We used TransferWise to Pay

[GaryandEllen]

We had read on here about TransferWise. So we decided to use them to pay for our trailer which has just been completed. It was so easy! I wanted to give them a thumbs up, as maybe you are thinking about using them. If you pay all at once, they may consider your amount a "large" transfer, so you will have to get verified. Consists of sending them a pic of two documents, one to verify identity and another to verify address. We did that a couple days before our transfer. We also got the routing information from Escape. Then when the exchange rate was where we were comfortable, we initiated the transfer. We entered Escape's routing info. Then TransferWise gave us their routing numbers to take to our bank. We wired the funds to TransferWise US acct, so it's a domestic transfer. Then TW did the international transfer to Escape. It was all done in a day. The nice thing is that the rate was locked in for a particular amount of time (ours was 32 hours), so we had time to get it done and we knew exactly what rate we were getting. Their fee was much lower than it would have been through our bank.

[fudge_brownie]

What was the fee? It seems our local bank charges $45 US for a domestic wire, I thought it was the same for a Canadian, albeit five years ago.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

What was the fee? It seems our local bank charges $45 US for a domestic wire, I thought it was the same for a Canadian, albeit five years ago.

My bank charged $35 for the wire to TransferWise. That's not where the bank is more expensive. It's in the exchange rate. They don't use the actual exchange rate that we all see published. TransferWise does. So we sent just under 33,000 dollars and they showed the real exchange rate. They charged 180.00 to make the transfer. If we had used our bank, it would have cost us almost 1000.00 more! Even our bank manager had told us not to use their bank for an international transfer. They use an inflated exchange rate. So the difference is in the exchange rate, not so much the fee.

[gbaglo]

There are different rates for different customers. If you were transferring $180,000,000 you would get an excellent rate.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

There are different rates for different customers. If you were transferring $180,000,000 you would get an excellent rate.

Ha, Well fortunately our Escapes aren't THAT expensive. But I was sure glad not to have paid an extra thousand.

[M & M]

I was told to send a cashier's check by special delivery.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by M & M

I was told to send a cashier's check by special delivery.

Can do it many different ways. Just wanted those who were considering TransferWise, that our experience was good.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by M & M

I was told to send a cashier's check by special delivery.

If you do that, the exchange you get will be whatever it is when the cheque is deposited.

[Sands]

Thank you for posting this! We are a month away from our trailer being ready and have been considering TransferWise for paying ETI. Good to get feedback (positive or negative).

[cpaharley2008]

My wire, albeit not transfer wise, took 10 days and a trace via Wells Fargo. Subsequent payments were done via personal check and Emory over night, got there in 48 hours for deposit, $35 fee.

[fudge_brownie]

So TransferWise does add a fee, I calculate it at .545 %. That is not bad. My recollection is it was very difficult to get the exchange rate beforehand out of my bank. One reason is they just did not know, second it was handled by an obscure office within the bank structure and third it could even be farmed out to a correspondent bank and outside of their control. I could never determine just what the exchange rate was.

Does TransferWise give you a statement of what the exchange rate was for your payment? Did you compare that to the daily rate on Forex or similar?

It sounds like a good option for peeps who have a financial institution who does not do foreign wires. Small credit unions come to mind. Perhaps your bank does not offer a decent rate. The one issue is you are trusting your money to a third party that is not a financial institution. There is some loss of security and protection in that process.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

Does TransferWise give you a statement of what the exchange rate was for your payment? Did you compare that to the daily rate on Forex or similar?

Yes, we got exact information about the transaction. The rate being used, their wire fee, which was about 5 dollars, and the rest of the fee, which I forget what they call it. I also liked that I could get exchange rate alerts from them. As for comparing the exchange rate, I just did a google search on rate, I'm not familiar with Forex or any special sites. What I was seeing was in line with the rate TW was using. All very transparent. I didn't feel uncomfortable about it at all, as I asked Escape about it and they said that other customers have used it. Our bank actually sent our money to TransferWise's bank, which was Wells Fargo. Receipts were given all along the way. The thing that took the longest was Escape letting me know that it had been received two days earlier!

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

So TransferWise does add a fee, I calculate it at .545 %. That is not bad. My recollection is it was very difficult to get the exchange rate beforehand out of my bank. One reason is they just did not know, second it was handled by an obscure office within the bank structure and third it could even be farmed out to a correspondent bank and outside of their control. I could never determine just what the exchange rate was.

Does TransferWise give you a statement of what the exchange rate was for your payment? Did you compare that to the daily rate on Forex or similar?

It sounds like a good option for peeps who have a financial institution who does not do foreign wires. Small credit unions come to mind. Perhaps your bank does not offer a decent rate. The one issue is you are trusting your money to a third party that is not a financial institution. There is some loss of security and protection in that process.

Most banks do to do foreign wires and they use Wells Fargo, the NY clearing house.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Most banks do to do foreign wires and they use Wells Fargo, the NY clearing house.

Yes, and ours, Chase Bank, does too, but they use a less favorable exchange rate. Even our bank manager recommended against using his own bank!

[Greg A]

We used XE.com, negotiated and locked in rate. They cut a check and mailed it to ETI who had it in 5 days. All free, no charges for anything. They had wire available if you wanted to pay a fee, but wasn’t any need to.

[Oldtimer]

Know this thread is on transfers but we called ETI just before we left to pick up our 21 got the final pric3 at that days exchange rate went to Wells Fargo got a certified cashiers ck no charge n took that up with us n paid for our trailer that way. No fees incurred. When we got to the border we were asked about funds. Told them we had the certified ck that was made out to ETI and were waved on thru. If the certified ck is made out to ETI there is no issues crossing the border with that large of an amount. We were told by the agent that several have come thru and paid for their Escape the same way. They are use to it

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

Know this thread is on transfers but we called ETI just before we left to pick up our 21 got the final pric3 at that days exchange rate went to Wells Fargo got a certified cashiers ck no charge n took that up with us n paid for our trailer that way. No fees incurred. When we got to the border we were asked about funds. Told them we had the certified ck that was made out to ETI and were waved on thru. If the certified ck is made out to ETI there is no issues crossing the border with that large of an amount. We were told by the agent that several have come thru and paid for their Escape the same way. They are use to it

That's a great way to do it! We aren't picking up within 30 days of completion though, so we had to send ahead of us.
But that's a great option for those picking up soon after completion.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by M & M

I was told to send a cashier's check by special delivery.

Just a note about this - do not use cashiers checks for private sales. Lots of possibilities for fraud....

[Jstan]

I think using a cashiers check (presumably USD) overlooks the fact that the USD price Escape Charges is higher than the direct conversion rate. Transferwise helps bridge that gap buy handling the conversion at a much lower cost, you pay them in USD specific to the current rate and they in turn pay Escape in Canadian.

Apologies if I missed a subtlety, we too just recently paid w/ transferwise for that very reason and saved substantially.

[Hawkeye Ed]

This thread is a continuance of another thread where you can learn more about using TransferWise (or XE or other similar services) to save several hundred dollars by getting a better US$ to CDN$ exchange rate than you would if you let your bank or Escape's bank use their exchange rate:

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f3...s-12731-9.html

Bottom line, there are two costs when using US dollars to pay for your trailer: the "fee" charged by a bank or transfer service and the "exchange rate" that you're given. Too many people focus only on the "fee" which may be "free" or a small dollar amount. What they miss is that the exchange rate they are given may be so poor that they lose several hundred dollars compared to the exchange rate used by a different transfer service.

Even people who hand Escape a check in US dollars need to understand that Escape's bank applies an exchange rate when converting the US dollars to Canadian dollars before depositing the Canadian dollars into Escape's bank account. That exchange rate is comparatively poor which is why some people would rather pay Escape in Canadian dollars and pay someone else (like TransferWise or XE) to transfer their US$ to CDN$ at a better rate.

Everyone's comfort level is different and it's perfectly OK to pay however you want. The only suggestion is that you understand all the costs involved and feel comfortable with your choice.