Found a way to save $40/month on international wire fees

I was getting hit with $45 fees every time I sent money to a contractor in the Philippines, and after three months of this I looked into using Wise instead of my regular bank. It cut the cost to around $5 per transfer, and the exchange rate was better too. Has anyone else tried switching to a dedicated money transfer app for regular international payments, or do you still stick with your bank?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_hernandez1d ago

Have you looked into how much you're losing on the exchange rate itself? I had the same problem sending money to a builder in Mexico, and my bank was giving me a rate that was almost 3% off the market rate. I switched to a transfer service and now I track the rate for a day or two before I send money, and it usually saves me another $10-$15 on top of the lower fees. It's not a huge amount, but it adds up over the course of a year.

jenniferb531d ago

Pretty sure my bank has been handling my money for 20 years now, and I'd rather pay the extra fees than trust some random app from the internet with my contractor payments. One data breach or frozen account and I'm out way more than $40 a month.