Have you ever had a boring conversation with someone? You better pay attention no matter what, because some gold might be hidden in the boredom. I don't think it was very boring, but it was in the midst of such a conversation that I heard about something called TransferWise for the first time. It is service that will help you transfer money between currencies at much lower rates than a normal bank will. This in itself is awesome, but what I find even more awesome is the chance to create bank accounts in different currencies, including USD and Euro with no set fees!
Banks in Hungary are extremely expensive, so transfering money from a HUF (Hungarian Forint) account to a Euro or USD account is just expensive. Such much fees are added, conversion fee, transfer fee, and who knows what. In addition, you pay high monthly fees to have such bank accounts.
TransferWise is completely free. You can create an account for free, and transfer money with low fees. In fact, you will see all costs up front, meaning that you will now exactly how much money you send and how much the receiver will get to the account. It is really brilliant.
If you want to check it out at once, visit the TransferWise website here.
What makes it cheaper? Instead of sending an international transfer, TransferWise has accounts in lots of countries. So, instead of sending my HUF to a Euro account, I send a local transfer to a TransferWise account in Hungary. As a result, my normal bank doesn't take any big fees. When the money gets to the TransferWise account, they do a currency exchange, and adds the promised amount to the account I send the money to in the foreign currency. Much cheaper!
But, so far I have only spoken of transfering money between currencies at a low cost. What about getting a new bank account?
Get a new bank account, free of charge!
As you visit the TransferWise website, you will immediately see the option of sending money after you have created an account (with username and password). But, if you click the "X" and close that window, you will see your user panel where you can create accounts in different currencies. This is completely free, but if you want to actually get your account numbers, you will have to add some money to your account. This is super quick, and if you add money with an online payment card, you will have your account numbers available in a few minutes. It is super handy, no monthly fees, and it is so easy to use.
You can even get your own TransferWise payment card
Even cooler, you can even get your own payment card connected to the account. You will have to pay a one time fee for the card, but it is worth it and it is very smart. Let us say that you have accounts in Euro, Dollar, and in HUF. If you go to a store in Germany and you have to pay 10 Euro, then the money will be deducted from your Euro balance (if you have money there). If you pay for something at AliExpress in USD, it will take the money from your Dollar balance (if you have money there). As a result, you will save money as you pay in the local currency!
Do you get the point? I have been using this for a couple of years now, and I am really happy about it and it has saved me a lot of money already.
Want to give it a try? You can find the TransferWise website here.
Once again, I am really happy about this service, and that is why I can so gladly recommend it to everyone reading this article.
If you have any comments or questions, please write them down and I will do my best to help you! Have a blessed day everyone!