With the development of modern technology, the issue of the labor market has ceased to be tied to the country of residence. For certain reasons, Russian citizens are forced to go to work, for example, to the United States, or simply move to permanent residence in other countries. But parents, children, friends and just acquaintances remain at home. In this regard, quite often the question arises, how to transfer money from the US to Russia and avoid unnecessary costs?
There are many ways. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. Which to choose? It depends on how fluent you are with modern technology. When considering ways to transfer money from the United States to Russia, it’s worth talking only about options that are acceptable to individuals. Settlements between organizations occur most often in a different way.
Live Bank Card
This is a fairly simple option. It is quite suitable for young people and for an elderly person who will find it difficult to deal with the intricacies of Internet technologies.
So, how to transfer money to Russia from America? Very simple. It is enough to open a regular card account in one of the American banks. It is important to inform the manager that you plan to withdraw funds abroad. Otherwise, the bank may consider the plastic lost and, for security reasons, block the account.
Now it is necessary, with the opportunity or by mail, to send the plastic card itself to the person who will use it. The user will only have to insert the card into an ATM in his country and withdraw cash. Of course, for this you have to tell him the PIN code.
This option of transferring money from the USA to Russia has both advantages and disadvantages. The pluses include the fact that money is available always and everywhere. There is no need to remove everything at once, you can spend it gradually. It will be very easy to transfer money to the card holder in the future. It is enough just to deposit the necessary amount on the account. In this case, the card holder does not bear any additional costs. The commission will be paid by the one who withdraws money.
Cons too. If at some point the ATM “eats” the card for any reason, the money will not be available. The owner of the plastic will have to go to the bank, declare the loss and send a new card. Interest will have to be paid every time you withdraw cash. How much the operation will result in will depend on the rates of the issuing bank itself. This may be 2%, and all 10%.
Paypal
And how to transfer money to Russia from America, if you are friends with a computer? It is not so difficult. It is enough to open the wallet in the PayPal system and replenish it by the desired amount. Now it is necessary to make an intra-system transfer to a user from Russia, who also has a PayPal wallet.
This type of translation is quite complicated for Russia. User reviews suggest that funds can take a long time. In addition, Russia does not provide for the possibility of withdrawing money from this system to a physical medium. That is, you cannot cash out the amount received. Judging by the reviews, this type of transfer is suitable only for those who are used to using payments via the Internet.
But such a translation has a positive point. The recipient will not pay any fees. Money is only taken from the sender. The amount of overpayment will be from 0.4 to 1.5%
From account to account via SWIFT transfer
If you do not know how to transfer money to Russia from America, ask if the recipient has a bank account in any bank. If so, you can transfer money directly to him.
With apparent simplicity, this method has many disadvantages. First of all, this is a commission. According to reviews of those who have already used it, the fee for intermediary services can range from 35 to 170 dollars. If you plan to transfer a small amount, this option is completely unacceptable. After all, the commission will “eat” the lion's share of the transfer.
The transfer of money from the USA to the Russian Federation is also associated with another inconvenience. Anyone who sends funds will have to correctly fill out the transfer form. To do this, you must specify:
- Name of the bank (Latin alphabet) providing intermediary services.
- SWIFT address of the correspondent.
- Account number in this bank.
- Name of the bank (Latin alphabet), which is the ultimate recipient of funds.
- Address of the final bank.
- SWIFT address of the final recipient.
- Personal data of the individual recipient of the funds (in Latin).
- The number of the current account to which the beneficiary's card is linked (account number, not card number).
- The purpose of the transfer of funds (for example, "for current expenses").
It is unlikely that someone will really want to fool around with finding out all this data. After all, there are simpler ways to transfer money to Russia from America. In addition, many contractors experience difficulties with the correct writing of data in Latin.
Translation is carried out using transliteration, and it may not coincide slightly in different sources. For this reason, even having done a hard way to find out all the payment details, it may turn out that the money is blocked and the recipient is not entitled to take it.
Transferwise
If you are looking for a way to send money from the USA to Russia, try using this service. According to reviews of those who have already tested this method on themselves, there is nothing complicated in it.
To send money, you need to fill in the appropriate "boxes". By the way, if you have difficulties with English, the site can easily be configured to change the language to Russian. To receive money, simply enter your bank card details.
This method is interesting in that the currency is automatically converted during the transfer. That is, you need to send money in dollars, but you can get it only in rubles. The recipient will be credited the entire amount, but the sender will additionally spend on the commission - from 4.01 to 5.81%.
Revolut App
And here is another fairly new way how to transfer money from the USA to Russia. It is similar to the previous one and is also an online application. It is easy to find in PlayMarket or AppStore. After registration, a person receives a virtual MasterCard, which can be immediately used for payments on the Internet.
If you are used to using real plastic, you can order it by mail. Parcel arrives in Russia in about 20 days. You can replenish such a card from a current account or debit card. And to manage funds - using the downloaded mobile application.
According to user reviews, this is the most profitable way to send money from abroad. The fact is that there are no commissions at all. That is, neither the receiver nor the sender will pay anything extra. The most cautious, however, do not recommend holding funds on this card. It is safer to use the service only for translation.
Western Union
This is the fastest and easiest option how to get money from the USA. You can make a transfer not only by contacting the bank, but also without getting up from the couch. On the official website of the system, the option of online transfers is available.
For simplicity and speed you have to pay. The one to whom the funds are transferred will receive them in full. But the sender will pay from 5% to 14%, depending on how the money will be deposited and how long the transfer will take.
If you decide to use the Western Union payment transfer system, be sure to ask how the surname and first name of the recipient are written in Latin. Everything should be indicated exactly as in the document that will be presented for withdrawal of funds. Otherwise, the money will be blocked.
Moneygram
This option is almost identical to the previous one, but has slightly different prices. The principle of translation is the same. It is important for the recipient and the sender to know only each other’s personal data.
After sending the transfer via MoneyGram, the sender will receive a check in which a special track number is indicated. It must be communicated to the recipient in any convenient way. The counterparty will have to voice this number and present an identity card.
In case of transfer through “MoneyGram” the commission is taken only from the sender. You can find out its exact size using a special calculator on the service website.
RIA
This system is not as popular as the previous ones, but it is also quite reliable. There are 149 countries in the world where operations are carried out through this system. Including Russia.
Depending on how the sender will make the money, he will have to pay from 3% to 9% of the commission. The recipient will get the full amount.
The payment service has its own website, where you can quickly find out where the nearest bank is located that can provide such a transfer.
Webmoney
Until recently, the WebMoney payment system was one of the most profitable and reliable. The most powerful argument was the super-low commission - only 0.8%. But for some time now the situation has changed. WebMoney no longer supports replenishment from American bank cards. Such an opportunity is provided only for Canada and Europe.
But there is a way out of any situation. Having studied the opinions and user reviews, you can try to get around the limitation. On the territory of such a huge country like the United States, there will probably be a branch of a European or Canadian bank. If you open an account in one of them, you can try to circumvent the ban.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to transfer money from America to Russia. You just need to carefully weigh the pros and cons and choose the best option for yourself.