How to transfer money to DR

Linda de Suecia · Apr 12, 2004

How to transfer money to DR safe and cheap?
Need to transfer a larger sum from Europe to finance my apartement here.
I know there's a limit on about 10 000 USD to take in personally by plane, so how do I transfer?
I have opened an account in dollars at Citibank, but they will charge a lot for only "receiving" the money from my bank, 0,004 i.e 40 USD per 10 000 USD sent. Are transferring money with Western Union safe, and would it be cheaper? Any other alternatives? I will go home to "send the money". If I get some kind of cheque from my bank, I guess the banks here needs some days to process it, or? We are short of time.

mariel · Apr 12, 2004

in my limited experience

western union works the best. it's cheap, quick and effective. i've also used moneygram. where in europe are you living?

Ken · Apr 12, 2004

Check Western Union's price before making a decision. They are expensive. The bank might be cheaper.

pati · Apr 12, 2004

I've never heard of the bank charging a "receiving" fee. When I transferred money from my US account to an account in DR I was charged a flat fee of twenty dollars.Western Union charges a percentage based on the amount of money you are sending.Granted, Western Union maybe less of a hassle but it definitely is not the most economical way to send money.Also the larger the amount the longer it takes for the DR based bank to credit your account when wiring money. I guess they want to give you the lowest exchange rate as possible.

Juan · Apr 12, 2004

Linda de Suecia said:
I know there's a limit on about 10 000 USD to take in personally by plane, so how do I transfer?

There is not a limit, all the law says is you have to declare it to make sure it is not being used for illicit purposes.

If your bank gives you a certified cheque, then I don t see a problem.

suarezn · Apr 12, 2004

Listen! I have done this many times. DO NOT use Western Union. They are very expensive and you can't send large amounts with them anyway. Your best bet is to have a USD or EURO account in a Dominican bank (Banco Popular is the only one I trust) then wire the money. Wire it in amounts of 9900 or less and don't do more than a wire transfer a day. If you do wire more than 10,000 then it will be a pain in the behind. It will delay the crediting of the funds to your account until you can provide evidence of where the money originated. If you perform more than wire transfer in a day, they will be added up and count towards the 10,000 limit, thus again delaying the crediting of the funds to your account (while they use your funds). You will have to pay a fee to both the bank you're sending it from and to Banco Popular. Also beware that there's a new law in the DR, that if you may not withdraw the funds from your account in less than one month from the time you deposit them. If you desire to do so, then you wil be assessed a fee equal to 0.66% of the amount withdrawn (for USD accounts). You other choice is to try and bring the money with you, but that is a risk I would not take.

miguel · Apr 13, 2004

Listen!!

Linda de Suecia said:
How to transfer money to DR safe and cheap?
Need to transfer a larger sum from Europe to finance my apartement here.
I know there's a limit on about 10 000 USD to take in personally by plane, so how do I transfer?
I have opened an account in dollars at Citibank, but they will charge a lot for only "receiving" the money from my bank, 0,004 i.e 40 USD per 10 000 USD sent. Are transferring money with Western Union safe, and would it be cheaper? Any other alternatives? I will go home to "send the money". If I get some kind of cheque from my bank, I guess the banks here needs some days to process it, or? We are short of time.

If the bank is only charging you US 40.00, by all means, send it thu the bank. Western Union will be much more expensive. Are you sure that the bank will only charge you US 40.00 per every US 10,000. Boy, that is a bargain since I just sent US 700. 00 to my business partner from RiaEnvia (to be delivered in dollars) and they charged me US 61.00.

Hillbilly · Apr 13, 2004

Wire transfer is the cheapest

Businesses here use wire transfer all the time. The Sending bank has a fixed fee of arond $30 dollars and the receiving bank has a like fee.

Do not hurry to make a purchase...

HB

Adrian Bye · Apr 13, 2004

Ok,

I'll share one of my secrets from working online: use ikobo.com.

I use it to pay my guys in eastern europe all the time. It has trouble from time to time, particularly with mastercards. But it generally works pretty well.

The receipient gets an ATM card to withdraw money. You make payments with a credit card. And they charge about 4%. Its the cheapest way to send multiple payments I've found.

Edited to add:
I didn't read the original post properly. Do a wire transfer. BHD bank does not charge for incoming wire transfers, although they do hold your money for 8 business days. Be careful, some banks here will charge an amount based on how much you are sending. BHD is the only one I found that is free for inbound wires.

Eddy · Apr 13, 2004

If you have not as yet closed, talk to your Notary. I'm sure he has an "Escro" account in the USA where you can send the money. He can then pay off the seller from his account. Maybe, just maybe the seller would prefer his $$ outside the DR. In such case, why bring it to the DR in the first place.

BushBaby · Apr 13, 2004

From the way you spell "Cheque" & the fact that you refer to going "Home" to send this money, I presume you are returning to UK to prise the money out of your bank? UK banks (normally) will not allow a wire transfer of money without you having a prior agreement to do so & require the authorisation "In Writing" with proof of your signature plus a few more "additional" requirements! If you do not have Banking 0n Line facilities already lined up, you are a bit screwed in moving the moeny over here quickly - AND inexpensively.

I do not know your bank, the amount required & how SOON you need the money but my suggestion (if you were returning to the DR to complete the deal on your apartment) would be to get your bank to issue you with one or more "Guaranteed" cheques / Bankers drafts MADE OUT IN US DOLLARS!!!! Bring it back with you & either pay this direct to the seller's lawyer, or get it cashed into whichever currency you have agreed to purchase in (U$D or Pesos) by a local Cambio where you are known.

If you use Nat West, the cost of sending a wire transfer via American Express in New York, would be about US $100 (to include the sending bank AND receiving bank charges too). We have the routing codes if you need them so please PM me if you need more info!! - Grahame.

amparocorp · Apr 13, 2004

i was recently, month or so, charged an incoming fee by BHD bank,,,,,,,15 dollars on 6000 sent,,,,,,,,,,don't know how long it has to sit in the bank before withdrawal as that was not the purpose,,,,,,,,i don't recall being charged by BHD before..................
bring a cashier's check in dollars to the closing on the apartment,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you'll cause a stink but it will be accepted,,,,,,,just explain that it was the only thing you could do at the time and pretend to be oh so sorry.........anyway you then have to register the title with the government there so your work is still not done...........
and,,,,,,,,you should probably have a bank account in the DR anyway so if not open one , that will only take half a day...........good luck eom.

Linda de Suecia · Apr 15, 2004

thanks to all responses

Thanks to all your responses, I will continue to check BHD and Banco Popular as well as Western Union. The sending bank in Sweden, my home-country, will only charge me around 30 dollars independent on amount sent, so I therefore see it as very costly to pay 0,4% on the receiving amount. Citibank did not tell me about the new law of not withdrawing money, that will definitely complicate things.
Before I left, I checked again with Citibank, and a certified cheque will take them 18 WORKING days to carry out, a part from that the cost was 1,5% instead of 0,4% of the amount which definitely didn't make that one a good choice.

avionics · Apr 15, 2004

XOOM.com will deliver money to your door in $US or pesos...

mariel · Apr 15, 2004

linda

i sent you a pm

d3ratch · Jul 9, 2004

Well,

I also want to transfer a large amount of money to purchase my Villa in the DR, but you guys are scarring me... :squareeye

I will wire the money directly into the person's bank account so he can deal with the .66% charges.

Any tips gang.

I'm using Xe.com to trade my money and deliver to the DR, it's like 20$ CDN to send a large amount. But i'm not liking the .66% or delivery fees.

Adrian Bye · Jul 9, 2004

d3ratch said:
Well,

I also want to transfer a large amount of money to purchase my Villa in the DR, but you guys are scarring me... :squareeye

I will wire the money directly into the person's bank account so he can deal with the .66% charges.

Any tips gang.

I'm using Xe.com to trade my money and deliver to the DR, it's like 20$ CDN to send a large amount. But i'm not liking the .66% or delivery fees.

Ask the seller if they have an offshore bank account, and do the transaction that way, either in the US, or europe.

d3ratch · Jul 9, 2004

adrianb said:
Ask the seller if they have an offshore bank account, and do the transaction that way, either in the US, or europe.

Perfect

They do - in Italy.

I was thinking about that.

Tx

Riu · Jul 9, 2004

Linda

Linda, I sent a transfer to the dominican republic through Citibank US to another Citibank in DR, the charge was a flat fee of US$30.00. It does not matter the amount, the DR Citibank did not charge anything. Hope this helps.

juancarlos · Jul 9, 2004

Very interesting

Riu said:
Linda, I sent a transfer to the dominican republic through Citibank US to another Citibank in DR, the charge was a flat fee of US$30.00. It does not matter the amount, the DR Citibank did not charge anything. Hope this helps.

Did you have to have an account with the DR Citibank or did you send it into somebody else's account there?

How to transfer money to DR

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