The Best Way to Transfer Money

When transferring money, you want to know the money is going to get to the correct person safely. The best way to transfer money depends on your access to a computer, bank accounts or transfer locations.

Transferring money through a bank wire is the safest method. Banks are highly regulated, check identification and are backed by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.). In order to conduct a wire transfer, you must have a bank account as does the person receiving the money. A bank wire transfer is an electronic movement of funds from one account to another account. Most banks charge a fee for sending money through a transfer. This varies from institution to institution. There may be a similar fee to receive the money.

Western Union is one of the most popular methods for sending money because it is convenient. You do not need a bank or other account to send or receive money. You can walk into any Western Union location and send money almost anywhere in the world. You provide the information of who you are sending money to and where and turn over the cash. The person receiving the money collects it at the location to where you sent it but must show proof of identity. The cost for Western Union depends on how much you are sending, where it is going and how fast you want it to arrive.

For a do-it-yourself option, a few online services offer money transfers. PayPal has become the leader of money transfers worldwide. It has become a reliable means to accept money, link funds to checking or credit accounts, and send funds. A person does not even need to have a bank account or credit card to use PayPal. PayPal considers these as unverified and unreliable accounts. Sending money through PayPal may have incur a fee up to 3 percent. Another online source is iKobo, which takes the money you deposit and sends the recipient a prepaid debit card. This is ideal in situations where the person receiving the money may not have access to financial institutions or a computer. Fees depend on where the money is sent and the amount.