Clark Howard

What’s the Best Way To Send Money Overseas?

By Christopher Smith
By Christopher Smith

It’s pretty easy to transfer money within the United States now. Especially if both parties hold bank accounts.

But what happens if you need to send money to someone out of the country? Especially on a consistent basis?

Between payment apps, crypto and specialty solutions such as MoneyGram, the options are plenty. But are any of them good?

What’s the Best Way To Send Money Overseas?

What’s the best way to send money overseas?

That’s what two Clark Howard listeners recently asked.

First, Mark in Pennsylvania: "My daughter moved to England, got married and it appears she'll be staying there for the rest of her life. I need an easy, secure and cheap method to send her money."

Then Alex in Washington: "I have a fiancé and a child in Malawi, Africa. I send money frequently while waiting for my fiancé's visa. Also, I am supporting some programs I started as a Peace Corps volunteer. I currently send the money through MoneyGram. Is this the best way?"

Clark suggests getting a credit card from Revolut or Wise. Those companies specialize in foreign currency exchange. Their focus is sending money to people overseas at cheap prices.

Wise is a good option if you’re sending money only every once in a while. Clark likes both options. But for regularly sending money, he has an opinion on what’s best.

“[Alex], you give your fiance a Revolut card and Mark, you give your daughter a Revolut card,” Clark says. “And in each case, you can load it with U.S. dollars and have them use it in local currency.

“Revolut is a great solution when somebody is regularly going to be given money by you where you can load it electronically. The exchange rate on a Revolut card is really great.”

Sending Money To Organizations May Require a Different Solution

Let’s return to the other part of Alex’s question.

In addition to sending money to his fiancé, he’s continuing to support some programs he started while serving in the Peace Corps.

The reason Clark loves Revolut and Wise is because they specialize in person-to-person money transfers that offer low commissions and allow the receiver to spend the money in the local currency.

“Although in both cases Revolut might work, not for giving to the organizations you support as a PeaceCorps volunteer having been in Africa,” Clark says.

So Alex may need to stick with Money Gram or find another solution to support those programs. Whatever option he picks, it probably won’t be as cheap as using Revolut or Wise.

Final Thoughts

Clark thinks Revolut is the best option to frequently send money to a person overseas. Wise is also good, especially if you want a low-fee option to occasionally send money.

But those two options are mostly for sending money to individuals that they can spend in local currency.

This article was originally published on Clark.com

The post What's the Best Way To Send Money Overseas? appeared first on Clark Howard.

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