I live in New York City, and twice a month I send money to a friend in Santo Domingo via Western Union. I am absolutely sick of the exhorbitant Western Union Fees. So today I did an inquiry into the following scenario:
I open a Banco Popular checking account at a New York City branch. I give my friend in Santo Domingo the ATM card (and PIN of course). Twice a month I deposit the funds (U.S. Dollars, cash) into my NY Banco Popular account, and he withdraws the money in pesos at a Banco Popular ATM in Santo Domingo.
Banco Popular's fees in New York City are very low, so that was not my concern. In fact they even give you 2 free international withdraws a month. So then of course you also have to pay the additional fee that the ATM you withdraw from will charge you. So my concern was how much Banco Popular in Santo Domingo would charge for an ATM withdrawal from a New York account. Banco Popular in New York and Banco Popular in Santo Domingo are not at all connected. Due to government regulations, they are in fact completely seperate banks.
I called Banco Popular in Santo Domingo, and they said they charge 5% of the amount withdrawn, and the maximum withdrawal amount from the ATM is 5000 pesos. The 5% fee is quite expensive. That's $5 for every $100!
But, all in all, it is still cheaper than Western Union. I think I'm going to give this a try. Do any of you have any experience in doing this or something similar? Any advice would be very helpful and appreciated.
I open a Banco Popular checking account at a New York City branch. I give my friend in Santo Domingo the ATM card (and PIN of course). Twice a month I deposit the funds (U.S. Dollars, cash) into my NY Banco Popular account, and he withdraws the money in pesos at a Banco Popular ATM in Santo Domingo.
Banco Popular's fees in New York City are very low, so that was not my concern. In fact they even give you 2 free international withdraws a month. So then of course you also have to pay the additional fee that the ATM you withdraw from will charge you. So my concern was how much Banco Popular in Santo Domingo would charge for an ATM withdrawal from a New York account. Banco Popular in New York and Banco Popular in Santo Domingo are not at all connected. Due to government regulations, they are in fact completely seperate banks.
I called Banco Popular in Santo Domingo, and they said they charge 5% of the amount withdrawn, and the maximum withdrawal amount from the ATM is 5000 pesos. The 5% fee is quite expensive. That's $5 for every $100!
But, all in all, it is still cheaper than Western Union. I think I'm going to give this a try. Do any of you have any experience in doing this or something similar? Any advice would be very helpful and appreciated.