Chile Forum

The USA Citibank Online international wire transfer

Just wanted to relay my first time experience:

(1) Setup the wire online in your Citibank Online banking platform.
(2) After submitting it, you are ordered to call a toll free number in the States.
(3) I used Skype. They verify your account number, SSN and information from your credit profile with a test of 4 questions.

So I am now waiting for the status to change to processed or sent.

Only $30 for an online international wire.
$18.75 for an online domestic wire.

Not bad pricing and no fax hassle.

Etrade took some knocks in the press recently for their exposure to the mortgage scandal, but I am hands down a fan of their service. Citi and Bank of America ticks me off with their business practices and their web site.

Etrade gets online banking right. Their service is fast and anytime there is a problem, they fix it in seconds. In the 7 years I have been with them I have only had one problem, and it turned out not to be their fault. They still credited my account for $50 for the inconvenience. They also do not charge me for ATM transaction, and will refund ATM fees charged on third-party ATM's. Their exchange rate is also about 1 peso off the whole sale rate on xe.com, and I think that is only a matter of live rate vs closing market rate. Wire transfers I believe are about $15 US, and you have to fax in a signed authorization form but they tend to authorize it within a few hours.

I have a couple bank accounts with them, and receive wires in all the time from all over the World. I can then split the money between multiple checking accounts online, and use my visa debit card in Chile to take out around $1,000 a day in cash plus $6,000 in purchases without getting burned by the wire fees and -4 peso exchange rates that most banks in Chile give.

In wiring money in to the country, be aware that for amounts over $10,000 US it will have to go through a committee at the banks for money laundering law compliance, and this can take a few days and up to a week. You will have to credit where the money came from, and where it is going. You can wire to most banks in Chile at the desk without being a customer. Strange that they will accept tens of thousands of dollars and let you walk out the door with your bag of cash or counter check, but will likely not let you open an account and keep the money in their bank without a lot of hassle.

Some day the banks in Chile will get their act together and figure out that there is a bunch of gringos in Chile, with a bunch of money to spend.

Charles can you help confirm some of the Etrade fees.

I have found $25 for wires both domestic and international.
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/estation/help ... 0000#Learn

And 1% exchange fee for overseas ATM use.
http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Cr ... n_Exchange

In a quick glance through the banking portions of E*trade's website, I liked what I saw -- and was reassured by FDIC, for whatever that's still worth (a lot: as times become riskier, I certainly don't want to expose myself or my money to avoidable loss!). Unclear, though, whether "wire" transfers to banks outside the United States are in dollars or are converted at the originating E*trade bank (the latter, I hope).

I'll note here, as I think I have before, that USAA offers much the same in thrifty services. The company is still structured as a mutual society, so its costs tend to be less than most while remaining high in value (one of the few American companies of size that still has intelligent, alert Americans answering questions -- no need to struggle to understand the heavy Calicut or Uzbek accent and lingo).

A note regarding operation of our new website: on the old, clicking a link embedded in a posting brought up a new window; here, it takes the viewer to the linked 'site through the same window, losing immediate contact with the AllChilean thread. I prefer the older method: two windows instead of one, true, but easier and wiser, I think.

Came back from shopping in San Antonio and found my wire off and gone. More funds out of the precarious US banking system!

Not a bad experience at all with the reputed Shittybank. Again, beats the previous fax hassle way.

A reminder to all, you have to set up fax or online wire transfer capability while you are personally in the States.

Here are the fees for etrade from their site. Looks like wires out are $25. It seems also you can withdraw up to $1,000 a day. I thought the limit was $400 per card, but that is the ATM limit in Chile. I will have to test with a couple of diffrent cards. It might be the red bank system limit in Chile per day. Still best to have backup cards:

Account Research $25 per hour
Check Copies (front and back) $5 per check
Check Reorder (standard quantity) $8.75 per reorder ($8.25 for the E*TRADE Money Market Account), waived for customers who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities, E*TRADE Bank, and employee stock plan accounts (including vested in-the-money options, stock option plan shares, ESPP shares, and released restricted stock); or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter in their E*TRADE Securities account.
Check Returned for Non-Sufficient Funds $25 per item
Closing Your Account $10 early closeout fee if the account is closed out within the first 120 days of opening. (Not applicable for Complete Savings Account.)
Coverdraft Protection $5 per usage. To enroll account, send us a secure message or call us at 1-800-ETRADE-1 (1-800-387-2331) from 7 a.m. to midnight ET.
Digital Security ID $25 per device, waived for customers who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities, E*TRADE Bank, and employee stock plan accounts (including vested in-the-money options, stock option plan shares, ESPP shares, and released restricted stock); or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter in their E*TRADE Securities account.
Duplicate Statements $5 per statement
FedEx Request $20 per request
IRA Transfer (full account) $0 per transfer in
$60 per transfer out
Legal Processes (subpoenas, levies, and other processes) $75 minimum plus research and copy fees
Minimum Balance Fee Independent Checking—$10
To avoid the monthly fee, an average monthly balance of $1,000 is required. The monthly fee is also waived for customers who maintain a minimum average balance of $5,000 in total E*TRADE Bank deposits by the end of their second statement cycle; or who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities, E*TRADE Bank, and employee stock plan accounts (including vested in-the-money options, stock option plan shares, ESPP shares, and released restricted stock), or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter in their E*TRADE Securities account.

E*TRADE Money Market—$10
To avoid monthly fee, an average monthly account balance of $1,000 is required. The monthly fee is also waived for customers who maintain an average monthly balance of $5,000 in total E*TRADE Bank deposits by the end of their second statement cycle; or who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities, E*TRADE Bank, and employee stock plan accounts (including vested in-the-money options, stock option plan shares, ESPP shares, and released restricted stock); or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter in their E*TRADE Securities account.

Max-Rate Checking—$15
To avoid the monthly fee an average monthly balance of $5,000 is required. The monthly fee is also waived for customers who set up and maintain a direct deposit of $200 or more per month (A combination of direct deposits totaling $200 does not satisfy this requirement); or who maintain a combined balance of $50,000 or more in linked E*TRADE Securities, E*TRADE Bank, and employee stock plan accounts (including vested in-the-money options, stock option plan shares, ESPP shares, and released restricted stock); or execute at least 30 stock or options trades during a calendar quarter in their E*TRADE Securities account.
Returned Deposits $25 per item
Stop Payment Request $25 per request
Verification of Deposit $5 per request
Wire Transfers $0 per incoming wire
$25 per outgoing wire (domestic or international)

Yea, I am aware of that problem. That was a customization to the old forum I did myself. There is a new mod for the forum under development to help separate links on the web site, and links out to other web sites and open them in a new window. I will put that on my install list ASAP. Still moving the furniture around, and need all the interior decorating advice I can get. We got the walls painted in the new house however.

Well, to continue the new-house metaphor, the roof's on and all the family have keys. Notice that we've yet to be bothered by a single S P A M M E R ?

yea, I am a little disappointed. I was kind of looking forward to getting an idea of how resistant the new system is to spammers.

I am planning to rewrite the general forum policies and such to better reflect the new functions and options I have available now. I believe I can relax some of the linking policies and such, without turning the forum in to pure spam bait.
I am also able to now give progressively strong warnings before banning or use short term bans. On the other hand, that rather harsh policy I had on the old forum sure cut the spammers down to about 1 spammer a month. I never even hoped to get that sort of reaction from the spammers.

One of the problems we have is that the forum code is so new that the spammers also have not had a chance to write programs yet to defeat the spam protection features built in. I am sure sooner or later they will get around to it, and to us. So, got to stay on guard, but now I can better sort real people from real spam.

wires out are typically converted to dollars at the receiving bank. The more advanced brokerage account features however might let you buy currency. I have never looked in to it, but I know they advertise trading in like 50 currencies.

I have two checking accounts and a money market account with them. All work like one account in their web site for moving money.

admin wrote:wires out are typically converted to dollars at the receiving bank. . . .

So I've found. The few exceptions (I had to send euroes to Germany last week through my local bank in Connecticut, for example) are generally just as costly. Would that I could tap into intergovernmental rates for my tiny sums!

sorry, "from dollars".

Best I have found so far is lots of ATM cards that give you near whole sale rates internationally. Also a lot less paperwork. Save the wire for big buys like a piece of property or something. I and many of our clients have bought property just using their ATM cards every day to make the withdrawals. Works fine for small properties.

I have not tried it, but you can go to several banks here and with your visa card to get larger sums than the daily limit on the ATM machines will permit.

Really though, the thought of standing in a Chilean bank line is not a time saver. It is nice that I can pop over the local grocery store once a day and withdraw, go shopping with it, or eat out. The only hazard is running in to a small place that does not take credit cards, or big regions that take only master card over Visa. Typically only parts of the Patagonia do we run in to master card only areas. In which case I have banco estado account cards.

admin wrote:... I thought the limit was $400 per card, but that is the ATM limit in Chile. I will have to test with a couple of diffrent cards. It might be the red bank system limit in Chile per day. Still best to have backup cards: ...

I have found $500 USD or CLP equivalent is my limit for both my Citibank CIrrus debit and Everbank Plus debit cards. A $500 USD/day w/d adds up real fast. Like the E Trade card, Everbank only does 1% with no per use fee. Same with incoming wires which are free. So my current strategy is use Everbank for ATM w/ds, Everbank for incoming wires, Citibank for outgoing wires, a small and free $10 USD min. ACH deposit/month from my Everbank account to the Citibank account to keep my Citibank account free (setup from the Citibank Online platform) and pay only $4.95/month for Everbank if I fail to keep the min. average deposit of $1,500/month. ACH in and out transfers are a cinch to setup from Citibank Online. I just moved nearly $6,000 electronically in five business days between one US bank account and Citibank for free.

admin wrote:sorry, "from dollars". . . .

Understood.