Hi,

I need to send some money to an elderly friend in France. What's the best way to go about this?

She's too old to figure out her bank routing number, etc.

What's the easiest thing for her to get the money? Easy to cash?

Money order? Cashier's check? I've heard of Thomas Cook, but not sure what it is or how it works.

Please help.
Thanks!

Western Union is good. It will cost you extra, but not her. The only thing she has to worry about is how to get to the closest Western Union rund distribution point. WU works with postal codes, so if there is a WU office with the same postal code as hers, it will be close.

Open up a bank account with a bank that gives free debit cards. Send her the debit card along with the PIN. When she confirms receipt of the debit card, deposit the money in USD into the account. She can then withdraw, in small chunks, from the ATM in Euro getting the best exchange rate possible.

Thanks for your quick responses.

I'm not sure if she even has a bank account, so we want it to be easy for her to cash it. Is there an easier way?

I don't mind if there's a bit of penalty in the exchange rate, etc. Is there something that she could readily use?

Thanks.

You could send her a traveler's check in Euros. Ask your bank about it and whether your friend would have a surcharge when the check is cashed; you could include that in the amount at this end.

This is a test

She doesn't need a bank account at all...you need the account. She simply walks to the corner ATM and withdraws the money. You deposit the money into your account in USD (assume you are in the US0; she withdraws the money from the corner ATM in Euro at the best rate possible. The only thing, there are limits on the amount she can withdraw each date (about $500 probably but she can draw on the account every day).

Since you want something easy for her (and you), I really would not open a new bank account and mail her a debit card to access the money. It could be a possibility if you wanted to do that regularly for her, however.

Many French post offices have Western Union services, so their money wiring ability would probably be fairly convenient for her. Thomas COoks is now Travelex. It's just a currency service, does a lot of stuff, one of which is also wiring money. I don't know if you have to pick it up at a Travelex or not, you'd have to ask them. That could work if she also was near such as office, which would be in large cities. Then, you might compare the Western Union to Travelex fees for wiring money to her.

Of course, it would be pretty easy to send her euro travelers' checks (by USPS Global Priority Express or something). Her bank might not charge much if anything to deposit them if they are in euro, although you'll have to pay a fee for getting them that way (from your bank or AAA). It should be fast and easy, though. YOu could also get a cashier's check writtin in euro to mail her from Travelex. Again, you'd have to compare the fee for that. In the US, their fee is pretty high for doing that (it's in the exchange rate, not the flat fee so much) and could be more than sending euro TCs, I imagine.

I recently had to send some money to someone in England and was advised to send an international money order. The recipient didn't have any trouble cashing that. I bought it at my local post office. They seemed very familiar with that type money order.

Hi JC,

An international money order from the post office is the traditional way.

I really like the ATM card idea, though.

Thanks again for more suggestions.

I like the one on sending her traveler's checks. I called AAA and my bank, but they don't sell them in Euros. Is it ok to send her traveler's checks in U.S. dollars? Is it easy to cash in France?

Also, it should be safe to send blank traveler's checks by mail? She has to sign them right?

Thanks.
Jen

I would not send her traveler's checks in dollars. She will probably need a bank account in order to cash them, and even if she can, she will most likely pay a commission (which she may have to pay for cashing a euro traveler's check, but for the euro it will probably be less).

Western Union is by far the simplest way for your friend to receive money. You can find a Western Union branch in almost any town in Europe. Even if she's in a tiny village, a town nearby should have a branch. We have used it to send money to the U.S. and New Zealand with no problems.
With her identity card, she can pick up the money and that's that. Everything else is far too complicated, unless you can get the correct bank routing number and do a direct wire transfer.
BTilke (Brussels)

I have sent personal checks in $ to the UK without problems though I don't know what fees the recipient pays. Why shouldn't this work in France?

Hi JC,

Sending dollar denominated TC's is a very expensive way to send money.

In addition to needing a bank account, the bank will charge about 10E **per check** to cash them.

NOTE

You are the person who signs the checks. You make them out to her and she endorses them to th the bank.

The information given to you by your local AAA was wrong. We bought a Euro traveler's check at our local AAA in CT just last week to send abroad. A 100 Euro traveler's check was about $130.00

By all means send a personal check if you like, just don't expect the money to be available any time soon. A personal check from a U.S. account to an individual in France can take several *weeks* to clear. It may clear within the banks themselves in 48 hours, but the money won't be available to the individual for the maximum time allowed...a French check sent to our U.S. bank account took 45 days to clear; the same for a check sent the other way and since U.S. and French checks are different sizes, the automatic check sorting machines at the French bank's central processing facility could chew up the check and you'd have to start all over. (this has happened to our family)

Hi,
I send money to France regularly, using bank drafts in Euros, drawn on a Parisian bank (Société Générale in my case). The bank is the one that my local bank uses as its 'agent' i.e. I don't need to tell them which bank to use, I use the one they have a relationship with. Draft is like cash, can also be tracked. I usually send the money registered mail, just in case.
Hope this helps,
Mike

One other possibility: buy from AAA a cash card, which can be used at many ATMs in Europe. You use the card with a PIN, which you would send to your friend for her to use along with the card. The cash cards are very useful, especially as they are not linked to your personal bank account.

Thanks again for all the wonderful ideas and suggestions.

In conclusion, I think the cheapest option in my case (the amount is only $500) is to go w/ AAA's Cash Passport Card.

You can buy it on AAA's website and pay for it w/ a credit card. They'll ship the card to you w/ a PIN, and anything $500 and over has free S&H.

It can be used in any ATM machine w/ a VISA logo. Hope there are plenty in Paris? Anyone knows?

There's a $2 transaction fee per withdraw, so my friend can do a single withdraw to take out everything.

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Western Union seemed more expensive. $45 transaction fee and you can pick up the money at any WU post office in Paris.
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I still couldn't get any travelers cheques in Euros, but the exchange fee might be higher than the AAA card I mentioned above.

Thanks all for your help!