Sending Money to the DR

sunshine_79

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Jun 1, 2005
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Hello all~

A couple weeks ago, we had a thread questioning the cheapest, most efficient service to remit money to the DR.

SankyBanky.com aside, I have to recommend Servicash.com

My dilemma: 6 weeks ago, I lost my debit/ATM card for my US bank account.

No problem, right? Just contact my bank and have them FedEx me a new card.

Riiightt...

My bank is a military bank, USAA, so I'm sure that is part of the problem but in the six weeks that I have remained card-less, I have went through hell and back trying to get a new card. For whatever reason, USAA does not do FedEx to international locations.

They sent me a new card via Express Delivery (whatever the heck that is) on 19 November and assured me I would have my card within a week. They said they couldn't provide a tracking number for it. Hmmm..

Since then, I have attempted a wire transfer to both a friend's Scotia Bank account and also an account I have here with Republic Bank.

Nada.

In desperation, I tried to send money to myself, under my boyfriend's name, with MoneyGram and Xoom using my checking account. Nope, they both saw that I was at a Dominican IP address and canceled the transactions.

Ten days ago, I requested my bank overnight a new card to a postal service in Miami that sends mail and parcels to my friend here in Puerto Plata.

Still no card here.

I finally found Servicash today and attemted a transaction about three hours ago.

Guess what?

The money is ready for pick-up at any Banco Popular.

Finally!

And the whopping fee for the transaction was...

$0.

I think if you use a credit card instead of a bank draft, they charge 7.50 per every $300.

The only catch ... although I sent the money in US Dollars, it is paid out in RD here.

They gave me an exchange rate of 32.50. I haven't checked the exchange rate today so I don't know if that is fair or not. But in my situation, I was willing to accept the "desperation" rate of exchange.

Note to self: Do not, repeat, do not, lose new card when it finally arrives in POP.

:classic:
 

A.J.

New member
Jan 2, 2002
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Ahh good old USAA.

They lost $2,000 of ours since we have to send in deposits rather than going to a physical bank. UGHHH
 

sunshine_79

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Jun 1, 2005
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A.J. said:
Ahh good old USAA.

They lost $2,000 of ours since we have to send in deposits rather than going to a physical bank. UGHHH

Seriously? Geez...

I shouldn't have closed my Bank of America account a couple months ago.

I've never had problems with USAA until now but I'm seriously getting irked.

Any chance of getting your money back?
 

Marcus

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Mar 13, 2002
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Living Overseas is never easy

It is not uncommon to find you can't do transactions or get people to send you things (like a new bank card) overseas. This has happened to me on a few occasions for different reasons.

There are two reasons that drive most of these decisions. One, of course, is the high level of fraud that exists in countries like the DR and secondly, the lack of controls that exist. If the bank were to send you a new card and someone was to intercept and somehow find a way to use it, what could the bank do? Really, not much since it is outside their range of control.

From a business perspective, I almost have to agree with the policies. From a personal perspective and being an expat, it really, really stinks. Nobody ever said living in a foreign country was easy, but this just shows you how much more of a hassle in can be at times.

Mark
 

chuckuindy

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Mar 8, 2004
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I have used USAA credit and debit cards for years, without problems. Once, about 5 years ago I lost my USAA while in Germany. They sent me a new card to Ramstein AFB in 5 days.

As for sending funds to the DR, I still use Western Union, which is expensive, but within 3min. my wives can get their funds in USD.

Chuckuindy

USAA = Fort Leonard Wood ?
 

jackquontee

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May 20, 2005
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Sunnie, I've always been used to using ATM or credit cards when I travel. Unfortunately, I have had serious problems during my last couple of trips to the DR accessing funds through the ATM. BofA says there's no problem on there end, so I suspect that the problem will never be fixed. I've been exploring other ways to access cash when I'm there.

Are you saying there is a way to transfer funds from the US to yourself in the DR? If so, and if I see you when I'm there, would you mind explaining this a little more in detail?
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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You can PAYPAL yourself for free!
Just set up the account and "Verify" it.

BofA has become a bunch of pigs with the $5 ATM fees overseas.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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I can PAYPAL any E mail address.
You do need a bank account linked to PAYPAL.
 
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RHM

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Sep 23, 2002
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Really?

Wow.

I have been with USAA for about 15 years for a lot of things. (I have done checking, savings, car loan, home equity, one or two mutual funds).

That stinks, Sunshine. It is the first time I have heard anything bad about them.

Let us know what happens...unless I am late to this thread. In that case...please ignore me.

Scandall
 

jackquontee

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May 20, 2005
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Tamborista said:
You can PAYPAL yourself for free!
Just set up the account and "Verify" it.

BofA has become a bunch of pigs with the $5 ATM fees overseas.

IMO, BofA has become a bunch of pigs in many ways, if they weren't already.
 

sunshine_79

I made the 300,000th post!
Jun 1, 2005
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Tamborista said:
You can PAYPAL yourself for free!
Just set up the account and "Verify" it.

PayPal is useful in most instances but it doesn't do any good to have money in your account if you can't access it with an ATM card.

A bit off topic, I just wanted to point out that with all the problems PayPal has had with the class action suits, etc, there is another service that is similar, and IMO, better all-around.

www.alertpay.com

You still have to go through the same process of verifying your bank account, etc.
 

sunshine_79

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Jun 1, 2005
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Scandall said:
Wow.

I have been with USAA for about 15 years for a lot of things. (I have done checking, savings, car loan, home equity, one or two mutual funds).

That stinks, Sunshine. It is the first time I have heard anything bad about them.

Let us know what happens...unless I am late to this thread. In that case...please ignore me.

Scandall

Until recently, I have always been extremely happy with USAA. I have been with them since I enlisted in 1996.

In addition to their banking services, I also had my car insurance through them.

I was in a car accident in Fayette-nam when I was stationed at Bragg and it was amazing how quickly my claims were taken care of.

I don't plan on changing banks at this point but I am getting frustrated. But in their defense, it's not as though I'm in America where getting a replacement card would be simple.

My gripe with USAA is that they refuse to utilize FedEx to overnight a new debit card to me. They will not use FedEx services internationally; other banks will.

Oh, well. In the meantime, I am thrilled with servicash.com. I still can't believe that I was able to transfer money for free.
 

wgscogen

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Jun 4, 2006
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With ALL of the VISA and Mastercard ATM cards now charging a 2% fee for international withdrawls, in addition to their fees plus the local bank fee and of course, the bad exchange rate, what is the best way to exchange USD to Pesos?
 
Oct 13, 2003
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wgscogen said:
With ALL of the VISA and Mastercard ATM cards now charging a 2% fee for international withdrawls, in addition to their fees plus the local bank fee and of course, the bad exchange rate, what is the best way to exchange USD to Pesos?

You are prob referring to US banks
 

wgscogen

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Jun 4, 2006
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Yes, I have noticed over the past year that all US banks that use VISA or MC debit cards have now changed to this 2% fee+their withdrawl fee+local bank withdrawl fee+lousy exchange rate structure. Is MAESTRO and EURONET the same?

I travel internationally quite a bit and the ATM's had always been the best currency exchange method. However, starting last year, US banks starting introducing this new 2% fee. I have been changing banks to avoid the fee but the last one to NOT charge this fee just sent me a 30 day notification that they will start charging the fee (you MUST read the tiny print in those "changes in the terms and conditions" letters to notice this charge).

Since I am thinking about moving to the DR, I hope the long time expats can recommend a lower cost method to convert USD to Pesos.
 

wishingiwasthere

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Nov 19, 2005
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Perhaps the problem with Sunni obtaining money was the start of the unravelling of the Sunni story?

I wonder how she is.
 

mountainfrog

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Dec 8, 2003
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Being Liquid

wgscogen said:
... the best way to exchange USD to Pesos?

I use cheques out of an American account.
You need to get known to some casas de cambio (who will then accept your personal cheques), but it's safe and you avoid the local banking system or ATM frauds.

m'frog
 
May 31, 2005
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Yeah. I was wondering the exact same things. I came back to the internet after a leave of absence due to computer issues and I went looking for her blog. It is not there. Is she OK?