regarding international banking; Ireland/USA

[Tina and Johan 206]

my husband recently moved over here from Ireland and still maintains his banking accounts over there, including a credit card that still needs payments made. We are really hoping to find a way to make payments from here to there without the high cost of wire transfers. What is everyone else doing with their international banking needs?

[emcia_81 43]

I am not sure what bank in Ireland your husband is with. I used to live in Ireland and I was with Pernament TSB. I settled with them international direct debit so I could transfer money from and to Ireland for only 50 euro cents per transaction and it took normally a day or 2 for the money to make to my accounts. I dealt with them living in Poland and in the US.

[Tina and Johan 206]

I am not sure what bank in Ireland your husband is with. I used to live in Ireland and I was with Pernament TSB. I settled with them international direct debit so I could transfer money from and to Ireland for only 50 euro cents per transaction and it took normally a day or 2 for the money to make to my accounts. I dealt with them living in Poland and in the US.

He uses Bank of Ireland. Right now, we're looking at 50 Euro for wire transfers. Maybe it's our bank where the problem is.

[emcia_81 43]

OMG 50 euros for money transfer? Its a daylight robbery!!He should call and enquire about international direct debit. It can not be so dear.

Edited January 1, 2015 by emcia_81

[Tina and Johan 206]

We agree with you completely!! LOL that's why we're looking at our options. thank you very much for your help.

one question: are you direct debiting from a bank in the USA? or through your work?

[emcia_81 43]

I used to do that from my bank account in the US in 2012. I am now in Poland waiting for my K1 visa and I closed my bank account in Ireland in April this year.I heard before about currencyfair but never looked into their details. It can be another option.

[Dumbo123 0]

This is a side note vis a vis foreign bank accounts. Are you familiar with the IRS policies regarding disclosing foreign bank accounts, filing FBARs (if you have more than $10k abroad), declaring all the interest one makes abroad, etc? Not many old and new residents know. As easy it is to google this information as scary it is to read it.

[Tina and Johan 206]

This is a side note vis a vis foreign bank accounts. Are you familiar with the IRS policies regarding disclosing foreign bank accounts, filing FBARs (if you have more than $10k abroad), declaring all the interest one makes abroad, etc? Not many old and new residents know. As easy it is to google this information as scary it is to read it.

This will be our first time filing together, so thank you for the information. He's got accounts in Ireland and South Africa, but neither have too much money. I'll talk to a CPA for our special circumstances this year. Thanks for the heads up.

[melanieuk 19]

Hey everybody. This is the best method https://transferwise.com/u/ed50e

The first transfer up to roughly $4000 is free of charge, the ones after that have a 0.5% fee (best out there)

[emcia_81 43]

This is a side note vis a vis foreign bank accounts. Are you familiar with the IRS policies regarding disclosing foreign bank accounts, filing FBARs (if you have more than $10k abroad), declaring all the interest one makes abroad, etc? Not many old and new residents know. As easy it is to google this information as scary it is to read it.

Yes I am aware of that however I don't know how this works if my country has a tax treaty agreement with US.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I am using International bank-to-bank transfers from BoI to my US account and the other way around with Banking 365. You need to set it up and they send you a password in the mail, so it takes a couple of weeks, but very easy once done.

[Tina and Johan 206]

I am using International bank-to-bank transfers from BoI to my US account and the other way around with Banking 365. You need to set it up and they send you a password in the mail, so it takes a couple of weeks, but very easy once done.

Does your American bank charge you for any part of transferring money? This seems to be our biggest problem; our US bank fees.

[Tina and Johan 206]

Hey everybody. This is the best method https://transferwise.com/u/ed50e

The first transfer up to roughly $4000 is free of charge, the ones after that have a 0.5% fee (best out there)

thanks for this tip! We're looking at this now.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

No, our American bank does not charge as long as we have a minimum (I think it is $100) in the account at all times. Try regional banks? We bank with ARVEST, a Arkansas based bank. I heard a tip before that local/ regional banks tend to be more flexible and have less fees, and in my limited experience it is correct.

[Tina and Johan 206]

ok, thank you. I appreciate everyone's input.