Sending money overseas can be a stressful experience (what with the threat on one’s financial security as in scams), especially if it’s your first time. However, by avoiding the above mistakes and doing some research beforehand, you can make sure that your transfers go smoothly and money reaches its destination safely.
Also Read: 7 Tips to Maximize your Money when Sending Remittances Overseas
In this guide, we will share some crucial things to consider when making fund transfers, especially if it’s your first time doing so as an overseas Filipino worker. Remember, the money you earn costs you so much, so you have to make sure that it gets to where it needs to be – and not in the wrong hands or someplace else. Read on to learn more.
Don’t Make These Mistakes When Sending Money To The Philippines
1. Not Checking the Exchange Rate
- Don’t assume that the exchange rate is the same for everyone, or even for all transactions.
Exchange rates are constantly changing, and they usually change daily—sometimes multiple times per day. And while this may seem obvious, it’s not just different countries that have different exchange rates; currencies in a single country can also have varying values depending on how much money you’re exchanging.
In other words, if you’re sending $10 to your friend in the Philippines from Australia with PayPal and use their default exchange rate instead of checking out what your options are first (which will be higher), then you’ll end up paying more than necessary—and worse yet: If they got paid with your money at a cheaper rate than what they could’ve gotten paid at, then that would make things even more expensive for them!
2. Sending money directly to a bank account
When you send money directly to a bank account, there are two things that can happen:
- The recipient doesn’t have enough money in their account to receive the amount you’re sending. This is known as insufficient funds (or “insuffix”), and it’s one of the most common reasons why people have problems with wire transfers. If your recipient doesn’t have enough money in their bank account, they’ll be charged additional fees by both their local bank and Western Union (which may also result in additional costs being deducted from your transfer).
- The recipient’s account gets frozen for suspicious activity. When people wire large amounts of money to someone else’s personal or business accounts without knowing them personally, it raises suspicion on behalf of the financial institution holding those accounts. They may freeze those accounts temporarily while they investigate whether or not those transactions were legitimate—and this could cause delays for everyone involved
3. Not checking the transaction fees
The first thing you need to do before sending money is to check the fees. You want to make sure that the amount you send is worth it, and that it is going to cover your expenses. If the fees are too high, then it will not be worth sending money at all. If they are too low, then it might seem like a good deal at first glance but if something goes wrong (like currency conversion or being charged for service) then you could end up losing more than what was originally intended by sending the funds in the first place!
4. Sending Cash via Mail (not allowed)
Sending cash is a bad idea for several reasons. First, it’s not secure: if you’re sending it in the mail, it’s possible that your envelope could get lost or stolen. Second, there are no regulations regarding cash delivery and no protection for consumers who lose their money this way. In addition to that, there’s no way to track your cash once it leaves your hands—so if there is a problem with delivery (or even if something happens after delivery), there’s nothing you can do about it.
Finally, sending cash doesn’t guarantee a refund from the company that receives it—and if they refuse to give one anyway? Well, then they’ve just stolen your money! What an unsatisfying end to what should have been an exciting moment in both parties’ lives
5. Sending Too Much Money
Sending too much money is a common mistake that many Filipinos make when sending money back home to their family. On the surface, it seems like a good idea to send more than you need. After all, you don’t want your loved ones to have to pay fees or charges for receiving the funds! But if the recipient ends up dangerously overburdened by an excess of cash in their home country, there could be consequences that negatively affect them.
The amount of money you send should be enough to cover your loved ones’ needs but not so much that there’s no room for error when it comes time for them to spend it—or use it as collateral on loans from friends and family members with less-than-honest intentions. If you’re unsure how much is appropriate for your situation (and we highly advise against doing this alone), ask someone who lives in the Philippines how much they would expect from an average transfer from abroad—and aim lower than that number!
6. Trying to Save Money by Sending large amounts
Sending a large amount of money can be costly. If you’re trying to save money by sending larger amounts more often, think again. You can actually save a lot more by sending smaller amounts more often.
If you’re looking for an even better deal, look for a money transfer service with lower fees and exchange rates. The difference may not seem like much at first glance, but even small changes in the cost of currency exchange can add up quickly over time—and all those extra dollars could be going towards something else that’s important to you!
7. Failing to include the required information on your transfer
Let’s start off by looking at what information is required of you when sending money to the Philippines. In order to send money to the Philippines, you need to include:
- The name of the person who will be receiving the funds
- Their bank account details (account name and number)
- Your full name and phone number or email address
The person receiving your money should also be able to provide these details:
- Their name and contact details, including an email address or mobile phone number.
8. Sending money to the wrong country
Sending money to the wrong country is a common mistake. If you’re sending money to the Philippines, make sure you’re sending it to the right city.
You may think it’s obvious which city your family or friends are from but if they have moved away from their hometown and are now living in Cebu City or Davao City, then don’t send them any old transfers!
If they have moved back home after working abroad for many years, then don’t send them any old transfers either! They may be waiting for one last pay-out before relocating again so make sure that when you do send them some cash, it gets into their hands as soon as possible!
9. Using a money transfer service with high fees
Using a money transfer service with high fees is the easiest way to make sure you’ll lose money when sending cash to the Philippines. These services often advertise low exchange rates, but that’s only half of your total costs. It’s important to know what fees will be added on top of your exchange rate when you send money abroad, as well as how much it costs for receiving funds or withdrawing cash from an ATM.
The good news is that there are several low-cost options available now: TransferWise and WorldRemit both charge less than $10 per transaction, while PayPal offers competitive rates without charging any additional transfer fees.
10. Forgetting to register for your money transfer company’s online service
The first thing you should do is register for your money transfer company’s online service. This will help you track your transfer and make sure that it’s delivered safely to the recipient. It also gives you access to some great benefits such as:
- A discount on every payment
- A loyalty program with rewards points or cashback (like this one)
- Promotional deals like free money transfers and more!
11. Giving out payment information that isn’t secure
Apart from using a secure website, device and network, it is also important to use a secure password. A hacker can gain access to your account by guessing the password and then changing it so that no one can access your money. It may also be possible for them to steal your identity as well, which means that you might end up being responsible for paying debts or bills without even knowing about it!
It is also important to keep in mind that if someone gets hold of your email address and/or phone number (which is usually required when signing up with an online banking service), they could easily use this information along with their own details in order to impersonate you online and take control over your bank account.
12. Missing out on promotions or loyalty programs
You might be missing out on promotions and loyalty programs. Promotions and loyalty programs are a great way to earn points or miles that you can use towards getting free money transfers. Not all companies offer this, but some do.
Some examples of promotions include:
- Refer-a-friend – If someone refers you as a customer, they can get $10 in credit when they make their first transfer with us! So if you want to send money home, let your friends know about TransferWise first!
- Referral bonus – Some financial institutions reward their customers who refer new members by giving them 10% of the amount sent by their friend for life!
Conclusion
And there you have it! Hopefully, this article has armed you with all the information you need to steer clear of these pitfalls and send money to your friends and loved ones in the Philippines. Of course, this is just a primer on sending money abroad—there’s always plenty more to learn. After all, transferring money is never simple, but we hope that it’ll be a little bit easier for you now.
READ NEXT: 7 Tips to Maximize your Money when Sending Remittances Overseas