Over the past few decades, it’s become a lot easier for people to move abroad in search of better job opportunities, and education, or to expand their businesses into foreign markets. Some don’t require moving physically, but simply ply their trade via the Internet to clients all over the world.
Regardless of the circumstances, most of these people still have friends, family, or business headquarters in their home countries. This means that they require a service of sending transfers abroad, whether it is for personal or business purposes.
In the past, sending a transfer internationally to friends and family was not only a challenging process but also a risky one. Your transfer provider would offer very little security, and there was a small possibility that your transfer or payment wouldn’t reach the person you’d sent it to.
If you have never sent a transfer internationally before, it can seem like a daunting task. You may have many questions, chief among them being, “What is the safest way to send a transfer internationally?” The turbulent social and political landscape both at home and abroad can result in volatile exchange rates, which can also put you off. Let alone the hefty fees that are applied by most providers!
We’ve compared several options to help you decide on the safest way to send a transfer.
Electronic Funds Transfer
The go-to option for transferring money internationally for most businesses is an electronic funds transfer (EFT). The quickest and most popular way to deliver money across borders between disparate banks is a wire transfer. Traditionally, people had to visit a bank branch to conduct these transfers. Today, pretty much every bank allows its customers to initiate a wire transfer on its website or using a mobile app.
An Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer is more suitable for businesses that regularly send cash to multiple overseas recipients. This type of EFT takes a bit more time to set up and process, but may only cost a penny per transaction. The downside of using EFTs is that banks rarely offer favorable exchange rates. That means you may lose a significant portion of your cash in inferior exchange rate losses.
Postal Money Order
If you’re looking to send small to moderate amounts — where safety is more a concern than transfer speed — then this old-fashioned option is your best bet. Even though they’ve somewhat fallen out of the mainstream due to their slower transfer speed, postal money orders are generally regarded as one of the safest ways to send transfers abroad.
Digital Payment Providers
If you’d like to make a quick online purchase, make a payment for a service, or send a transfer abroad to someone, then digital payment providers offer the ultimate in speed, convenience, and safety. These transfers usually don’t require both the sender and the recipient to have traditional bank accounts. But just as they would do with a bank account, your recipients can pay and transfer using the app or a website. For example, if both parties are using the Cashero app, they only need to know each other’s phone numbers, which protects sensitive payment and personal information.
International Remittance Companies
Remittance companies mostly cater to the needs of people who moved to other countries to seek better job opportunities. These financial institutions allow immigrants who are working in one country, such as the U.S to send money to friends and family members in their home country. In fact, remittance payments are now one of the biggest sources of income in developing countries with high unemployment rates. To send money internationally via a remittance company, you only need the person’s phone number, name, and ID number. As only the intended recipient can show up at a pick-up point and collect their cash, remittance cash has very limited chances of falling in the wrong hands. As with banks, remittance companies often charge high fees and had unpredictable exchange rates. New financial technologies allow for international payments to be sent instantly and often even fee-free all across the world. This helps those who rely on remittance payments for their livelihood to get every cent they deserve.
How The Law Keeps Your Money Safe
If you’re looking to transfer money internationally, then you’ll be happy to know that money transfer institutions are guided and regulated by laws to safeguard your cash. These laws require that financial institutions keep your money separate from their own accounts. As such, even if the company goes belly up, your money should be traceable and recoverable. Financial institutions should also provide customers with specific information regarding any transfer above $15. Such information includes any fees that you need to pay as part of the transaction. If you’re sending money to a country that uses a different currency, the company has to show you the conversion rate that it’s using. Overall, you also need to know the total amount you’ll be paying, as well as the total amount that your recipient will receive.
The Bottom Line
Sending transfers internationally has become much simpler and more cost-efficient in recent years. While it is still possible to use traditional services such as wire transfers, using an online service provider such as the Cashero app offers convenience, faster transfer times, lower fees, and a high level of security to its users
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As of the date of publication, the information contained on this page is deemed to be factually accurate for all terms of conditions, features, and fees on the app. Please note that changes made to Cashero’s terms of conditions, features, or fees after the time of publication of this content may not be accounted for.
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