Western Union V/S an ATM Bank Card

2007-09-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

Western Union has dominated the market on money transfers to the Philippines for a long time. The number one reason is convenience. You can walk into about any supermarket and fill out a form to have your money transferred to the Philippines in minutes. If you have a Gold Card you can even save a dollar or two on the transaction. It is definitely a safe way to send money.

Below are the fees charged by Western Union for different amounts of money you send to the Philippines. Please keep in mind that if Western Union exchanges your money into another currency there is a currency exchange fee. The best way to avoid this fee is to ask for the money to remain in your currency. It will be cheaper for your relatives to exchange the dollars into pesos at a local money changer.

SOME FEES FOR SENDING DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF MONEY TO THE PHILIPPINES THROUGH WESTERN UNION:

$1 to $100 the fee is $20.
$101 to $150 the fee is $25.
$151 to 200 the fee is $27.
$201 to $300 the fee is $34.
$301 to $400 the fee is $42.
$401 to $500 the fee is $51.
$501 to $625 the fee is $58.
$626 to $750 the fee is $64.
$751 to $875 the fee is $71.
$876 to $1000 the fee is $81.

USING AN ATM BANK CARD INSTEAD

This alternative is much better if you will be sending money frequently to the Philippines. Here is how it works. You open a free checking account in the United States. You get a bank card (Jeannie Card) issued to you. Before authorizing the card you mail it to your relative in the Philippines. Once the bank card has safley arrived you authorize the card. Your relative in the Philippines should then be able to use the card at a bank machine.

Here are some things you need to consider with this option. First, there will be a limit on the amount that can be withdrawn for a single bank transanction in the Philippines. Normally it is about 10,000 pesos. However, the person can make multiple withdraws to get the entire amount of money you have made available in the account.

While these amounts may vary, depending on the bank, here is an example of the cost involved. It will cost "about" $5 for your relative to withdraw $150 in the Philippines. Then you must add the international transaction fee your bank charges. This normally averages about $1.50 per transaction.

You will find this method to cost about half of what you would spend using Western Union. Over the long haul it is definitely more economical to use a Bank ATM card. Check with banks in the U.S. to see how much the international transaction fee is before choosing a bank. Some banks charge a lot less for international transactions than other banks.

A final note to consider. Make sure you have enough in your bank account to cover the international transaction fees, or you account will be overdrawn. The international fee comes into your account separately, after your relative makes the withdraw. So if she has withdrawn $150, and your account balance was only $150, you will not have anything left to cover the $1.50 transaction fee. The last thing you want is to be charged an overdraft fee.

Sending Money to the Philippines

Western Union V/S an ATM Bank Card