[LINK] RFI: Overseas Payments

[Roger Clarke]

Thanks to all who contributed, and for the suggestion off-list (and 
by a colleague, Bcc'd in) of http://www.ozforex.com.au/.

That company only does payments of AUD 2000 and above, but it has a 
subsidiary that does as little as AUD 100, called 
http://www.tranzfers.com/.

Registration was a bit more than is reasonably needed - but that's 
the fault of Austrac and their natsec extremist mates, not the 
company's.

The threat of copies of passports, etc. wasn't carried through, so 
clearly their computer found me somewhere.

The fee was AUD 15,with no intermediary fees (and, although there can 
be recipient-bank fees, the receiving bank has already said they 
charge none).

The conversion-rate was 0.6392, when the mid-rate was showing about 
0.65.  A spread on Euros of 0.2 on 0.65 = 3% is okay, i.e. they're 
not gouging on that aspect either.  AUD 15 + conversion sure beats 
AUD 80 + the same!

http://www.xe.com/xetrade/ would appear to be a tad more expensive, 
but also way cheaper than the banks.

I was able to lock in the specific EUR figure, although that takes a 
phone-call to do.  (Otherwise you suffer variations in rate between 
the time you click on the web-browser to order it, and the time they 
execute it, which of course is after the funds remittance from your 
bank gets through).

Okay, I need to wait to make sure it goes through okay;  but the 
professionalism of the site, the terms, the process and the 
call-centre, combined with the vicarious experience from two sources, 
gives me a fair degree of confidence.

(I last judged eCommerce sites at the end of the 1990s.  After 
tangling with all manner of idiocies in the meantime, it's nice to 
see one that does the job!).

__________________________________________

At 14:46 +1100 18/3/14, Roger Clarke wrote:
>What are linkers' experiences with making payments overseas?
>
>I paid 50% of a 10-day rental in France recently.
>
>Suncorp took AUD 20 off me for starters.
>Then it arrived EUR 38 short.
>
>That mirrors the experience with a payment to an Austrian bank last year.
>
>Despite the invention of SWIFT 40 years ago, it appears that
>Australian banks aren't big enough or organised enough to be able to
>pay directly to mainstream banks overseas.
>
>Instead, unnecessary intermediaries are used.  Suncorp, and I gather
>banks generally, protect themslelves by saying 'there may be fees'.
>But you can't know in advance what they are.  I'm looking for someone
>to threaten litigation, in order to force basic consumer rights to be
>reinstated.
>
>In this case, Suncorp wrote an unapologetic letter back to me,
>pointed to their Terms, and offered to send the missing EUR 38 on to
>the French bank as a one-time-only favour.
>
>I agreed, partly to get the EUR 38 back, partly to solve the
>immediate problem of the short-payment, but mainly to establish that
>they can indeed achieve payment of a nominated amount to a distant
>account.  Precisely EUR 38 arrived.  So they're bare-faced liars for
>saying that they can't do it!
>
>
>In the meantime, I need to make a further 50% payment to the French bank.
>
>Does anyone know of a way to transfer funds that costs less than AUD
>80 per transaction??!!
>
>(With the largely-automated systems that are in place, somewhere
>closer to AUD 0.80 seems like a fair price.  Currency conversion is a
>separate transaction of course, with its own 'spread', i.e. fees,
>plus commission).
>
>
>[I'll claim this isn't Off-Topic, on the basis that, like SCADA, some
>part of the international transfer system probably now uses the
>Internet - one hopes, using a VPN ...]
>
>
>--
>Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
>
>Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
>Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
>mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/
>
>Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
>Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University
>_______________________________________________
>Link mailing list
>Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University