Personal Finance

Alternatives to wire transfers to get money from Europe?

  • Last Updated:
  • Oct 12th, 2016 4:18 pm
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May 9, 2004
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Alternatives to wire transfers to get money from Europe?

We have 45000 Euros in a Greek bank which we would like to get transferred to Canada. We were told that with the current restrictions in Greece only 1000 Euros can be transferred out of the country per month. In addition, each wire transfer and conversion costs 25 euros at the originating bank and then $14CAD here at RBC to receive it. This seems like a lot of fees considering we will need to do this every month for the next 40 or so months. Are there any cheaper alternatives to wire transfers?
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Aug 9, 2014
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RedBargainz wrote: We have 45000 Euros in a Greek bank which we would like to get transferred to Canada. We were told that with the current restrictions in Greece only 1000 Euros can be transferred out of the country per month. In addition, each wire transfer and conversion costs 25 euros at the originating bank and then $14CAD here at RBC to receive it. This seems like a lot of fees considering we will need to do this every month for the next 40 or so months. Are there any cheaper alternatives to wire transfers?
Bank draft?
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Apr 5, 2009
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What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
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Dec 22, 2007
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atm withdrawls
paypal
bitcoin
gold
get a credit card that you can pay using those funds
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Aug 8, 2012
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duderaf wrote: atm withdrawls
paypal
bitcoin
gold
get a credit card that you can pay using those funds
IIRC they had limits on ATM withdrawals and paying for non-Greek credit cards too (at least initially during the whole Grexit crisis anyways).
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RedBargainz wrote: We have 45000 Euros in a Greek bank which we would like to get transferred to Canada. We were told that with the current restrictions in Greece only 1000 Euros can be transferred out of the country per month. In addition, each wire transfer and conversion costs 25 euros at the originating bank and then $14CAD here at RBC to receive it. This seems like a lot of fees considering we will need to do this every month for the next 40 or so months. Are there any cheaper alternatives to wire transfers?
Are you sure the restrictions aren't for Greek residents only? Worth checking.
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May 9, 2004
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Thanks everyone for all your input.
hvwozq wrote: TransferWise € 4.98 fee for 1000 EUR.
Zer0Zer0 wrote: Azimo.com

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks good. I'll check them out.
Last edited by RedBargainz on Oct 11th, 2016 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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greenmoon wrote: What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
Thanks. I was thinking the same thing. Would like to reduce the fees charged though since there will be so many transactions.
daverobev wrote: Are you sure the restrictions aren't for Greek residents only? Worth checking.
I believe the restrictions are for everyone since the goal is to limit the amount of money from leaving the country. I will look into it further.
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greenmoon wrote: What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
Greece would have to be brain dead to have not thought of closing the easy peasy loophole of someone just splitting the money into various accounts and then taking 1K Euros monthly out of each in tandem, but then again this is the country that got itself into this mess in the first place...
Last edited by eonibm on Oct 12th, 2016 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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eonibm wrote:
greenmoon wrote: What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
Greece would have to be brain dead to have not thought of closing the easy peasy loophole of someone just splitting the money into various accounts and taken 1K Euros monthly out of each in tandem, but then again this is the country that got itself into this mess in the first place...
I meant if one can do this for multiple people - have every family member open an account and take money out. That would not break the rules.
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greenmoon wrote:
eonibm wrote:
greenmoon wrote: What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
Greece would have to be brain dead to have not thought of closing the easy peasy loophole of someone just splitting the money into various accounts and taken 1K Euros monthly out of each in tandem, but then again this is the country that got itself into this mess in the first place...
I meant if one can do this for multiple people - have every family member open an account and take money out. That would not break the rules.
We thought of that, but it seems to be impossible to open an account unless you are physically there in person. In many ways, Greece is still years behind us in the way they do things.
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RedBargainz wrote:
greenmoon wrote:
eonibm wrote:

Greece would have to be brain dead to have not thought of closing the easy peasy loophole of someone just splitting the money into various accounts and taken 1K Euros monthly out of each in tandem, but then again this is the country that got itself into this mess in the first place...
I meant if one can do this for multiple people - have every family member open an account and take money out. That would not break the rules.
We thought of that, but it seems to be impossible to open an account unless you are physically there in person. In many ways, Greece is still years behind us in the way they do things.
Perhaps you can handle it Nigerian style, send out messages to locals in Greece, asking for help to get hold of your money ;)
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eonibm wrote:
greenmoon wrote: What a dilemma.

I wonder if by splitting the money across multiple accounts (since you say we, I'm assuming that's several people), you can overcome €1000/month restriction and get your money faster. Still a hassle, but what can you do...
Greece would have to be brain dead to have not thought of closing the easy peasy loophole of someone just splitting the money into various accounts and then taking 1K Euros monthly out of each in tandem, but then again this is the country that got itself into this mess in the first place...
You are right, they would have to be brain dead to do that (although they may have already proven they are brain dead) ... but you are responding to a suggestion involving multiple accounts for multiple people (specifically referring to the OP's use of "we").
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Member
Feb 13, 2015
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HSBC global transfer if you can meet other requirements? You can keep the money in Euros too if need be.

Also Canada does allow you to travel with $10000 CAD cash. Its frowned upon but its legal.

I would get bank drafts made every month, and get them fedexed every 3 months or so based on how long they are valid for.

I had a similar instance where it was easier to get the money as a 1% loan from the bank, move it across borders as lump sum, and pay the originating country each month.
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sahiljain22 wrote: Also Canada does allow you to travel with $10000 CAD cash. Its frowned upon but its legal.
I think you can travel with as much cash as you want, and it's not "frowned upon". The requirement is that you must declare it if the amount is over $10,000, so that the government can track cash transfers to prevent tax evasion.
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Feb 13, 2015
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Well over 10000 just gets you secondary screening, profiling and a lot of unnecessary questioning, even with the right paperwork. Yes, its possible to do it, but my 0.02 don't do it.

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