Money transfers between US, EU and Asia

   Money transfers have always been a comfortable service for international money operations, business abroad or immigration/emigration. But, as some of you may know when dealing with banks that do international money transfers you must have both sender and receiver bank account information for you to get the funds from one account to another, no matter if you use Transfermate or do a private bank transfer. So basically you get to the point of completing some documents and applications for the particular transaction and you may run onto details that actually are different for banks in the United States, in Europe (EU - European Union) and in Asia. The differences actually come from the specific bank systems worldwide and namely the European the American and the Australian.
   Here are the main specific details for those three bank account identification systems, or in other words the numbers you'll need to fill in money transfer applications to/from Australian, American and/or European banks.
   Regarding the US system of wire transfers the main thing you should know is that they do not use the same numbers for identification like in Europe and AU. The main bank account id number is called there Routing Transit Number (RTN), and is being used in the States for almost 70 years (which acutally does not speak well for the system by anyway..). So that is the most important number for you to fill in in order to identify which bank account you are using (no matter for sending or receiving money in/to it). This number (the RTN) is a nine-digit code representing the information as it follows:

    XXXXYYYYC
    XXXX - Federal Reserve Routing symbol
    YYYY - Financial institution identifier (in brief Bank ID)
    C - Check Digit
    So as you can see this number has a lot of disadvantages compared to the ISBN code, and may     be because of its age it actually does not include any personal account identifier or whatsoever.

   The IBAN money transfer bank code. This code shortened after International Bank Account Number and it is mainly used in Europe and some other countries identifying the country, the swift code the bank account number and the district the bank is at.
The code scheme is like this:

    kk BBBB SSSS CCCC CCCC CCCC

  With:
     - the country abreviation (e.g. EN for England, AU for Austria)
    kk - a number prefix for the discrict area
    BBBB - Particular bank transfer code
    SSSS - Sort code
    CCCC CCCC CCCC - Account number


   BSB (Bank State branch) code is the code that you'll need when filling a money transfer form for Australian bank account information. The system in AU uses only this code when making international transactions to or from the Oz.

   The format of the code is as follows:
First two digits specify the parent financial institution.
Third digit specifies the state where the branch is located
Fourth, fifth and sixth digits specify the branch

    For example, the BSB "033088" actually breaks down to the following:
   03 = Westpac Banking Corporation
   3 = Victoria
   088 = 383 Chapel Street, Prahran

Offshore finance countries in and near Europe

    Recently we had discussion with some investors willing to develop financial money services in the EU and got to the point talking about where the head finance accounts should be set up. Some of the investors had the thought that any small country no matter in EU or outside it which is currently developing its economy and infrastructure is an offshore zone for money to be stored in without tax issues, along with high confidentiality. Well do not get confused like them, in Europe (European Union) there are no countries that have this status allowing them to hide bank account information and to protect money transfers from taxes. The only countries that have this feature are not in Europe, but are bordering the EU. Those are Switzerland, Monaco, Malta, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Cyprus. Of course there are some others near Europe that just provide some eases for commersial and corporate financial needs, but those are just the best usually used for high-definiton money export.
    We will only focus on the most appropriate and developed offshore banking zones in which money are more than secure and money transfers go without any problems along with the symbolically low taxes rates.
    Money and finances in Gyprus (offshore banking). Cyprus is know to be a separated to two parts contry, with a main characteristic of each sides - Greek influence for one of the sides, and a Turkish for the other. As you may already suppose, the Greek part is considered and know to be the better developed in economical and infrastructure terms. That is the part where actually Banks offer conditions and requirements which suit the money storage of large companies that want to avoid high tax rates. Money transfers to and from banks in this Cyprus part are noticed to have diminutive fees and because of the high international influance, they have great relationships with all the money transfer insitutions all over the world.
   Swiss banking and money transfers. Switzerland does not need an introduction, as it is widely famous with its Banks and offshore finances stored in Swiss bank accounts. Fore some of you Switzerland may seem an overestimated zone, but facts are facts. They really offer the highest confidentiallity for your money and private bank account information, and they avoid being in the European Union which gives them the opportunity not to be ruled by laws that otherwise oblige high tax rates. That is why the taxes that comply in Switzerland does not oblige your finances and you are not supposed to pay the high amount of money that you would otherwise pay in e.g UK, US, Australia, etc. Swiss government holds the position that privacy is fundamental for any financial or money transfer service, and supports the firm policy of any of the Banks situated there.
    Well for now that information would be enough for you if you decide to export your money to an offshore banking zone like Switzerland or Cyprus. If you have any additional questions or want to know specific details mail us and we will do our best to get the info for you.

USD versus EUR and Wire versus Cash

   Recently a huge turmoil has been in progress as most of you noticed on the foreign exchange markets, stock markets and in global economical view. So for the others that do not know the exact reason of that money-chaos situation, it is the US Dollar and US economy that changed and slowed the world financial growth. The thing is that for an year or so, USD is constantly falling in almost every FX pair (USD/EUR, USD/JPY, USD/AUD, etc) and that is for sure not normaly but is kind of aftermath of the bloodbaths America used to make around the world and the position of the Oil with respect to the U.S positions overseas. Anyway most of you could say, OK, the dollar is going down but it won't wound me because I am trading in EUR and I am in Europe, so me and my finances will remain untouched and unharmed. Well, almost true - in any case whatever financial moves you make with money overseas, the smartest thing to do is to use EUR or at least JPY because of their stable position right now and even in a long-term prediction forecast. But, there is almost no chance for your finances to remain unharmed in a long-term view because of the 100% sure opinion of economical experts that this USD crisis will surely slow the global growth and in any case "the party is over". But, again, please use EUR, GBP, JPY or whatever you like and do not get involved in deals which USD is a main currency.

   Another thing that cannot be easily noticed if you are not dealing with corporate finance or large money operations overseas is the change of some money transfer companies' Terms and Conditions because of never seen before amount of Fraud worldwide. And this information by the way was not public, as I happened to reach it through several head central subagent executives dealing with opening new branches of Western Union. According to them, as internal reports show, the amount of fraudalent money transfers to the Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa exceeds the percentage of legal ones. That is the reason for Money transfer companies to tighten up the requirements and rules for international money transfers to insure that illegal money-laundering activities are not being done via their services, and of course for the security of legal money transactions overseas. A new tracking system is know to be developed in order for the money sender and/or receiver to be able to track the money from their source to their destination. There are of course other new things around the money transactions but we will all get informed as soon as they will make them public.

Work or Study overseas money transfer explanation

     We have always popularized the different specific services for both private or corporate money transactions we offer in Transfermate, but we have never explained in details what are they all about and in which cases you should use a particular specific service among our 7: for the private customers - Work/Study overseas, Propery overseas, Regular transfers, Salary/Pension transfer; and for the corporate clients - General payments, Flexi transfer contracts and Forward flexi contracts.
     Speaking about a specific service we should start with the Work and Study overseas money transfer opition you can use. Here's the thing, many people, or in other words many of you plan to emigrate and move to another country with the intention to work for a higher salary and get more money for the job you've been doing in your home country. First, since there is no way for you to travel with more than e.g EUR2000/USD3000 - EUR3000/USD4000, you need a way to get your initial kick-off money abroad for your easy start in the foreign land. Now here's the choice for you! First you surely will need a bank account in the country you are going to not only for transferring funds but for getting your salary in it, paying your health and social insurance and other taxes. So the thing you can do is to open a bank account for example by using the services of Traveltowork - offshore bank accounts. Now, let's say you've already did that job and you want to get your money into the bank account abroad. Then comes the specific service offered by Transfermate called Work/Study overseas which you can use sending your money to the offshore account in advance, so that you won't have problems in your start there. The services is prepared especially for emigrants with preferential rates and price when going international. Of course, once you already have a job anywhere in the world and want to send money home, the same service is the most appropriate for this need. So that is an example of working abroad and transferring money with a particular private money transfer provided by TM.
     Now, other example of the use of Work/Study overseas money transfer could be if you are a prospective student looking forward to get your education abroad no matter if it would be in an University, College, High-school or whatever education institution you choose, and you need to get money from your home land potentially from your parents to support you financially during your study period. That is why you will need a service to receive money overseas from your ancestors in order to live abroad, especially if you do not have the time or chance to work along with the lectures. In that case, and because of those needs we created the Work/Study overseas money transactions, and again like in the case above you just have to click and fill in the application in order to get your money from the parents bank account to the student one. Again, you can use the offshore banking services of Traveltowork to get your bank accounts set up.
    We hove we were helpful with this post for people working or studying or looking forward to do that abroad.

Transferring your money to a secure bank account

   Many people have different sources of money earnings and different types of expenses, but in any case all of us need to pay taxes in order to avoid problems with the IRS, and tax declarations may cause you headache sometimes. That is why, along with the long-term saving plans, people like to store their money in secure bank accounts internationally. A preferable location for this purpose is Switzerland, due to the country polices which do not allow any institutions to have access to the banks customers info, balances and details. So many of our clients issued questions regarding the process of wire transfer to Switzerland.
   The thing is that there is nothing different in this case, just like you make any other standard international money transfer through Transfermate. You wire transfer the money to a 3rd party TM bank account given to you in the beginning of your process (upon registration), and Transfermate takes care to load your overseas bank account with the money you want to transact, no matter if the bank is Swiss, US, UK, or whatever it may be.

3 tips for international wire transfers

   See, when it comes to making a wire transfer many people make the same mistakes again and again, and I am not talking about misspelling the receivers bank account information, but for expenses you can avoid, and time you can save, if you know how.

   1. If you have to make regular payments overseas, for example corporate money transfers from one firm's bank account to another abroad, you surely have to do the following things. If you have a bank account in currency other than the one used in the receiver's account, and yours is in a bank other than receivers' please I beg you make a bank account in the local branch of the receivers' one in the same currency. That way you first will avoid taxes paid for bank2bank transactions and you will save time by not having to wait the delay usually persisting when money are being transferred between two institutions.

   2. Use online banking for money transactions. Nowadays almost all banks have the service online banking and deliver to you the chance to make banking operations directly from your computer connected to the Internet. When you make a wire money transfer over online banking you avoid the service of employees of your bank and time is saved by you not having to go to any office, to wait on a line, to fill in paper applications or so on. For online money transaction to occur you can use the TAN/PIN codes provided from the bank to you with your internet banking.

   3. Use all the fields in the money-send application in the offline/internet banking. That way you will surely use the IBAN and Swift systems considered to be the fastest fund transaction systems in the world as well as having the highest possible security on Earth in terms of wire transfers.


FYI you can open Offshore bank accounts here.

Did you know?

   Did you know that when passing many international borders it is illegal to carry an amount of money greater than defined for the specific Customs between the two countries? Yes it is. That is why you should, you must transfer the money in advance somewhere you've decided to use them abroad, especially if you are traveling on purpose to make some business payments in real-time.
   Of course there is a chance for you to pass the border with cash that exceeds the limit allowed, but be sure that tons of declarations and documents will follow for you to fill in and explain where do you have the money from, what are you planning to do with them (and therefore to pay taxes on what you're planning to do with the funds).
   Contrasting on the "cash&carry" method to move funds across international borders, the bank transfer overseas differs with the huge huge limits which require some declaration on the use of the money and the avoidance of the annoying Customs, trying to make a criminal out of you, cause if you have e.g more than EUR2000 on the German or the British border, forget to pass in or out without providing the 'nice' Customs staff all the information proving exactly where the sum is coming from and where to it is going. So, please, think reasonably, let the money fly by the wire transfer.

An impressive recovery of USD against EUR but for a while

These days there was an impressive rise of the USD against the EUR currency compensating maybe one sixth of the whole fall of the Dollar in the last 1 year. That all came as a consequence after the statement of the financial adviser Yves Mersch who stated that the economy in Europe is about to stall for a while in the next month or two or even first half of the year, but that is just a potential analysis that is not guaranteed. Anyway, the levels of the EUR in NY last week were great for the USD as it first fell from 1.4833 to 1.4755 and finally to 1.4697. But after all we are expecting a general tendency of constant fall for the USD in the next 1-2 weeks as there are many important financial events in the United States and all trader's and transferrer's attention is there.

A whole bunch of new fund transfer types (insecure and expensive).

   Reading through the latest improvements and innovations in the field of money transactions I ran onto a whole bunch of innovative types of money transfers - some of them unpractical and useless (insecure, slow or expensive) and some of them very nice theoretically speaking.
   The first new type that caught my eye is the Mobile phone money transfer which sound ridiculous at first glance or hearing but makes some little sense after reading the explanation and understanding the whole idea. See, it is not that easy(and it cannot be, shouldn't be) to make international money transfer as it is to write an SMS, and as expected it involves some additional requirements. The system invented by WU requires everyone who wants to use it to have Mobile Wallet - an application interconnected with your bank account(through the very 'secure' mobile phone) and connected with the servers of WU in order to send or respectively receive money operating from your mobile phone. It is necessary to say that such application is supported only by the very-high class phones, you need to pay for the iNet used mobile, for the application that costs thousands of dollars and of course to pay the charges for the transaction. One, two, tree and you have paid one, two, three things more than if operating with your normal online banking or doing a wire/bank transfer.
   The second interesting type of transferring funds that some very 'smart' people have invented is about doing it from a Credit card machine along with your normal cash operations. Now see, here is the thing now a thief not only can get EUR/USD100-200-500 when you CC is being stolen, now he has the chance to transfer 10 times more into his/her bank account or CC. Nice?
   Our advice to you is to use the best conventional and cheap method when making money transfers - and it is Bank/wire method. First - it is cheap, as it does not involve many employees in the institutions. Second - it is fast - as it relies on point-to-point computer netwoks, And third - it is still the most secure method - as your money have insurance on them, and the fields of data guarantee that there cannot be mismatch in the bank accounts. So... enjoy with Transfermate.

Happy New Year , happy new transfers!

   Merry Christmas or merry whatever celebration you may had depending on your beliefs over the past 3 weeks along with the New Year we all celebrated. It is very very significant that Christmas brought a bunch of international money transfers with Transfermate. We have noticed that You, our great clients have raised the percentage of transfers made in December with 40% in comparison with previous months. We, the staff of the company, hope that we were helpful and serviced your need as completely as possible in order for the money to be sent or be received wherever you wanted them.
   As you may have noticed, we have inserted in the website a script making a banner floating over the site, offering a live chat help regarding the transfer services offered by our company. Whatever question comes up, that has not been answered in the FAQ section, an employee of ours will be glad to answer it and provide you with the information needed. Again, thank you for using TransferMate and feel free to make money transfers in 2008 too as you did in 2007.