Send money to Colombia

Peter (Moderator) says on May 25, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia try cashpin.com...I use it often and am really happy with it.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 26, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by a)
In Colombia, I have only used Western Union. I wired about 175.00 American and it cost about the same as it would have in the USA. This is the safest way to do things... go with a well known company in Colombia... that is my advice.

Another option for the future, if you are planning on sending money regularily is to open an account in the US and put cash in it. Then just send your card to the person in Colombia and they can take it out at any ATM.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 26, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by Pochito)
I have used both Western Union and Moneygram. I really have nothing to add as far as alternate companies sending money, since I find Western Union's fees reasonable enough considering the ease for my novia to find a convenient place to pick up the money - there is a Western Union agent everywhere. Yes, Moneygram is somewhat cheaper but has less offices and agents; my novia has to take a taxi and travel across Barranquilla to the closest "Vivero" store to pick it up.

However, the thing that pisses me off is the "Gringo" commission. If you didn't know (or maybe I'm alone in this?), anytime there is a Gringo name sending money to a local, many times the agent will notice this and tack on an extra commission when paying out the funds. This is an undisclosed charge, and I have gotten nowhere whenever I have complained to Western Union about this (it has also happened with Moneygram).

So to get around this, I now send the money with a ficticious name, using some Spanish nombre, eg. "Juan", in conjunction with my novia's apellido, eg. "Valdez". The agent assumes it is both a colombiano and a family member sending the money, and thus forgoes the "Gringo" commission. If you are sending cash, the agents here don't care if you are using your real name or not.

Just wondering: Any norteamericanos with friends or loved ones... has the above-mentioned "Gringo" commission ever been charged to your friend/loved one? I'd really like to know...

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 27, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by anonymos)
Pochito ... thanks for your advice!

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 27, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by a)
Just by being a gringo... I can usually count on getting screwed at least 60% of the time.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 27, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by tlop)
I don't think I have ever suffered from the Gringo tax when sending with Moneygram. However, I never really confirm the exact amount received either. Thanks for the advice.

I just used cashpin.com and am happy with the results. -Tlop

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on May 29, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by Marcos)
hi, the way we (my famly and I) use is:
we opened an account in a bank, (WAMU) or any other bank,,,them we sent the atm card to my mam,, so she can withdraw US 100 each time or less and the fee is only US 3.50 each time....is very cheap...
ciao
Marcos

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on Jun 15, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by anonymous)
Dolex is hard to beat, $5.00 per hundred to send to Bogota. Don't know where you are located but in South Texas they are located in all of the Michoacan Meat Markets (Mexican grocery stores). Very quick, easy, no hassle. good luck

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on Aug 17, 2003, 21:00:

RE: Send money to Colombia (Written by Dre)
Vigo usa, they have a 800 number. In the case with my wife, I sent her a debit card tied to an account which I controlled the amount that was deposited. No money transfer service can beat the exchange rates of using ATM's withdrawing from accounts based in the U.S. or Europe.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Peter (Moderator) says on Jan 16, 2004, 16:05:

I agree is the best way to do it if you can opena any type of aacount here and just send them the debit or checkcard. Even with the ATM fees of $1.50-$2 it still beats any other options.

Poor but snappy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

orestesdd says on Dec 26, 2007, 13:04:

The problem I have is that my bank seems to be charging me $5.00 per transaction, and I am not only a customer, but an employee for this bank. Even if I were to open an account in the US, I don't see a way for a bank to be accepting transaction from Colombia all the time.

When I went to Colombia last August, I had to specified how many days I was going to be in Colombia to my bank so that it would not freeze my account while I was there using my ATM Debit Visa card.

So are the any banks accepting ATM transactions all the time from Colombia? Could someone list them here? Thanks.

0 funny, 0 helpful.