Let me start out by saying that, yes, this post has referral links and if you use them you’ll get your first transfer free! And yes, I will also get a little thank you for every 3 persons who sign up. But this is good – so continue reading!
When I started my days as an international student in New York I used to transfer money from my Danish bank account to my American bank account every month. It was a little annoying because it would first of all take upwards 5 days, but most of all it was annoying because the fees were so stupid! Nordea, my Danish bank would charge me 50 DKK (equivalent to $7-9USD) and then Chase, my American bank would charge me a $15 international wire fee. On top of that, because I did not meet the minimum daily balance of $1500 or had qualifying monthly direct deposit of $500 I would be charged $12 service fee per month. Adding these numbers up that means I had an extra expense of just about $34-$36 per month.
I don’t like throwing money out of the window. But I did. For 2.5 years. Then I discovered Transferwise. What’s even cooler about not throwing money out the window is that Transferwise will give you an even better exchange rate that the banks will! So your savings will definitely stack up!
At first I was weary about sending money using this page but I had heard great stuff – and a friend of mine had used it. It also helped that the business was backed by a certain Sir Richard Branson and that one of the founders came from Skype.
The sign-up process is fairly easy. Prepare to show documentation for who you are. And, then find your correct account numbers. Once you’re ready to make a transfer – and after you’ve done it once – it’s as easy as scratching the back of your head.
You initiate the transfer utilizing Transferwise who will provide you with the account number in the country where you’re sending the money. In my case, that meant I was sending money from my danish bank account to their danish bank account = I wasn’t charged a foreign transfer fee. When you do this, you put in your unique customer code so that they know the money is coming from you. Once they receive it they make the currency exchange and then transfer the money to your foreign account. The transfer is registered by my American bank as a ‘Direct Deposit’, which means that as long as the transfer is over $500 (which is always is) I’m also saving the $12/monthly fee to have my account.
In the early days it did take 4-5 days but now it takes no more than 2 days.
I’ve done just shy of 30 transfers since I started using Transferwise. All my transfers have been from Denmark to USA, no other countries or from the US to Denmark but I’ve had ZERO issues whatsoever! So yeah, I can vouch for and recommend using Transferwise when you’re transferring money abroad.
If you sign up, using my referral link you’ll get the first transfer for free (certain conditions apply, such as a limit on the amount you’re transferring. You’ll see them when you sign up): https://transferwise.com/u/b0366
Have you used Transferwise? What’s your experiences with them? Share in comment below.
UPDATE: 3/21/2017
Today I had to make a transfer of USD to an account in Denmark. At first, I thought I’d do it through my business account – but what was I thinking? They were going to charge me $45 from Bank of America. So, instead I turned to Transferwise. If I thought transferring from DKK to USD is easy – this is even easier. I entered the recipients details as I had them from my invoice, and I logged in to my Bank of America account via Transferwise and done! The money should be there tomorrow already.