Transferwise do cheap transfers but more important can provide US, UK and Aus bank accounts

[sundaymorningstaple]

Max, I concur with your comment. I haven't had the time to research the link with the poster. Highly probable it a throwaway email addy linked to another relatively new poster trying to flog apps on the FB page earlier.

[Max Headroom]

[Max Headroom]

Still not that impressed with their Support, website and UI in general, but I did use them last week and I'm very pleased with the results.

They're the cheapest by far. Even refunded me part of the transfer fee retroactively after it turned out they'd spent less than anticipated. Their tracking feature rocks too.

Credit where credit is due.

[malcontent]

I’ve been using TransferWise for several years now (within months of them setting up shop in Singapore). I’ve probably made 3-4 dozen transfers to the U.S. in varying amounts from a few thousand to tens of thousands.

Before TW, I would issue a U.S. demand draft from DBS and electronically deposit it into my U.S. account using mobile deposit.

Comparing the two methods, TW is the same speed (ACH credit in both cases) and is only slightly cheaper (around 0.1%, depending on the amount), but is way more convenient as it saves me a trip down to DBS.

I’ve checked similar services and the best ones tend to have a very similar cost structure with TW, but not as good on the phone app. TW is the also only one I’ve seen that has the 48 hour rate lock in, which is a nice perk.

[malcontent]

Not sure if anyone has tried Interactive Brokers for money transfers, provided you are exchanging sufficient amounts of currency, the spreads in their live forex trading app are paper thin - that is probably the absolute lowest cost method of exchanging currency, better than any money changer!

[PNGMK]

^ yes I do the same on saxo but TF is really useful to send money cheaply to people all over the world (from Kenya to Pakistan etc).

[Wd40]

For developed market target currencies, IBKR is best if you have their account. If not you can also look at Revolut, YouTrip, TransferWise.

For EM currencies there is TransferWise and SingX.

[PNGMK]

By the ways TF have really pulled back on their deposit limits for Singapore residents - it's $5,000 or similar.

[Max Headroom]

Sorry, what do you mean by deposit limits? I didn't come across a deposit limit anywhere. Do you mean in the bank accounts you use for the transfers? The TF account generated?

[PNGMK]

Sorry, what do you mean by deposit limits? I didn't come across a deposit limit anywhere. Do you mean in the bank accounts you use for the transfers? The TF account generated?

You can leave funds in their borderless accounts. They only allow 5k in total to be held in those accounts over night. There is not a limit as far as I can tell on actual transfers (or if there is it's very high I believe - in the millions from memory).

[Wd40]

Sorry, what do you mean by deposit limits? I didn't come across a deposit limit anywhere. Do you mean in the bank accounts you use for the transfers? The TF account generated?

You can leave funds in their borderless accounts. They only allow 5k in total to be held in those accounts over night. There is not a limit as far as I can tell on actual transfers (or if there is it's very high I believe - in the millions from memory).

This is MAS enforced limit for wallet accounts. It also applies for other wallet accounts like Grab, Youtrip, revolut etc

[malcontent]

Transferwise limits the transfer amount by destination country. For developed nations it’s usually a maximum of S$1m. To countries with sketchier reputations and/or currency controls, the limit is lower. For example, the maximum to China is just under S$7k, the Philippines S$14k, Indonesia S$47k and Malaysia S$322k.

[Max Headroom]

Got it. Thanks chaps.

By the way, Mal, the maximum daily limit into Malaysia is 10k MYR, manually, by ATM and by TW, though I suspect there are ways around this if you know someone who knows someone.

[MikeJones]

Sorry, what do you mean by deposit limits? I didn't come across a deposit limit anywhere. Do you mean in the bank accounts you use for the transfers? The TF account generated?

You can leave funds in their borderless accounts. They only allow 5k in total to be held in those accounts over night. There is not a limit as far as I can tell on actual transfers (or if there is it's very high I believe - in the millions from memory).

This is MAS enforced limit for wallet accounts. It also applies for other wallet accounts like Grab, Youtrip, revolut etc

There is also an annual transfer limit (MAS enforced) of $30,000 from your Transferwise borderless account to other countries, limit does not apply to transfers to Singapore bank accounts. And here is the list of currencies they support, each link has details of the limits for that currency :https://transferwise.com/help/articles/ ... o-and-from

Mike

[malcontent]

While I haven’t done such a transfer, TW will at least quote an attempted transfer up until you exceed RM975k... then it says this is the most a recipient can receive. Maybe if taken further there will be a hiccup, or maybe it depends if you are making the transfer to yourself or a third party?

I don’t use the borderless account feature (I’m guessing that would create some FATCA/CRS reporting hassle). I just make transfers to my US account from my SG account, funded via FAST... well in excess of $30k this year, so I’d have to assume that limit doesn’t apply to transfers in and of themselves.