Pablo Luna
Sending money internationally is a useful way to help out family and friends or complete business transactions. When you want to make sure your money transfer is secure, you need a better way than just mailing cash. There are a variety of money transfer services that come with their own specific advantages. This overview will tell you all about the different ways to send money to Mexico, so you can find the perfect option for your needs.
Bank Transfers
One of the most straightforward ways is simply an international wire transfer between banks. This has the advantage of securely and directly putting money in a bank account in Mexico. Almost anyone can do it as long as they have a bank that allows wire transfers to the region. Just about all major banks in the United States and Mexico give their customers the option of easy transfers back and forth. Those who are sending money from another country may find it slightly more challenging depending on the regulations of their country. The main challenge of using a bank transfer to send money is simply the fees. Banks usually have high transfer fees and exchange rates, so they usually do not work well for those who regularly need to send small amounts to Mexico.
Checks and Prepaid Cards
Sending either a check or a prepaid card made out to the name of your desired recipient is an option when you need to send funds to Mexico. It does have the advantage of bypassing the transfer fees most other services will charge. Sending money this way can be useful because it may give you the option of reloading a prepaid card from your own bank account occasionally. However, depending on location, postage services can be just as expensive, and some companies may charge a fee to set up the prepaid card. This method of sending money is also challenging because it can take quite a while. It is best for those who are relatively close to Mexico and do not care how long it takes the money to arrive.
Money Transfer Services
Money transfer providers like Western Union, WorldRemit, and Moneygram are one of the most popular ways to send money to Mexico because they are incredibly convenient. To send money through one of these services, the sender visits the company’s store, website, or app and pays for the money they want to send with cash, card, or bank transfer. Then the recipient visits a store location near them to get the funds as cash or a money order. The amount it cost to send money varies quite a bit depending on which service you select. Some charge a base fee while others charge more for bigger transfers. There are fee-free options, but they may charge a slightly higher rate to exchange currency.
Since there are so many different money transfer services, you need to carefully look at the fees and regulations when trying to pick a service. Some are better for regularly sending small amounts of money while others are great for large, occasional transfers. The service you pick will also depend greatly on how the person in Mexico needs to receive their money. For example, if they need cash and cannot travel, you may be limited to bigger companies that have a money pickup center near the recipient.
Websites and Apps
In the past few years, there has been an explosion in nontraditional money transfer services. These aim to use the internet to make money transfers more convenient for people. Almost all services involve you signing up for an account and using a card or bank transfer to pay for the amount of money you want to send to the person in Mexico. Then they can create their own account and withdraw the money to their card or bank account. Like money transfer stores, websites and apps tend to vary in quality quite a bit. Some may be faster or slower, and fees can be quite high or fairly low.
These services are convenient because the variety of options lets you pick the type of fee, exchange rate, and speed that works for you. However, their main downside is that it is usually challenging to handle cash. Since they do not have a physical location where you can pay for a transfer or pick up money, using cash involves extra steps of depositing cash, sending the funds, picking up the funds, and then turning them into cash. There can also be some security concerns with small, less common apps, so you may want to carefully research before sending money to a random, unknown site.
There are all sorts of ways to send money from a foreign country to Mexico, and each one has its own unique pros and cons. What is your preferred method of transferring money?.
