Moving money from US to Canada

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blaine

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone. Nice to be here!
I'm currently working for an US Company (in the US of course) and I need a cheap effective way to transfer part of my paycheck back to my folks in Canada. I was thinking about some sort of online method, since they appear to be cheaper than the rest. Paypal is out of the question due to the problems I've had in the past with them. I'm not willing to risk it again. If anyone has any input on this, I'd be more than glad. Thanks!
 
No experience with Canada. To Europe I did the following:

- I opened a checking account with citibank and gave one of these 'fake visa' checking cards to my folks. They could go to the citibank branches back home and withdraw money without any fees beeing charged. They also could use it to pay for goods and services anywhere visa is accepted.
 
blaine said:
Hi everyone. Nice to be here!
I'm currently working for an US Company (in the US of course) and I need a cheap effective way to transfer part of my paycheck back to my folks in Canada. I was thinking about some sort of online method, since they appear to be cheaper than the rest. Paypal is out of the question due to the problems I've had in the past with them. I'm not willing to risk it again. If anyone has any input on this, I'd be more than glad. Thanks!
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Have your parents open a US currency account and write them a check.

Brian
 
Yeah, that's an idea, although I've ran into a couple of online services that will do pretty much the same thing. I personally would prefer the online part since I wouldn't have to go to a bank or anything. So, there, of course paypal, which I'm a little reluctant to use, and may prove too complicated for my folks, there's 2checkout, something similar to pp and there's also one called ikobo. The latter says they send the person receiving the money a visa ATM card. Hmm, now this would be simple enough for my folks to use.... right? Any thoughts on this one?
 
So you don't have to go to all the hassle of creating a bank account ? How do they withdraw their money ?
 
Hello everyone! I an new to this forum but found this thread as am interested in personal transactions abroad, particularly speaking in ikobo service. I have been using Western Union and frankly speaking it’s a very good and reliable service but it’s fees are too high. My recipient emailed me some info about ikobo (describing it’s low fees, ease of use and so on), but I am still gathering more info before starting using it. So any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
JoeyM said:
So you don't have to go to all the hassle of creating a bank account ? How do they withdraw their money ?
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Yeah, it works without a bank account.
As for withdrawing the money, apparently ikobo will send each user a visa card which can be used at any ATM to withdraw the money from the account. Sounds good, huh? I signed up a couple of days ago and now I'm waiting for this card to arrive. If it's any good I'll tell my folks to create an account as well.
 
blaine said:
Yeah, it works without a bank account.
As for withdrawing the money, apparently ikobo will send each user a visa card which can be used at any ATM to withdraw the money from the account. Sounds good, huh? I signed up a couple of days ago and now I'm waiting for this card to arrive. If it's any good I'll tell my folks to create an account as well.
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So that cad can be used anywhere without having a bank account? How much do I have to pay for it and what are the withdrawal fees? Also, how fast is the money transfer speed?
 
Ikard seems to be a good feature since not everyone has Bank account. I have found on ikobo’s site ikard delivery cost $4.95 and withdrawal fee - $1.99. Ikard is reloadable so it is delivered only once (when you receive funds for the first time).
 
Martin 2 said:
Ikard seems to be a good feature since not everyone has Bank account. I have found on ikobo’s site ikard delivery cost $4.95 and withdrawal fee - $1.99. Ikard is reloadable so it is delivered only once (when you receive funds for the first time).
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So the ikard can be used like any other credit card. What about over-counter purchases or online payments ?
 
JoeyM said:
So that cad can be used anywhere without having a bank account? How much do I have to pay for it and what are the withdrawal fees? Also, how fast is the money transfer speed?
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Yes, you can use without an account (as I've said), the card is free but you pay the delivery - about $5.
Withdrawal fees are $1.99 regardless of the amount you withdraw but the ATM may charge an additional fee - or so the other users say... I'll know more once I get mine.
 
blaine said:
Yes, you can use without an account (as I've said), the card is free but you pay the delivery - about $5.
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This is good to know.

blaine said:
Withdrawal fees are $1.99 regardless of the amount you withdraw but the ATM may charge an additional fee - or so the other users say... I'll know more once I get mine.
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What do you mean by additional fee? I read somewhere (another forum) that the 1.99$ is the only fee you are charged for every withdrawal.
 
What I mean by additional fee, is the fact that the bank which owns the specific ATM you're withdrawing from may have an additional fee besides ikobo's. As I've said, there's now way I can tell you anything for free since I don't have an ikard yet, but others I've spoken to said they were never charged any other fees. Guess all I can do is hope they're right.... right? :D
 
blaine said:
What I mean by additional fee, is the fact that the bank which owns the specific ATM you're withdrawing from may have an additional fee besides ikobo's. As I've said, there's now way I can tell you anything for free since I don't have an ikard yet, but others I've spoken to said they were never charged any other fees. Guess all I can do is hope they're right.... right? :D
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Well, in this case let's hope that our local banks will not charge any additional fees. I say this because I already signed up with ikobo too. :)
I didn't load (yet) my account because I'm waiting for your ikard reviews :)
 
Hello! I have contacted ikobo’s live chat operator to make all the questions concerning ikard clear. So, Ikard is a debit card, it can be used at any Visa Plus ATM for withdrawing funds and also for online purchases on the websites accepting ikards. While withdrawing some ATMs may charge an additional fee not related to ikobo, but total withdrawal fee can’t exceed $3. Ikard is shipped out to you once someone sends you money with ikobo.
 
JoeyM said:
Well, in this case let's hope that our local banks will not charge any additional fees. I say this because I already signed up with ikobo too. :)
I didn't load (yet) my account because I'm waiting for your ikard reviews :)
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Hmm, so I'm the resident ikard guru or something. :D
Apparently not since Martin seems to have it all covered. Anyway, the good news is the I finally got mine just today and was also able to withdraw the money without problems and as far as I could calculate without any other fees except from ikobo's. What can I say... so far so good. :cool:
 
Hello, Blaine! Glad to hear you are doing well with ikobo. I have just decided to sign up. My relative is in need of money and I don’t have any intentions to process my next transaction with Western Union, I hate their high fees. By the way, how many days did iKard delivery take?
 
It depends on the type of delivery you chose during the registration process and the country of destination. It usually takes no more than 8 working days. ;)
 
Well, in my case it took one week to arrive so I guess I've nothing to complain. You could chose to have it delivered express, but you'll pay extra for that, but hey, if you're really in a hurry it's a solution.
Good luck Martin, I think you'll find ikobo to be much better at transferring money than WU - I mean thanks to lower fees and faster transfers.
 
To send 50$ the fees are like this:
- 15$ Western Union fee
- 3$ ikobo fee.

What do you think ? Which one is better? :D
 
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