mokka4

I have been stymied at every corner. Need to send
Swiss landlady Ferienwohnung deposit. I trust her
implicitly. No Paypal or credit card. My bank only does International Transfers Monday-Friday before 2 PM "because recent US government regulations" require identity verification, etc through their NewYork International Department.
Transaction must be completed on same business DATE and not using a surrogate! My summer days off are bank holidays. I work in health care 6am-2:30 and CANNOT leave early in the next weeks.
My next attempt is Western Union. This is a transfer to a Swiss bank account ( I have all the info). Fee charged is $20. (Bank is $40). Yes, poor conversion rate, but amounts to about $15 extra on total amount, so still competitive.
Seeing that I trust the receiver, is there any GREAT risk on MY end?

drlaz

If you trust the receiver, I suppose not. I wouldn't do it on general principle, except for someone I knew personally, not over the Internet. My broker accepts international wire transfer orders by FAX with a confirmation call back. I don't see why you would have to take off from work. They also accept instructions after hours for confirmation and execution next business day.

mokka4

Bank manager absolutely refused to process a partial
transaction on two separate dates "we have to comply
with governmental regulations."
If I don't go with WU tomorrow, I'll have to beg my
sister to do bank transaction in her name and alert my landlady of different name sending money. (State elections tomorrow...she's off work..lucky government job)!

Melnq8

I frequently make bank transfers to Swiss apartment owners - I see no risk if you're comfortable with the transaction.

However, I don't understand why you need to leave work to make a transfer??? We've made international transfers from our bank in the US and we live in Australia - all it took was a phone call from half a world away. I'm obviously missing something in your post.

Barring all else, can you do it over a lunch hour?

mokka4

My bank is a small one, not one of the "big chains",
with very few branches, none near my hospital.
The curious thing was its "rule" that international
transfers must be done before 2pm, on a weekday, so that senders identifying info could be forwarded to US
governmental agencies (per law, they say) to ensure that I am not funding terrorist groups or whatnot.
whether Western Union method was safe was the ?

Melnq8

Thanks for clarifying mokka. For what it's worth, the financial institution we use for international transfers is a credit union in a small city. Never heard of this rule, but nothing surprises me anymore.

I hope you get things sorted.