Ask HN: How would you simplify international money transfer? Hello HN. What would be your ideal way of making international money transfer really simple? What do you dislike about the way it works now? I'm working on something in this area and wanted to get different perspectives. Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts. |
Pretty much everywhere else around the world, asking a client to transfer electronically to my currency broker's local account (http://currencyfair.com if you're interested) is not a problem. The process is as quick and painless as PayPal, and most times without fee.
In the States though, it's always a different story. Some have to phone up their bank to request a wire transfer. Others ask if they can avoid the wire/PayPal fees and send me a cheque! (I'm astounded that cheques are still being used in 2012). All because it seems that the local banks offer close to nothing for their clients. The concept of using online banking to make a transfer seems to have completely passed the country by.
So, that's what I'd change, and I pray for the day online banking sweeps through the USA as it has elsewhere. I bet PayPal are very much praying for the reverse.
From the US to any other country, FXecute is a far more efficient and economical way of transferring funds than traditional international wires. Many traditional international wires must go through an intermediary bank, which frequently charge a processing fee of about $20 for each wire they receive. Local banks also usually charge between $10 and $75 to receive the wire. In addition, local banks usually charge 3-11% to convert U.S. dollars into the local currency. FXecute does not charge these bank wire fees and charges a much lower currency conversion rate.
FXecute does charge a fee for currency conversion ranging from 0.3% to 1%. There is no fee for the actual transfer of funds. This is in contrast to typical bank transfers, which charge between 3-11%.
I do not work for FXecute - I'm just a happy customer. :)
Paypal does this but: - it is fairly convoluted process now - requires Paypal software (website or app)