There are times when money has to be transferred to someone we know in a foreign country or to a foreign bank account either for business or personal purposes. However, the transfer process is not as simple as usually claimed as a single transfer involves quite a few factors such as service fees, exchange rates, the time period for a transaction to go through, etc.

While there are different ways in which the transfer of money to a foreign bank account can be done, some of the most common services that provide flexibility according to customer needs are:

• Online Payment Services: This is one of the most convenient and feasible options for transferring money swiftly across countries from the comfort of one’s home. Having an account on PayPal, Skrill.com, Xoom.com, Google Wallet, Amazon Pay, etc, helps with a simple authentication process to send across money to a user account in the same domain. However, there are charges for amounts above a certain limit, as well as authentication protocols to process bank payments. On the contrary, there are no hidden fees for the transaction or exchange rate beyond the nominal charges.
• Money Transfer Operators: These operators have ground locations across the globe in most major cities and countries to enabling the smooth transaction of funds within a short span of time, mostly within a day. These operators have both online and offline facilities to facilitate the transaction needs of their customers. A money transfer operator services can be mapped to other bank accounts or PayPal accounts for easy authentication. Western Union and MoneyGram are two services that aid with the transfer of fast cash for people in emergent situations abroad.
• Bank Wire Transfers: This medium is best suited for those who want to route all their foreign transactions through a bank wire. This transfer of money can either be done online or in person at an authorized bank, and both the sender and the receiver require a bank account. However, there are certain transaction fee charges that are added on to the base amount transferred along with the exchange rates.