Sending money to Panama without crazy fees

[disagree]

Hey, I need to send money from a US bank account (mercury, wise, chase, etc.) to a Panama bank account.

I tried doing this from Mercury, but the person who received the money got charged a fee, it was around $40/50 on a $600 inbound wire.

Do you guys know if there's a solution to this?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

No: banks will always screw you, because they can.
All invoices I receive from Panama have a $40-50 “bank fee” added, so it must be a local custom.
Whereas I pay $45 to send to Panama from BoA. And every time I pray for not having the account frozen.
Therefore, the whole exercise costs $85-95 irrespective of the amount.
Btc fees today are $1 or less.

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[disagree]

Thank you man. Gotcha.⁣

So I think this stuff doesn't help, right? Or is this helping to lower some⁢ fees or something?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

disagree said:
Thank you man. Gotcha.

So I think this stuff doesn't help, right? Or is this helping to lower some fees or something?

View attachment 8791
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You can try OUR and see what happens. Banks are unpredictable.
Maybe WU is cheaper? What about cash in an envelope?

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[Compliance Circle]

Actually, Mercury support article explains the whole deal quite well: https://support.mercury.com/hc/en-us/articles/28773111244436-Covering-recipient-fees

As @JohnnyDoe mentioned, banks‌ can be unpredictable. However, you may try to guess what could be the receiving bank‍ policy by searching tariffs on its website for personal/business accounts and there's a good chance⁠ you can find something under international wire fees section.

 

[disagree]

I asked because the article also says that they don't really know what can happen‌ in the receiving bank account, so maybe someone had experience in trying the OUR option.‍

But yes, I think I'll just pay the fees. I'm also probably going to contact⁠ that bank to ask more about they see this protocol when Panama receive that money,⁤ just to get the information.

Thank you guys.

 

[ilke]

I sent an OUR SWIFT from Mercury to a BVI company recently; the beneficiary received‌ the complete payment, and I believe I was also charged $15 as in your screenshot.‍ Not exactly the same case but there should not be much variation.

This is how⁠ OUR transfers usually work, since the correspondent charges are all billed to the sender, and⁤ the recipient would only pay fees if his bank was to charge for incoming payments.⁣

 

[sknomad]

It is illegal to‍ send cash in envelopeto Panama.
If customs open envelope, cash will be seized and investigation⁠ of delict will start. It does not make a sense to do it.

 

[Jackx3]

I use Remitly often.
$ arrive in Panama same day. This morning $ arrived within‌ two hours.
I am not sending to Panama from US, but the country I am‍ sending from is equally a tight a*s, communist, nanny state, inteferring place.

 

[yngmind]

Will a $45 fee still be applied if you send it using Wise?

 

[daniels27]

Generally speaking, SHARE is generally the cheapest option to send SWIFT. OUR/BEN normally costs more‌ in total.

Then, you have fees on sending side (you can ask your own bank)‍ and receiving side (depends on the bank account of the other party). Those are the⁠ predictable ones, but then, you may still have intermediary fees. You can ask either bank,⁤ they should notmally know which one has been used. Try using this bank instead in⁣ order to avoid these fees.

 

[Old Spice]

Have you looked into using XE or other currency conversion companies. (Not banks)
It might‌ seem like a roundabout way but I have found they profit from the currency exchange‍ and not so much the bank fees involved.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if the⁠ receiver is always charged extra for receiving funds.

 

[JohnLocke]

As @JohnnyDoe mentioned, it’s probably much more cost-effective to pay in crypto rather than using‌ a bank transfer for the small amounts you’re referring to. Bank transfers seem quite expensive‍ in this case.

 

[PMbx]

Every bank in Panama has a 25-50$ fee for incoming offshore transfers.

 

[panam]

With Towerbank in Panama I'm charged $37 for every inbound ACH/SWIFT and $60-100 on every‌ outgoing (outgoing fee is a sliding scale depending on amount).

Is there perhaps a less‍ costly intermediary that's Panama based to send transfers through?

 

[SCHLOSSFINANZ]

Revolut?

 

[fredouille1973]

it is usual fees for routing the swift. might be several corresponding banks between, nothing‌ to do here

by the way mercury and others don't like swifts, because they need‍ to justify to corresponding banks, you have a risk to get closed

 

[Propeller]

they don't like but you can do it OR they don't like and you can't do‍ it ?