Using Transferwise to send money TO the USA

Ok, got someone a little more useful from TW on chat.

1) name doesn't matter.
2) have to send money in pounds as a transfer from my UK bank to TW manually, going through my bank account online and inputting TW's information as the recipient.
3) once TW has the money in pounds they will translate it to dollars and send it to my USA account.

Too tired to try anything complicated tonight, will try with a small transfer tomorrow.

Ok, got someone a little more useful from TW on chat.

1) name doesn't matter.
2) have to send money in pounds as a transfer from my UK bank to TW manually, going through my bank account online and inputting TW's information as the recipient.
3) once TW has the money in pounds they will translate it to dollars and send it to my USA account.

Too tired to try anything complicated tonight, will try with a small transfer tomorrow.

Sounds right and identical to what I do in reverse (I always use a wire transfer US bank to TW US Wells Fargo bank). Once you have TW set up as a Payee in your UK bank the details stay there so it is easy for future transfers,  same goes for your US bank details, TW remembers it as a recipient bank.

Sounds right and identical to what I do in reverse (I always use a wire transfer US bank to TW US Wells Fargo bank). Once you have TW set up as a Payee in your UK bank the details stay there so it is easy for future transfers,  same goes for your US bank details, TW remembers it as a recipient bank.

Don't WFB charge you for the wire transfers, making the whole thing less of a good deal doing it that way?

When I use Transferwise, I just pay with my debit card. So if I want to send money from my UK account to my US account, I set up the the transfer and then enter my debit card details to send the money - there's a slightly higher fee for paying by card but it's usually not too bad (if I wanted to send £100 to my US account today, the fee would be £1.42 by debit card or £1.13 by bank transfer).

One other option could be to sign up to Revolut, which is a virtual bank account with a pre-paid card (you can get both a physical and a virtual card)  - you can add money to the account using your debit card/bank account and then transfer it to another bank account in a different currency... and it has a good exchange rate and low or no fees (sending £100 to my US account via Transferwise today would give me $127.93 plus I'd pay a £1.13 or £1.42 fee, but sending £100 to my US account using Revolut would give me $129.43 with no fee to pay).

Also you can use Revolut to pay for things in various countries in their local currency... it will simply deduct the amount of the transaction from your balance on the card without having to actually exchange any currency or pay any international exchange fees. I find it really handy when I go to the US - I just put money on the card from my UK bank account and then use it to pay for things in US dollars. Or I can exchange that money and transfer it to my US account via the Revolut app. Or I can use Revolut to send money to my friends in other countries without having to use PayPal or Transferwise.

Don't WFB charge you for the wire transfers, making the whole thing less of a good deal doing it that way?

No, it is all free.  It didn't used to be which is why until a year or so ago I used ACH which means more hassle setting your US bank in the first instant and then it is much slower than a wire.  At best ACH is overnight but then you have weekends and Federal holidays to add extra delays.

TW gives the total amount you will receive using wire or ACH and since my US bank is also free wire transfers then it is well worth it for me to do wire these days.

No, it is all free.  It didn't used to be which is why until a year or so ago I used ACH which means more hassle setting your US bank in the first instant and then it is much slower than a wire.  At best ACH is overnight but then you have weekends and Federal holidays to add extra delays.

TW gives the total amount you will receive using wire or ACH and since my US bank is also free wire transfers then it is well worth it for me to do wire these days.

That's good to know. I'm with WFB and I was sure they said at the time it was $20 or thereabouts for a local wire transfer (it's been ages since I asked though) so I have always used ACH except for when I had some technical difficulties with that, at which point I used my debit card until it sorted itself out.

How did you find out they were no longer charging a fee?

That's good to know. I'm with WFB and I was sure they said at the time it was $20 or thereabouts for a local wire transfer (it's been ages since I asked though) so I have always used ACH except for when I had some technical difficulties with that, at which point I used my debit card until it sorted itself out.

How did you find out they were no longer charging a fee?

Wells Fargo is the bank that TW use, the one you wire the money to so no additional receiving fee at that end.  My own bank is HSBC USA and they announced in an email to me that sending wire transfers anywhere in the USA are now free.  You will need to check with your own WF bank if they charge you for sending a wire.

Wells Fargo is the bank that TW use, the one you wire the money to so no additional receiving fee at that end.  My own bank is HSBC USA and they announced in an email to me that sending wire transfers anywhere in the USA are now free.  You will need to check with your own WF bank if they charge you for sending a wire.

Ah, I see. I thought you had meant that WFB is your bank.

When I use Transferwise, I just pay with my debit card. So if I want to send money from my UK account to my US account, I set up the the transfer and then enter my debit card details to send the money - there's a slightly higher fee for paying by card but it's usually not too bad (if I wanted to send £100 to my US account today, the fee would be £1.42 by debit card or £1.13 by bank transfer).

One other option could be to sign up to Revolut, which is a virtual bank account with a pre-paid card (you can get both a physical and a virtual card)  - you can add money to the account using your debit card/bank account and then transfer it to another bank account in a different currency... and it has a good exchange rate and low or no fees (sending £100 to my US account via Transferwise today would give me $127.93 plus I'd pay a £1.13 or £1.42 fee, but sending £100 to my US account using Revolut would give me $129.43 with no fee to pay).

Also you can use Revolut to pay for things in various countries in their local currency... it will simply deduct the amount of the transaction from your balance on the card without having to actually exchange any currency or pay any international exchange fees. I find it really handy when I go to the US - I just put money on the card from my UK bank account and then use it to pay for things in US dollars. Or I can exchange that money and transfer it to my US account via the Revolut app. Or I can use Revolut to send money to my friends in other countries without having to use PayPal or Transferwise.

I just tried this. Looked good, was going to cost me 30 pence more than the usual rate for transferring a test 100 pounds. The exchange rate is down to 1.29 now, from 1.34 when I started trying to sort this out. So I got to the "put in my debit card info" and clicked submit. RBS popped up with a "we need to call you to send you a verification code". The  only numbers were my UK phone numbers, neither of which are now working numbers. So the transfer failed.

I am going to go into my RBS account and try to put in a US number where I can get calls/texts. But I think that didn't work the last time - I never got any notifications. Either way, I suspect the card may now be locked and a phone call will still be required. (There was a message from Verified by Visa saying not to use the card again until I called.) My current US cellphone plan doesn't do overseas calls, so as soon as I can get into an apartment, have internet again, and can set up my VOIP phone, I can phone them and sort it out. In a couple of weeks. I hope the exchange rate doesn't drop too badly between now and then! 

Oh. Well. I have literally nothing else to do for the next 4 days,15 hours, and 46 minutes....   

Have just tried the manual transfer and it SEEMS to be working, so fingers are crossed. And I'll only need to do it once more, if so.

Have just tried the manual transfer and it SEEMS to be working, so fingers are crossed. And I'll only need to do it once more, if so.

Having done this once, set up TW as a payee in your bank, you will now find that this is super easy going forward as you never have to enter any account or card numbers again.

It worked! 

I have been feeling just so overwhelmed, sitting locked in this hotel room recuperating from all the stress and jet lag, that it's nice to have something work.

Great news, thanks for the update.  Won't be long now before you are released back into the wild.