wcelliot

For my vacations, I routinely wire money from my checking account to the checking account of the European vendor (usually a deposit on a two week apartment rental, etc).

In this case, the lady who is renting me the apartment only has a Postal Account. (POSTE ITALIANE SPA GENOVA VIA DANTE, 48GENOVA abi-07601 cab-01400)

Now my bank tells me that when wiring to an Italian bank, they are able to quickly research to determine what "corresponding US bank" they would use to send the funds through, but being a Post Office they can't figure it out.

Has anyone done this and can provide some info?

My alternative is to spend $100 or so to FedEx an international Money order. (I refuse to use USPS Global Priority mail since about 1 of 4 seem to go astray in Italy)

Thanks!
Bill

Michel_Paris

Look at a bank draft. Costs about $6, it is in euros, drawn on Italian bank, and can be cashed anywhere. It is similar to a certfied cheque. Just need to mail by secure method.

StCirq

Absolutely get an international bank draft. Cheap, secure, and easy.

wcelliot

Thanks much... the mailing by "secure method" is the $$$ part... but it now looks like USPS offers a trackable service for $45... about the same as an EFT.

Thanks again!
Bill

wcelliot

Any trusted vendors for an international bank draft? My credit union doesn't do them.

StCirq

Is there a Travelex near you? It might cost a couple more dollars, but worth it. Any regular bank should be able to do one, too.

What USPS service is costing you $45? It doesn't have to go overnight does it? Even Fedex is cheaper than that.

wcelliot

If it goes by standard USPS Global Priority, there is no tracking on it... and those are the ones that have been going missing once they hit Italy (where they are processed through the Poste Italia). The trackable method is a new form of Global Priority, but maintains tracking all the way through.

My last FedEx was around $80... cheapest class of service available at the time. (I just did a FedEx Economy quickquote and it was $70)

StCirq

Wow. I have a small business account with Fedex and it costs me about $15 to Europe (not overnight, but 2-3 days). Can you send a certified letter to Europe through the USPS?

Frankly, I've always sent international drafts through regular first-class mail and never had a problem.

wcelliot

Until the new $45 service no... because USPS letters are processed via the receiving country's mail system and the tracking/certification wasn't possible. I'm not sure how they are doing it with the new system... i suspect that they are farming it out to FedEx, DHL, etc. rather than using the in-country postal system.

I used to rountinely send first class and Global Priority to Europe (and still do to the UK, etc)but after ones to Italy started going missing at an alarming rate I looked for other avenues.

kybourbon

Why not Western Union (have kiosks in most grocery stores in my area)? It would be cheaper than USPS. Last time I sent money WU (place in Italy only wanted WU), the fee was $15, but a bit crappier exchange rate. I think the last time I had to send money WU, the exchange markup was about .07 above the interbank rate plus the $15 fee. I understand Travelex is more expensive. Another option might be Walmart. Most Walmarts in my area have a Walmart bank which operates under different names depending on state. I think they do a lot of money transfers and could be cheaper although I haven't checked their rates (the Walmart banks in my area have only been open a couple of years).

Michel_Paris

Registered mail? There iis signature required

kybourbon

Checked the Walmart bank and the fee was $9 for international.

lincasanova

There was a very interesting thread long ago where a poster had sent the apt.owner a pre-paid debit card with the amount on it for the deposit. She sent the owner the pin in a separate email and the owner was able to retrieve the funds when the card arrived from an ATM.

Sounded like a good idea to me.

She added money to the card before she arrived for the rest of the rental, but I don't remember the details.

Maybe someone can retrieve that interesting thread.

wcelliot

Thanks!!!!
Bill

CasaDelCipresso

Your bank if being silly and/or entered the info. wrong. That IS a bank - the Post Office is also a bank in Italy - "BancoPosta" I have an Italian bank account there (the fees are slightly lower than private banks) and Bank of America has never had any problems wiring funds there for me -it pops right up on their computer! Are you sure you have all the correct routing numbers? I've also transferred to myself via PayPal and, more recently, I have used an online company called xoom.com - my favorite because I don't have to go into the bank branch and deal with an idiot bank rep to do it (who sometimes, seriously, don't know what a Euro IS.) It is a $5 flat fee to send to Italy...but the exchange rate isn't great. You could also ask the apt. owner if they'd be willing to take PayPal and offer to pay the fee. (can be about 4% on international transactions)

I could double check my bp routing numbers for you - but don't know if it would help since my account is at a different branch. Their website is http://www.poste.it/bancoposta/ if you want to double check the bank routing info. (they should have a contact form and I believe they have a section in English now.)

Sampaguita

The lady has given you an incomplete banking code for international transfers, you need the complete code to include country code, ABI, CAB and her account numbers. But I think it is quite expensive to wire money from USA using bank transfer,you might look into some of the alternatives above.

another alternative is Western Union who have 1000's of offices all over USA and Italy, most towns have one in a tabac, check on-line for the listings, its very quick and efficient and all you have to do is present yourself at the tabac with your ID and the name of the transferring party.

CasaDelCipresso

Bank of America charges $25 to send ($15 to receive) - that's pretty standard. As I said, xoom.com is the least expensive I've found (flat fee of $5.) I always thought Western Union was much higher...but I could be wrong since I've never used them. I'd just get your bank to write out all the info. they need to fill out on their form (or just have them give you the blank form) and email/fax/whatever it over to the owner and ask that she fill in the info. your bank is asking for.

nochblad

Ask her for the IBAN and BIC numbers - with these your bank will have no problem making the payment. If she doen't already know them her local post office will give them to her.