Never before in the history of humankind has the world been so accessible to everyone. Back in the days of Genghis Khan’s early version of the pony express, people probably thought there was no faster way to send communications of any kind across Asia than by using a series of well supplied stations between which horses laden with sacks of letters could gallop at more or less full speed. Carrier pigeons were a pretty fast delivery system in their day, too.
Then came the tippity-tap of the telegraph, sending electronic dots and dashes as fast as the metal wires could carry them to a recipient who knew what to make of the tumbling half tones and quarter tones.
But step aside, antiquity, there’s a new player in town. That’s right. The internet. Today’s international money transfers have never been faster or simpler (read all about international wire transfers). But there’s more than one way to do it. And if you require international money transfer services, you might do well to take note.
Online foreign exchange brokers
For larger payments, this is going to be the fastest or “best” option for sending money abroad. The fees involved are usually small in comparison to the amount of money being sent, which is a bonus, but you may wish to research the international rates on offer (banks will typically offer a better exchange rate in most cases, but please keep reading for more information on using a bank to provide your international money transfer service).
Sending money overseas via a bank
As mentioned above, sending your international money transfer via a bank will usually mean that you benefit from a slightly increased exchange rate. However, there are certain requirements in place that have to be addressed before you can send your money. First, you’re going to need an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and Bank Identifier Code (BIC). This takes time, and once everything is set up and ready to go as far as you are concerned, the service from banks in general is known to be slower than the service provided by other money transfer companies (these transfer companies won’t require IBANs and BICs, instead dealing in reference numbers, but as a service this can be more expensive). This means that, depending on time restrictions, and depending on how much time and money you wish to spend on fees and exchange rates, the choice is up to you.
