Having someone send money from U.S.A

Hi,
How do I have someone send me money from the U.S.A.? Is Western Union,etc. available here in Taiwan?
Your helpful comments would be appreciated! Please reply ASAP.

pizza

Cathay United Bank is one of the main Western Union reps here, so yes, it’s available.

Western Union is good and usually quick. BUT…

Make sure they put your whole name on there. If you passport says, “Marcus Andrew Smith,” don’t have them put:

  1. Mark Andrew Smith
  2. Mark Smith
  3. Marcus Smith
  4. Marcus A. Smith

They will only accept Marcus Andrew Smith if that is on your passport/ARC

If you have an ARC, you could consider opening a savings account here, and having someone wire you the money by inter-bank transfer (aka “wire”). Ask the bank for details, and compare the fees to W.U…

Can funds be sent using paypal? How would one go about that?

Have them go to Walmart. They have a money service that works and costs 9 usd per transaction about (thats to indonesia, taiwan probably similar).

Crazy!

Open an account at the Post Office.

Have a wire transfer sent to that account #.

I’ve found that its the cheapest and fastest method. Of course then you’ll want a debit card to access that account - so ask for one of those. It makes it easier to access your account when the Post Office is closed.

What is the fee for receiving international wire transfers from the post office account? Can I get one without an ARC, or do I need to go to immigration to get an ID number?

How much money are we talking about? Does your American ATM card work here, and have you asked your bank what the fees would be to simply withdraw cash from the hole in the wall? Have you considered getting a cash advance over the counter on your visa/mastercard, if you have such a thing? Again, ask in advance what the fees would be.

Western Union is, from memory, quite expensive.

You can have someone transfer money to your paypal account, and then transfer it to your Taiwan bank account. But there are limits until the account is ‘verified’ and in order to verify it you need to do a credit card transaction. I have a friend who uses this method to pay money to his bank back home, from Taiwan, as it works out to be the cheapest way for that amount.

As someone pointed out in another thread, sometimes money transfers are sent via intermediary banks that may also add charges of their own. You need to ask in advance, at the bank the money is sent from, to find out about this or you may get a nasty shock.

Alternatively, and this is a bit radical, you might try and find someone who wants to transfer money in the other direction and do your own deal. If someone wants to send money home, and you want to bring money in, there is no need for either of you to pay a middle-man.

you can also try moneygram…www.moneygram.com

we send transfers to our agents in South East Asia and they say it is cheaper than Western Union…

Sorry if this is a stupid question… but how do I get cash here in Taiwan out of my accounts back home in the USA? I think I may not have brought enough in traveler’s checks.

Itno, what bank?
xe.com is one way I’ve heard to do transfers. Otherwise, you may be able to do it thru paypal if you can link a US bank account with a Taiwanese account, but some wiser people on the board has said this cannot be done as of May 2011.