# moving money from USA



## xzabal (Oct 18, 2013)

I will be moving to Spain shortly and was trying to find out which is the best way to move funds from the US to Spain. They have changed some of the rules in bank wire transfers, and now banks are not willing to do those in a regular manner. Anyway they charge a hefty fee for doing those. Another option is through Western Union, which charges a lower fee, but has the inconvenience of having to get the money at a WU agent.
Any experience out there on how to do this efficiently?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

How about using one of the currency brokers.

My recommendation would now be currencyfair.


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## el pescador (Mar 14, 2013)

Also a question you (and i) should/might want to ask is what fee does the Spanish bank charge for receiving wired funds?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I too would recommend CurrencyFair. 

https://www.currencyfair.com/transfer-money-to-euro/

Do you have a bank account in Spain yet?


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## lavidabuena (Nov 27, 2013)

Try "XE Trade Money Transfers" or "Travel Money Oz" (Google it. Sorry I can't post links yet).

Alternatively (and the method I would use), is to have two PayPal accounts. One account with your U.S. Bank linked and another account linked with your Spain bank. It is IMPORTANT that you setup your U.S. PayPal BEFORE leaving to Spain because you may be asked to verify your information.

Once you have both PayPal accounts setup you can move funds from your U.S. PayPal acct to your Spain PayPal acct free of charge if you send the funds as a gift to yourself. Once you have the money in your Spain PayPal transferring the money to your Spain bank account is a piece of cake.

Hope that all makes sense  If it helps to know, people have done this before and PayPal does not care if you do this.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

xzabal said:


> I will be moving to Spain shortly and was trying to find out which is the best way to move funds from the US to Spain. They have changed some of the rules in bank wire transfers, and now banks are not willing to do those in a regular manner. Anyway they charge a hefty fee for doing those. Another option is through Western Union, which charges a lower fee, but has the inconvenience of having to get the money at a WU agent.
> Any experience out there on how to do this efficiently?


Worldwide banking and exclusive services from HSBC Premier| HSBC

Assuming you either qualify for free or are willing to pay the account fee.

Ask them to set you up an expat offshore account in Jersey. US$ and £. The sterling card will be useful for Amazon.uk,Easyjet or just vacations in the UK.

Then use your ATM card. Either the US or the Jersey UK card to withdraw daily money in Spain.

More or less free if you meet the requirements.

I don't think they have branches in Spain so Jersey is the best you can do. Unless they are willing to set you up with a French account.

I don't know if they have a branch near you but check the branch finder.


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## xzabal (Oct 18, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> I too would recommend CurrencyFair.
> 
> https://www.currencyfair.com/transfer-money-to-euro/
> 
> Do you have a bank account in Spain yet?


I will in a couple of weeks when I get there. I sent a query to currencyfair and they said they could probably do it. I'll report when I try it out.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

I don't bother with any of that. If you have HUGE amounts of money to transfer, then use some sort of broker. 

HOWEVER, get yourself a bank account with USAA. They are used to dealing with deployed service members and you don't pay ATM fees for the first x-number (10? 20?) of transactions each month. Additionally, you can deposit checks using your smartphone. 

So, I deposit American checks into my USAA account using my phone. Then, whenever I need to "transfer" money, I simply take out money through a local ATM. I have found that the Bankia ATMS (old Caja Madrid) allow you to take out larger lump sums if you have to bring a larger amount over. I always have the company charge it to my account in Euros because I trust USAA to charge me a fairer price than any other bank. 

I do not work with USAA but in my 9 years abroad I have found they are both the kindest bank to work with and the best bank to work with. I don't bother trying to figure out more complicated money transfer systems.


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## lavidabuena (Nov 27, 2013)

elenetxu said:


> I don't bother with any of that. If you have HUGE amounts of money to transfer, then use some sort of broker.
> 
> HOWEVER, get yourself a bank account with USAA. They are used to dealing with deployed service members and you don't pay ATM fees for the first x-number (10? 20?) of transactions each month. Additionally, you can deposit checks using your smartphone.
> 
> ...


I thought the services of USAA were only for members of the U.S. military, air force, marine, and coast guard.

Please correct me if I am wrong.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

lavidabuena said:


> I thought the services of USAA were only for members of the U.S. military, air force, marine, and coast guard.
> 
> Please correct me if I am wrong.


Nope. I am 99 percent sure that banking is open to all.


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## dd992emo (Jan 18, 2014)

*USAA banking*



elenetxu said:


> Nope. I am 99 percent sure that banking is open to all.


USAA tends to flip-flop back and forth on allowing non-military affiliated customers access to their products. I received an email in Set of 2013 saying they were restricting accounts to "eligible military or veteran" members. YMMV.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

You're right. Wow. I didn't realize they had changed. I am sorry, OP!


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