funds, you might be able to send her more bi-monthly, so that she can spend more and it will cost you less.
If you save $60 in fees, then you could send her $550 the first month, giving her $275 per month instead of $250, and it would cost you $10 less.
Also, if davai! is correct, and Travelers checks can be purchased conveniently at a low percentage charge, or free, this could be a cheaper option, at least for small transactions. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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OP, nobody likes these hidden fees. We've all seen what banks do with the money, too.  |
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davai!
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Location: Kuwait
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:27 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
1.Either way you have the cost of exchanging won for dollars and exchange rate risk.
2.Isn't there a fee to purchase - 1% to 4% - at least for those who do not have a valid American Express card? Do you know somewhere to buy them with no fee? And then the cost of mail isn't free either.
3.It will come down to the percentage rate and size and frequency of the transaction. |
numbers mine
1. built in to the day's exchange rate. we're talking about wiring fees here
2. No, there is not. I went to KB. The airmail costs 680 won for postage, and the envelope is like 200 won.
3. only for wiring fees. either transaction is based on the day's exchange rate. Sending checks avoids any fees for wiring money. |
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yeti08
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Location: Anyang - Pyeongchon
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I had never considered that method -- the check/airmail. Cheers! |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Another tip, and I am surprised that no one has mentioned this yet: It sounds like you tried to send home won. Do not do this because your bank back home will not give you a great rate on the money that they receive.
Send home dollars or whatever your currency your country uses. You can buy dollars at a good rate at banks here and that way you can make sure that you are sending home the proper amount. |
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s10czar
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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| out of curiousity...how does one purchase Amex travelers checks here in Korea??? |
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