Transferwise

[Joe Sermarini]

Transferwise is a way of sending international bank wires that for transfers under $10,000 is cheaper than most banks (including my bank). I just send $2400 to Switzerland and it cost $19 and the exchange rate was as good as it gets. My bank would charge $40. For receiving payments it is cheaper to use than PayPal or a credit card. We now accept Transferwise payments for purchases from Forum. If you sign up for Transferwise and use it to send $3000 or more, Forum can receive a $75 "reward." I do recommend it. Please click here to sign up and credit Forum so we get the $75:

Transferwise.com

[Nemonater]

They are excellent. I never use PayPal when I can use Transferwise.

[Molinari]

Do they offer the same level of buyer protection as PayPal?

[Joe Sermarini]

No, it is equivalent to a bank wire.  The purpose is to send international bank wires for lower fees and with a better exchange rate.

[Aleph]

Can it be used for domestic transfers?

[Joe Sermarini]

Probably, but I don't know.  I use direct deposit instead of wires for domestic payments.

[suarez]

Joe, with a Chase private client account you can send wires for free. No strings attached.

[Joe Sermarini]

Free is good.  I will take a look into that.

[Gert]

I have used it for clients from the UK, US and Canada to great satisfaction at both sides for a couple of years. It saves me up to 5% per transaction, and it saves the buyer 2.5% that Paypal charges for the conversion.

It is only for international payments, not domestic. The buyer transfers the amount to a local bank account of transferwise. Then the receiver gets his money from a transferwise account in his home country. This avoids the intransparant and sometimes very expensive bank conversion fees.
Regards
Gert

[Molinari]

I used Transferwise for the first time this week.  Highly recommended--fast, easy, and incredibly cheap.  Between wire fees (the seller does not accept paypal) and the exchange rate, I probably saved a few hundred dollars, and a lot of hassle, since my local bank does not do international transfers but uses an intermediary.