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The best way to send money to Russia, Belarus, & Ukraine (better than Western Union?)
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Posted by: Khashyar

I wanted to share an idea for sending money to Belarus, Russian and Ukraine that has not been talked about in this forum before...

One of Lena's childhood friends from Mogilev who now also lives in Los Angeles, has a way to regularly send money to her family in Mogilev, Belarus that is substancially cheaper than sending money by Western Union...

She opened up a bank account in Los Angeles, received an ATM card, and sent this bank ATM card to Mogilev for her mother to use to withdraw money from this bank account.

Until she knew that her mother had received the ATM card, she only kept about $10 in the bank account.

(You could also not activate this card until your know that the card had arrived in Russia)...

The advantage of your loved one using an ATM card to receive money is that the ATM transaction fee (at least for Lena's friend's Mastercard ATM card) is only about $3, no matter how much is withdrawn from a Mogilev money machine.

(By the way, in Russia and Belarus, ATM machines are called "bankomats")

ATM machines are becoming increasingly more popular in Belarus in the past year, and virtually every city in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus should have one now.

At the moment, there seem to be more "bankomats" in Belarus that accept ATM cards with the "Mastercard" label as opposed to the "Visa" label, but ATM's accepting both brands do exist.

Paypal also issues a ATM card with a mastercard label, and this might be another good ATM card to send to your loved one. (I am not sure what the foreign transaction withdrawal fee is for Paypal's ATM card, but the domestic ATM withdrawal fee is $1).

Of course, ONLY send an ATM card to someone who is your fiance and who you feel 100% comfortable with and trust.

Khashyar

Posted by: golek

I did this. It seems to be working fine. Much, much cheaper than paying $40-50 to wire money from a bank.

Posted by: Khashyar

Thanks, Golek...

It's good to hear that someone is successfully doing this.

Can you tell us whether you have a MC or Visa ATM card, and how much the bank transaction fees are?

Your fiance lives in Russia, is that correct?

I'm trying to understand the transaction fees for visa compared to mastercard ATMs...

Thanks,

Khashyar

Posted by: golek

I specifically requested an ATM card only. I rejected the offered debit card because of fear of theft. My bank charges $3 when I use an out of network ATM. That is in addition to any fees charged by the institution that owns the ATM. Even if you don't see them, fees could be built into the exchange rate. It's still much cheaper, faster and more convenient for her and I than wiring money. If my fiancee needs money for something. I can deposit it and she can access the funds the next day. A wire took 10 business days.

Yes, my fiancee lives in Moscow.

Posted by: Khashyar

I used my Visa ATM card in a few different cities in Russia, as well as in Mogilev and Poland...

I received some varying ATM fees, and so it would make sense that banks charged different particular fees for the money withdrawals...

When I was in Mogilev last summer, there was no ATM there that accepted Visa at that time (although now there are ATMs that accept visa, as I am told by Lena's best friend who lives there), so we had to go to a Mogilev bank to receive cash advance-type withdrawals...

Perhaps I may look at my bank statements to try to discern which fees where charged where and for what reason... (or, I might call my bank)...

Khashyar

Posted by: Chris_UK

I also gave my RW an ATM card for an account that I had hanging around but rarely used.

She's not my fiance yet but she's proved that I can trust her with money.

It's great to be able to give her most of the money that WU would have charged in commission (it's $2.50 per withdrawal using this way) and of course has the advantage that I don't have to visit the local WU office and neither does she (there are many ATMs where she lives so she has a choice where to go). And when to go, of course, if she needs $$$ in the middle of the night

I gave her the first card in person, but I mailed a new card when the first one expired. I have heard of mail coming in to Russia from the West can be misappropriated, so I was a little worried that someone might intercept the card, pay her a visit (because of course her address was on the front), and try to get the PIN # out of her. I told her that if this happens, she should give the number because there was $5 in the account at that time. In the end, she received it with no problems.

Chris

Posted by: klawsite

This is great information. I will take one with me when I go in December. If things work out with Nadya, I will leave it with here should she need my help for communication and the like! I think I will try the Paypal approach. I will check into it!

Thanks,
Kevin

Posted by: Woody

What an excellent idea. I've never used Western Union because of the excessive cost and so previously I've made a couple of transfers to Nadya's own bank account with the cost in the region of £25 each time. This is an excellent idea.

A question for Golek.... please tell me why you specifically requested an ATM card rather than a debit card? I would have thought a debit card was better because you can only withdraw if the account is in credit.

Clive

Posted by: golek

She doesnt need to use it as a visa card, only to get cash. If the card were to be stolen, I thought it would be easier for the thief to use a debit card as opposed to the straight ATM card.

Posted by: ShermanAtlanta

My Ellen just read this post and she was very impressed. We have sent money to her family twice and have so far spent $30 to send $150. I will open the account and send the atm card right away. It will save us a bunch.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Sherman

Posted by: golek

Sherm,

Be sure to pad the envelope enough so that you can't tell there is a card in it. You don't want to temp would be thieves. I folded it in a couple of sheets of paper and put it inside of a greeting card. I sent it registered mail in the greeting card envelope.

"Sherman in Atlanta" - I get it. good one

Posted by: Emetsky

I think this a great idea to save money. I've been using Western Union.

Btw, what kind of account should I open, savings or checking?

Spasiba!!!

Posted by: Aaron Chase

I had to send about $63 to my Vera so she could keep corresponding in her net cafe. Western Union charged me about $15 to do that, and I didn't have a problem with it. But I'd definately do it this way if I had a bank account.....

Posted by: golek

I notice banks around here are offering free checking. Take a hundred dollars and open an account with it. You can always take the money back out after the account is established. Make sure there are no penalties if you fall below a certain balance though. Wachovia Bank offers a good checking account. If you can't get a checking account because of bad credit or whatever, open a savings account that comes with an ATM card. If the account is only to get money to your fiancee, you won't need to write checks you don't even need to waste money ordering checks. From your end you will go to the bank to deposit or withdrawl funds, but most importantly, she will be able to get the funds easily. Also, it is much easier to find a free savings account than a free checking account.

Be sure to leave a big enough cushion in your account to cover differing exchange rates and any fees that you might get charged. For example, if my fiancee needs $100, I will put $120 in the account and tell her to take $100 out. Some ATMs in Moscow will allow you to get US$. If she pulls dollars, keep in mind that you are changing money twice. Once from dollars to roubles, then again from roubles back into dollars. You are paying to change money, in the form of padded exchange rates so it's hard to predict exactly what the withdrawl will cost you in the end. Better to play it safe and keep more in your account than you are sending to your love.

I would suggest having a separate bank account specifically for the purpose of sending money, because they will only give you one ATM card for each name on the account.

One other thing, if you are opening this account in the same bank where you have other funds, verify that there is no linkage between the accounts. Banks nowadays push balance protection when you open an account. It links your accounts so that if there is a withdrawl request against insufficient funds, the bank will pull money from your other account(s) to cover it. You don't want this. You are sending this card to Russia remember and there is the possibility that the card and pin could get into the wrong hands. Your sweetheart could lose the card or be robbed. You need to insulate yourself from this possibility.

Posted by: Khashyar

Good suggestions, Golek...

Posted by: Knight_Kadosh

This information comes at a good time. Thank you for sharing this.

Posted by: Khashyar

This thread was slightly buried in previous posts...

I'm glad we resurrected it

Posted by: nicegirl

Guys,

I just have to warn you. This type of transactions are illigal unless person who has the card has her name on it. The only way to get her name on the card is creating card in US by signing card in front of the witness from bank itself.

Just be carefull with whom you share the info about debit cards. Russian government is really strick on taxes and want to have their hand on each penny that crosses the board. That is exactly why WU costs so much is to cover the fees.

Another thing, mail goes through so call x-ray during transition and that is how they determine if there is any money. I would suggest to FedEx or UPS cards to Russia or Ukraine that is if you cannot give the card in person. It will cost you big buck initially but you will be sure that your woman/girl would receive card safely.

Please don't let your mate to share the information about their way to get money because that would jeopardise a lot of people way to transfer money. As a matter of fact, so much been said about it on the net that there is a fear of new changes coming.

One of the other good ways to wire money is useing Sberbank (I don't know much about this one) or Money Gram which could cost about 10 bucks for transaction (it is a legal way and as safe as WU)

Posted by: klawsite

Hi everyone,

What if she sets up a PayPal account. Then you could simply send money from your Paypal account to hers. Are they allowed to do that over there??

-Kevin

Posted by: golek

As long as she is not carrying it around with her everywhere she goes, I'm not that worried about it. The bankomat at her bank is across the street from her building and she uses it so seldom. What are the chances a cop will be standing over her shoulder and demanding to see her card when she is using the bankomat? A lot of people have bankomat cards in Moscow, enough so that when I used that machine I always had to wait in line.

Posted by: Emetsky

My GF told me that she does not know of any ATM machines in Yoshkar-ola.

Maybe she needs to search harder.

Posted by: Jim_FL

Quote:

Originally posted by Emetsky
My GF told me that she does not know of any ATM machines in Yoshkar-ola.

Maybe she needs to search harder.

She is correct! no VISA, Mastercard, AmExpress, or Discover ATMs in Yoshkar ola

Posted by: barry

I have used IKOBO.com for sending money. They issue the card in the country of the person that you send money to. The fee is a little more than non-network ATM fees.

Simply another option!

Posted by: andrei

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim_FL
She is correct! no VISA, Mastercard, AmExpress, or Discover ATMs in Yoshkar ola

What did you expect from the poorest republic of Volga Region. People need no credit cards because they dont have money.

Posted by: Sunny2006

There is a way to avoid all those problems.

There is a Canadian company

called Taheri Exchange that issues ATM cards. Their cards work on all ATM networks.

You will not need to open a bank account to obtain a card.

Taheri Exchange will also arrange for hand delivery of the cards.

You can send the card and you will not have to load any money onto the card until you are ready. You will also avoid high usage fees.

Your loved ones

will feel secure with their card, and this product will help you a lot untill you are together.

i deleted the email add and toll freenumber. this post falls into the category of solicitation, not an endorsement by an individual. pin boy

Posted by: AkMike

Interesting but why did you dredge this post from 2003 up?

If this is a commercial advertisement I suggest you read this then contact the website owner.

http://www.russianmeetingplace.com/...read.php?t=3199

Posted by: etcetera

Quote:

Originally Posted by golek

She doesnt need to use it as a visa card, only to get cash. If the card were to be stolen, I thought it would be easier for the thief to use a debit card as opposed to the straight ATM card.

What's the difference, I thought ATM card was the same as a debit card.

Posted by: dagpop

I had to get money to Rima in Tashkent before.I used Western Union and she had no problem getting it from a bank close to where lived.All she had to show is her ID.

Posted by: neil277

Hello.

My wife and i have set up in business with minsk and St Petersburg and from a normal business bank account you will be charged £20 plus you may have charges in between, we have found a company which charge less £7.00 but there are many companies out there which keep there costs down, taxes are very high in all countries including Russia and Minsk.

Try www.ukforex.co.uk

Regards.

Neil

Posted by: AkMike

I gave her a ATM card and after she recieved it then I added money to that account.