You may be an exchange student studying abroad or an immigrant living and working in another country. Every once in a while, a friend or a family member may send you some money for your birthday, tuition fees, or just extra cash to help cover your living expenses.
Therefore, you need a remittance provider like a bank or an online money transfer service to help you with receiving money from abroad. However, if you’re a bit overwhelmed by the variety of options, we’re here to help you find the best one by answering the three following questions. Let’s get to them.
Does It Support My Currency?
When choosing a remittance provider, you first need to find out if it supports the source and destination country. Why first? Because if you’re not covered, there’s no point in checking the exchange rates, the fees, and the delivery period.
This one is critical if one side of the transaction is an exotic country like Benin, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or Bangladesh. There are many banks or online money transfer services that don’t support these destinations. That’s why you should look for one that has an established presence in these countries.
How Long?
In most cases, receiving money from abroad takes about one to six days, but that ultimately depends on the remittance provider. For example, banks take at least four days to complete the transfer because they’re heavily regulated, and utilizing them requires going through extensive paperwork. Generally, online transfer providers take 2–3 days to send the funds, but the best ones do it in a day or two.
The currency and transfer type can affect the speed as well. For instance, some companies don’t have much experience providing services in lesser-known countries, which results in the delayed transaction. However, a company with a solid presence in those countries can streamline the entire process and save you many headaches.
What About Costs?
Whether you’re receiving frequent but small amounts or an occasional lump sum, a slight change in the exchange rate or transfer fee can drastically upend the money you receive. Logically, the exchange rate is never constant due to many political and/or economic factors, but with a bit of research, you can figure out which companies offer better rates.
Next, there’s the transfer fee. Banks are notorious for charging exorbitant amounts on every single transfer. That’s one of the main reasons why people have moved toward online money transfer companies. As for online providers, some claim to charge “zero fees,” which is an empty promise to fool you into doing business with them. There’s no such thing as “zero fees” because those companies secretly bury them into the exchange rate markup. Hence, it’s wiser to opt for companies offering minimum, transparent fees.
Bottom Line
The money transfer industry is a busy place filled with many companies, banks, etc., claiming to offer the best services. If you’re an international student or an immigrant, online remittance providers are far more affordable and faster than banks for you. However, not every provider will fit your needs. It’s essential to choose a provider that offers sensible rates and fees, takes less to make the transfer, and supports both popular and exotic destinations worldwide. With Lycaremit, you can get all of these benefits without needing to go through a lot of paperwork or deal with fishy payment plans. Therefore, if you’re interested, please contact us and we’ll be delighted to help you work through receiving money from abroad.
