I need to send a wire transfer to a business in Costa Rica. They sent me wiring instructions which include two banks in New York and then the bank in San Jose.

Has anyone done this before? I have never wired money before and my bank here in MN has some sort of agreement with Western Union and it's not clear to me that WU can do bank to bank to Costa Rica...

I'm kind of in a time crunch here given the holiday and we're leaving on the 8th(!).

Anyone have experience with this or suggestions?

I have sent money from a Canadian Bank to a person with an account in a Costa Rican bank.

What you describe may be the routing the money takes. However, I did not need all that info.

Most banks in CR (and worldwide have a SWIFT number which identifies them. When I sent money all I had was the bank details the person's details - I think it was name account number and address and perhaps cedula number and the bank's SWIFT number. It arrived within a couple of days. I think once I sent it on a Friday afternoon so it was after the weekend before the person got it.

I think the transfer cost about $25.00 or more. Also these days with all the worries about money laundering and funds for illicit purposes, they are quite suspicious for any amounts over $1000

However, since you are sending to a Company, you would think they are used to receiving wire transfers and "know the drill" so it sort of makes me wonder.

good luck
raquel

Great, thanks for the info Raquel. I was very confused about the other two banks, but I do see that the account number is actually for the bank in CR.

I think the company (wedding consultant/planner) does this all the time and assumed that both I and my bank would know how to do it. I'm just a little leery of Western Union and since my bank has an agreement with them, I might have to use them...

Thanks again!

You shouldn't have to use Western Union if you want to simply do a wire transfer but, as above, the fees can add up. I had trouble making that process work recently, sending reservation money for a group to a Spanish school in Guatemala. The school had sent me a list of US banks and their numbers and one was a Bank of America account in Florida; since I'm a B of A customer I thought I could just deposit money in the account but that wasn't possible. The only wire transfer path was from my bank to the school director's bank in Guatemala. I chose to send a Money Gram instead - worked slick and it was cheaper. Not all banks (including mine) are agents but it was easy to find a neighborhood bank that is. Keep us posted!

Hopefulist is right about costs. I was going to do a wire transfer to a place in Panama, but my bank was going to charge me about $40 for it! Since I was only planning to send $100, I decided against it. The guy who was to receive the money just told me to wait and pay him when we get there. I've used Moneygram before and that was definitely cheaper.