The technological advancements that make modern life simple and easy are also the technological advancements that come with quite in-depth considerations to make sure things work as they should.
Whether you’re booking a connecting flight, designing a simple website, or painting a wall in your garden, there are pitfalls and mistakes and wrong choices that look like right choices until it’s too late.
Take your banking knowledge. Everything is straightforward, right? You may have a banking app or you may do all your banking online, and you are probably on top of all the major aspects of looking after your money. Right? Fine. But one day, and you may not see this coming, but one day you’re going to need to send money overseas or across borders.
Whether it be for a pension fund or a wedding or a car or a beachfront property, you could find yourself not knowing where to begin. Do you know how to send money to India? Do you know how to send money to Canada? Do you know how to go about moving money from your bank account and placing it in an account registered to Australian shores or within South African borders? Probably not. Here’s what you need to know.
Choosing your transfer service
This comes down to two options. You can choose to send money overseas via your bank, or you can choose to go through a money transfer service. The major difference is that banks typically have more ‘red tape’ to go through and take longer to process your request. This is because banks require international accounts to be set up before the transaction can take place.
Money transfer services, on the other hand, can be much faster as your transfer request is dealt with via reference numbers. So, why would anyone ever choose a bank? Usually, the bank will be able to offer a better exchange rate. However, there is a consideration to bear in mind here, too…
Attractive exchange rates
Exchange rates through banks and money transfer services may not match up to the national daily rates you see stated by official sources. This is because fees and charges may be worked into the exchange rate offered by your money transfer service, meaning that commission-free exchange rates may not be all that they seem.
Do your research and avoid being ripped off by attractive exchange rates or commission-free offers.
