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Sending Money
Despite the widespread availability of credit
cards, ATM machines, and electronic banking,
many people still find the need to send money
through services that "wire" money
directly to a friend or relative. Essentially,
these companies collect the money from you
and then release the money in a different
location to the person you have designated
without the delay and use of bank accounts
or other financial relationships. In a financial
emergency, they can be a great service.
Before sending money, here are
a few considerations:
- presence - choose a service that both you
and the reciever can reach. If you are sending
money using a credit card or banking account,
the sending location can often be reached
by telephone or online, and so it is not
as important as the receiving location, where
your friend or relative must go to pick up
the money.
- reliability - most customers use one of the
well-recognized companies, although lower
rates can be found in smaller companies,
especially those that routinely serve the
specific area you are sending the money.
Make sure you feel comfortable with the safeguards
in place for delivering the money to the
right person; at the same time, make sure
the person you are sending money to will
be able to provide the right kind of identification
as required by the company.
- limits - company and government restrictions
may limit the amount of money you can send.
See the individual companies' policies for
more information.
- cost - compare the total costs for the amount
of money you are sending. This
is often a
mix of fixed charges and a
percentage of
what you are sending. If you
are sending
the money to another country,
there will
also be a foreign exchange
charge -- if not
explicitedly stated, it may
be built in to
a less than favorable exchange
rate.
If time is not critical, you can usually
find less expensive methods of sending money,
such as by electronic payments. |
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