Secure mail and banking - US to DR

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SanFranTim

New member
Jan 17, 2006
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Hello:

We are supporting a friend of ours from Haiti as he studies medicine in the DR (we lived in Haiti). In order to send him money for tuition, I am currently using Western Union or a bank transfer from my bank to his, Banco Popular. The fees for this are killing me. I have 2 questions:

1) Is there a cheaper way to send US dollars to the DR? For example, if I open a Citibank checking account here, can he withdraw from the account down there, provided I send him an ATM card that he can use? That leads to my next question,

2) Is there a secure mail service that expats use to get mail? In Haiti we used Lynx Air- is there something similar for DR? If so, can I set up the service from the US? I have read that the DR post is not secure.

Our friend is studying in SD at UTESA. IF you have any more advice, or would like to meet a wonderful Haitian student who speaks English, French, Spanish and Kreyol, please let me know. I am not able to check up on him because we have a young baby and travel is hard. Thankfully, the school posts his grades online!

Thank you-

Tim
 
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ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
4,837
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1) This method is used by guys to support sankettes all the time so it would work provided you make sure there is no overdraft protection or other services that extend more $ to the beneficiary than you put in and the fees for withdrawals are not a lot, but they must be less than Western Union. Note don't send the PIN # with the card in the mail - call or e-mail him with that separately.

2) Read/search on this EPS service people use where the mail is posted to a Florida address then it is brought into the DR.
 
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Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
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I have been using the Citibank ATM method for 2 years now. It's the best way - cheapest and most convienient. If you have another Citibank account you can transfer money through your home computer. Just make sure the 2 accounts are not linked.

I sent the card by UPS. It was there in 2 days. - D
 
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rellosk

Silver
Mar 18, 2002
4,169
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Danny W said:
I have been using the Citibank ATM method for 2 years now. It's the best way - cheapest and most convienient. If you have another Citibank account you can transfer money through your home computer. Just make sure the 2 accounts are not linked.
Click to expand...
Do they charge ATM fees for withdrawals in the DR?
 
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sunshine_79

I made the 300,000th post!
Jun 1, 2005
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Yes, there is a cheaper way!

www.servicash.com

If you utilize your checking or savings account to transfer funds, it costs...

$$$000.


I would not use Western Union if I were you, they are rip-off artists. Xoom.com and Money Gram are okay but they still cost money.
 
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rellosk

Silver
Mar 18, 2002
4,169
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sunshine_79 said:
Yes, there is a cheaper way!

www.servicash.com

If you utilize your checking or savings account to transfer funds, it costs...

$$$000.


I would not use Western Union if I were you, they are rip-off artists. Xoom.com and Money Gram are okay but they still cost money.
Click to expand...
They may not charge you a fee, but they make up for it on the exchange rate. There rate is about 5% less than Envios Boya and Envios Boya delivers to your door.
 
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suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
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Use www.xoom.com - Envios Boya has recently changed their website and are now a pain in the behind to send money with. A good example of poor planning, I would say. In addition their rates have gone up...I was going to use them yesterday and it proved to be unmanageable. I think they are going to lose a lot of clients unless they get their schitt together pretty soon. I probably won't use them again unless their rates come down lower than Xoom's. Xoom also delivers as they have the same affiliation the Boya has.

If you do send money with them make sure to note that you want them delivered in USD and not dominican pesos as they will give a lower exchange rate a person could get at a regular exchange house.
 
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sunshine_79

I made the 300,000th post!
Jun 1, 2005
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rellosk said:
They may not charge you a fee, but they make up for it on the exchange rate. There rate is about 5% less than Envios Boya and Envios Boya delivers to your door.
Click to expand...

I never even thought about that, thanks for pointing that out. I just checked and they are exchanging at 33 as opposed to 34.10 that I saw at RUSA this morning.

Xoom.com and Envios Boya have undergone some changes and I'm not so sure they're for the better. Before, when someone utilized Envios Boya, they had an option of sending money from their PayPal account. Now, I believe they are using Pay Quik.

Money Gram is still a really good option, IMO. The good thing about Money Gram is that there are a gazillion locations where the funds can be picked up in the DR.

And of course, Sankybanky.com is always a reliable choice :classic:
 
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rellosk

Silver
Mar 18, 2002
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suarezn said:
Envios Boya has recently changed their website and are now a pain in the behind to send money with. A good example of poor planning, I would say. In addition their rates have gone up...I was going to use them yesterday and it proved to be unmanageable. I think they are going to lose a lot of clients unless they get their schitt together pretty soon.
Click to expand...
Isn't it amazing how they took something that worked perfectly and made it worse. I just went to their new site. That in itself was a difficult feat because their old site one did not redirect me to the new one. It no longer recognizes my account. When you click email link in the password recovery section, it's not a valid address. How could they mess up so badly?

As you said, it's now unmanageable.
 
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suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
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sunshine_79 said:
Xoom.com and Envios Boya have undergone some changes and I'm not so sure they're for the better. Before, when someone utilized Envios Boya, they had an option of sending money from their PayPal account. Now, I believe they are using Pay Quik.
Click to expand...

Xoom.com is the same as before (what Envios Boya was before). Actually I like it better now, because now you can save your profile and save your recipient's info for future use. You can still pay with Paypal.

EnviosBoya on the other hand does not accept paypal, but only credit cards or deductions right out of your account for which you have to sign up (bank account and routing numbers). Like I said before, they have also raised their rates, while it seems like Xoom are lower now.
 
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Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
999
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rellosk said:
Do they charge ATM fees for withdrawals in the DR?
Click to expand...

No extra fees - just like withdrawing in the US. The only costs are the normal account fees, which depend on the type of account. The account I use has a $3 monthly fee and a $1.50 non Citibank ATM fee because we withdraw from a Banco Popular ATM. The transfers are instantaneous, I do them from my home computer, and there is a $5 transfer fee. I transfer approximately $1500 each month, and it comes to about .6% (.006)

I don't see how you can beat that. - D
 
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