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Money to Colombia

Ok here goes. Currently my wife sends her mother money periodically. Wife resides in USA. Mama resides in small village in Colombia.

We have been sending the money via Western Union at a cost of $9.99 dollars US for $200.00 dollars US. WU union does not have an office in the small village so the money gets wired to the wife’s sister in Medellin.

This has two drawbacks. One mama has to wait for delivery from other daughter or money has to be rewired within Colombia. Two sisters now know mama’s financial business.

What I want to do is have the wife open an account and send an ATM card to mama. The plan is to keep a very small amount in the account; maybe two hundred dollars US in order to minimize potential losses. Then when mama has an unexpected need; the theory is we will just hop online and electronically transfer money from one account to the other and she can instantly get the money locally in small village at the ATM.

I assume that this account should be opened at our regular bank so that both accounts will be house in the same financial institution. I will also inform the card company that my “wife�? will be using this card in Colombia so it will not be flagged.

Assuming mama only uses the ATM what are the guesses on charges and exchange rates. My guess is a three dollar charge and a one percent exchange charge. Both of which beat Western Union I would imagine.

I assume if we kept the transfers under the roof of one financial institution that monies should be available instantly. Are there risks to doing this?

What false “assumptions�? have I made?

Any constructive advice is appreciated.

T

By lpdiver on Jun 17, 2006, 18:33 in Friendly Talkzone.

Miguel_Clavo says on Jun 17, 2006, 19:03:

Two comments: 1. i pay my manager her salary in Cartagena by transferring $$ online from one Bank of America account to the one that the managaer has an atm card and pin that i brought here from the US....she withdraws money out that way...i pay the fees, which are a $5 non-atm card (she uses a conavi atm, which charges my bank) and the exchange fee which is always less than $2 for a withdrawal of about $350 US each month.

2. i have used www.viamericas.com to wire money directly in her conavi savings account...fees are 4%, comparable to WU....it has a delay factor of a few days until the funds are available....you need to set up an account with them and confirm receiving bank info only one time, then they can use your debit card over the phone...if you want more info on Viamericas Corp. let me know...

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo...faltan 17 días...Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jun 17, 2006, 19:04:

Oh, i would think twice about mailing an ATM card... Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo...faltan 16 días...Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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expatriate says on Jun 18, 2006, 08:21:

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bhill says on Jun 18, 2006, 08:36:

Paypal We use Paypal. You can wire funds to your paypal from your bank account online. Paypal has an ATM card to withdraw funds from your paypal account. It's $1.00 per transaction. Works fine in Colombia.

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tigredelnorte says on Jun 18, 2006, 10:13:

Money Gram charges about $9.50 to send a maximum of $550. These numbers are not exact, but are close. You can also get a moneygram card, which will give you a discount. The US postal service now has a money sending service. I think that Colombia is one of the serviced countries. I believe that it operates through one of the banks in Colombia. Their rates are very low, when compared to Western Union, or Money Gram.

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tigredelnorte says on Jun 18, 2006, 10:25:

ATM 1. Some banks charge a nasty fee when you use your ATM card outside of your circle of banks. If your account is on the SUM network you may not be charged.
2. Many banks will stop services to an ATM card that is being used in Colombia. To avoid this you will have to notify them that you will be using it in Colombia.
3. Banks view ATM cards as items for personal use of the account holder.
4. Keeping a minimal amount of money in an account may avoid problems. ie kidnapping for an extended period. Along with this, only carry the card when you are going to use it.

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brad216 says on Jun 18, 2006, 20:42:

I opened a seperate account with Wachovia Bank and brought an atm card down to colombia to give my mother-in-law (did not want to mail it). she withdrawls about 2-3 times per month. Because of my other accounts with Wachovia, we pay no atm w/d fee for the first 2 transactions and then $2 for any over the 2 per month. I know there's an internal transfer exchange fee but I have always had great exchanges compared to the rate i look at on Oanda.com

I have been using this system for 2 years so far with no problems...(knock on wood).

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lpdiver says on Jun 19, 2006, 10:21:

Update I phoned the two banks that I use here and my credit union and got a very mixed bag of results.

Hibernia quoted a $1.50 fee for using the card out of network and a 2,000 peso to dollar exchange rate.

Regions charges $1.50 as well and get this...1,800 pesos to the dollar.

Now the good news...my local credit union Charges nothing and eats the 1 % exchange fee. The only fees I should have are from the bank in Colombia. They use the XE.COM exchange rate as well. Sounds too good to be true. I am going to try it and see how it goes. All institutions claimed that funds are available instantly upon being transfered from one account to the other.

I keep you posted.
T

"cook some rice!"

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lpdiver says on Jun 19, 2006, 11:06:

Dollars and sense Today at noon Western Union quoted an exchange rate of 2,490

200USD times 2490= 498,000 peso to the recipient

XE.com is at an exchange rate of 2,558
200USD times 2558 =511,600 pesos to the recipient

The exchange rate differential is 13,600 pesos. This results in a dollar differential amount of either $5.46 or $5.32 depending on which exchange rate you use to convert the differential back to dollars.

Western Union also charges $9.99 for their service. ( Can we just call it ten dollars?)This is either 24,900 or 25,580 lost pesos. The total then becomes 38,500 or 39,180 lost for using WU.

Dividing it back out to exchange to dollars comes to a lost dollar value of $15.73 on a $200.00 exchange.

Unknown factors to me are the cost of having the money rewired within Colombia and what the local banks charge to use their ATM’s.

As seldom as we send money I probably wouldn’t bother with setting up bank accounts and sending the card; however in order to gain some financial privacy for mother-in-law and ourselves, we are going to try the ATM card.

In addition we will be able to get money directly into mother-in-laws hands much more rapidly.

T

"cook some rice!"

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utopiacowboy says on Jun 19, 2006, 13:58:

It is not too good to be true, Tony. We use a local credit union to get money to Colombia. No ATM fees and my sister-in-law has the card and distributes the funds to whoever's birthday etc it is. Works like a charm. This is also how we get money into my wife's Colombian pension - to her sister and then her sister deposits it.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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calipro says on Jun 19, 2006, 15:03:

another vote for PayPal I gave my wife an ATM PayPal card. $1 transaction fee with no currency exchange fee. Plus you get as good an exchange rate as you will get anywhere.

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vladimiro says on Jun 19, 2006, 20:49:

mama from the pueblito may have never used an ATM machine and refuse to learn in which case she'll send the card with one of her kids to the ATM to get the cash out for anway:)

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lpdiver says on Jun 20, 2006, 09:15:

Vladimiro That may end up being the case. However, it will still be faster and cheaper. My wife always confirms with her mama that she received the sent amount.

T

"cook some rice!"

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jun 27, 2006, 13:54:

bhill and calipro........PayPal fees I take it the ATM transaction fee is $1 per atm withdrawal, but are there any other tranfer fees paid to PayPal to for either incoming or outgoing money from the account. I use paypal for ebay stuff, and they charge a percentage to use their service....

Just my opinion...

Miguel_Clavo...faltan 4 días...Colombia es pasión!

"F.A.R.C..S.U.C.K.S"

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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