Sending Money to Vietnam

[Jack & Xuan 0]

I have thouht about changing to a truck driver. I think it would be a good way for Xuan and I to be able to spend time together and for her to see some of the country. I have not discussed it with her yet. I am not sure about the pay though. I guess that would depend on many factors with the largest factor being that I have never even seen the inside of a Semi. I guess that is what the schools are for though.

This may sound like a stupid question but do you live in Indiana? I would love to meet up with others that are or have gone through this process and I only know of one person.

That was my thought. I was just going to leave an ATM card on an account I have here in my city. When I wanted to send money I would just deposit money into the account and tell them they could withdraw however much it is. There will be an ATM fee and international fee of a total of $3 for the bank I use myself. For now though when I have needed to send Xuan any money we just use Western Union. It gives receipts of who from and who to and it has that information on the web site too. It does cost more but the quick access to money and receipt are worth it to me.

Just a thought

Jack in Whiteland there is are 2 Pilot Travel Centers and in Seymour there is a Travel Center of America. Western Union has a special program called Direct Connect. You call 877.984.0473 and give them the information. They will then give you an 8 (or maybe 10) digit code. You then take the cash (and it must be cash, as stupid as that is these days) to either travel center (to my knowledge only Pilot and T/A participate) and pay them. It is only a $6 fee for up to $300 I think. It is cheaper than the regular Western Union service. If you do it make sure and ask if you can get a gold card. That way you just give them your number every time and they pull up the information.

No, I'm a Trucker in the Entertainment Industry. I'm getting ready to go out with the "Warped Tour". It's a bunch of punk/alternative bands. We will be in Noblesville, IN on July 31st. It's above Indy, so it's a little ways away from you. That's as close as I'll be all summer if they leave me on the tour. Sometimes things change here. It's hard to make plans. If you want to make the drive though I'll gladly meet up. I just met Melrose Plant and his wife Mai at a Flying J truck stop the other night. It was pretty cool.

[Rodney n. 0]

the delivery service the jewelery store uses is pretty reliable. they take the money too my fiancees home or work so she doesnt have to go anywhere to get it. very fast service also. you can also send as much money as you want and if you send over $500 it is only $2 per 100 sent.

rodney

[J & Q 0]

Hi Vjers2. They take your money and "play" with it for several days before sending to the country where it's suppose to go. For

After using Xoom.com to send money to Vietnam for over a year and a half, I've stopped using them for several reasons:

1. Poor customer service, if you need them, they only answer emails with "canned" answers that don't address your problem. If you call them they don't answer the phone....... After repeated calls (I'm persisitant) , and waiting for over 2 hours on hold, I get "canned" answers from them. In other words, no customer support!!

example, they will debit my bank account within 2 business days but not deliver the money for over a week after the money has been debited. Their online status shows that transaction is "in processing"....... In other words they take all the transactions in process (Think MILLIONS!!!) and use your money to make short term loans to businesses to make them more money.......

3. The hidden fee of a lower currency exchange rate, ie USD to VND is around $1=1600VND, they use a rate of $1=1588VND.

4. I've found a better service....

If you open a WAMU (Washington Mutual Bank) online checking account (and saving if you want, it's also a good deal no min balance and over 3% interest). The online checking account is free of monthly fees, supplies free checks, cash back on using their debit/credit card upt to $250 a year and FREE OUTGOING WIRE TRANSFERS INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL WIRE TRANSFERS. There is possible exchange rate fees and other fees at the bank you send the money to. In Thi's case, TechComBank (according to her family) doesn't charge any fees for receiving the wire and gives a higher exchange rate than XOOM but they have keep $20 in their account at the bank. So that's what we're doing now instead of XOOM .

If everything works out like it should, this seems like the perpect way to send money!!!

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

I found Western Union to be pretty reliable though they have recently raised their rates on money transfers. I tried to have my fiancée open up an account so that I could transfer funds from my account to hers but for whatever reason every Vietnamese person that I speak with are opposed to the banks. I am not sure why this is. I would think that it would be a more secure means of exchanging currency than at the local jewelry store.

I noticed that too (about th banks). Are you in NYC?

I live North of the city but work in Manhattan.

[Teacher Mark 53]

I live North of the city but work in Manhattan.

No Travel Centers there!

[don2008 0]

i send money via local asain market. its $3 to send $100 and if you send $200 or more its just $2 per $100.

here another helpul cost savings, i think lol. i use a calling card company its very cheap and it shows all the calls with to and from numbers and dates,times, and mintues used. when i call my fiancee on her cell its 8.7 cents a min. if call her land line its 5.7 cents. i liked it alot, its quick to buy more mintues and i also liked it because the site can be read in english and vietnamese, it worked well becasue my fiancee could just go print all the phone records as hse needed. saved me from having to mail them.lol. you can look at the site to see if there is a local call out number for your area, if not they have toll free numbers to use. just call there 800 number to set up the account.

https://savingcall.com/en/index.aspx

Edited June 14, 2008 by don2008

[J & Q 0]

i send money via local asain market. its $3 to send $100 and if you send $200 or more its just $2 per $100.

here another helpul cost savings, i think lol. i use a calling card company its very cheap and it shows all the calls with to and from numbers and dates,times, and mintues used. when i call my fiancee on her cell its 8.7 cents a min. if call her land line its 5.7 cents. i liked it alot, its quick to buy more mintues and i also liked it because the site can be read in english and vietnamese, it worked well becasue my fiancee could just go print all the phone records as hse needed. saved me from having to mail them.lol. you can look at the site to see if there is a local call out number for your area, if not they have toll free numbers to use. just call there 800 number to set up the account.

https://savingcall.com/en/index.aspx

Great information, thanks for sharing. We made the mistake of using phone cards that I purchased off of street vendors in China Town. We didn't realize at the time that we needed phone records so we have about 8 months with no phone records because it was too expensive to call from my land line or mobile. I was looking into the magic jack but they don't provide a detailed list of calls http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp. I think that it will be a good choice for when she is here and wants to call her family to cut down on the phone bills. We normally talk about 4 or 5 times a week for about an hour or so each time we talk. The bills do add up quickly.

[Teacher Mark 53]

Someone posted this over in the off topic section:

Hey, hubby and I are looking for a cheaper way to send money home to Ethiopia (Best right now is Moneygram at $14.00 per transation- too high!). We're thinking of getting a separate checking account giving them a debit/atm card, but we want to see if we can eliminate fees all together. So I've been looking into banks with no ATM fees. I came across Bangor Savings Bank. Anyone hear of them? They are offering no ATM fees world wide, and will reiburse when other banks charge.

Anyone know of any other banks with free ATM usage world wide?

http://www.bangor.com/PersonalBanking/BenefitChecking.aspx

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1928843

and I posted:

I did a little investigation on them and didn't find anything unusual:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22bangor+s...lient=firefox-a

They had some counterfeit Treasury checks passed there and were the target of a phishing scheme. That's normal stuff.

I would have 2 questions for them:

1.) How much they charge for wire transfers.

and 2.) Does Visa charge for the ATM use. My Visa check card requires me to pay 1% for overseas transfers.

[ridejewel 0]

Yeah, VN jewelery stores are the best way. My wife's family gets the money same day, delivered to their house.

[PeterFB 0]

Here's the update so far about WAMU, they don't charge for the wire but they go thru HSBC USA which does charge a $5 fee to send the wire to TechComBank. TechCom Bank does charge a fee of $6, even tho they told Tuan they didn't before we sent the wire. It took two days to arrive at TechCom Bank. Now I'm trying to find out how to get around these fees since that is more than other services. I'll keep you posted.

Peter and Thi

I-129F Sent : 2007-05-26

I-129F NOA1 : 2007-06-11

I-129F RFE(s) :

RFE Reply(s) :

I-129F NOA2 : 2007-10-26

Touched: 2007-11-02

NVC Recieved: 2007-11-16

Consulate recieved ??????

Packet 3 sent 2007-12-11

Packet 3 received 2007-12-24

Packet 3 returned 2007-12-28

Packet 4 sent 2008-1-14

Email Reply with Interview Date 2008-1-23

Interview Date 2008-2-27

Passed Interview 2008-02-27

Visa Pick Up Date 2008-3-05

Received Visa 2008-2-29 (called to pick up earlier)

POE 2008-3-05 Los Angeles

Wedding 2008-4-26

[Mr. Leggs 0]

how about www.westernuinon.com ????? Save time and money do it @ your home PC

money can be delivered or pickup @ local banks

i've been using western union for 2 years

fee $3/100, less if you send 500 or more

[Jack & Xuan 0]

I use westernunion and it cost me $20 every time I send $100. Maybe I am getting robbed?

[CK&Tydi 0]

You guys may want to check out this place.

hxxp://www.legoitienle.com/

This company had been in the business for a long time and had been known by the Vietnamese Community. Reliable service, fast and cheap too. You will get the money the same day. Low Rate.

Good Luck.

[Kevin and 10]

This is who I use to send money to VN.

http://www.abcmsb.com/index.html

[Mr. Leggs 0]

i've been using Western Union, they are great

15 minutes you'll get a control number (your relative will need that to pickup @ the bank), the money will be available for pickup (if you chơose pickup option the they will call your relative to let them know the money is ready for pickup) @ the local banks they do have a list of banks online if you want to know which one is closer for you to get to, it will take a day for them to deliver. after your relative got the money, you'll get a nofication email from Western Union.

you can come to western union agent tơo.

my wife is living in Bình Đại, Bến Tre, she's now in Binh Duong to study English in Saigon, i sent her money yesterday in Binh Duong.

[Mr. Leggs 0]

how about www.westernuinon.com ????? Save time and money do it @ your home PC

money can be delivered or pickup @ local banks

i've been using western union for 2 years

fee $3/100, less if you send 500 or more

are you serious, i've been using western union for 2 years they charge me $3 for every 100