International money transfers

[duncan drennan]

What is involved in making an international money transfer? I need to buy a device for a project I am working on and the guys I want to buy it from have had credit card fraud in the past with South Africans (arg), and would like an upfront payment.

I had a quick look at the exchange control info on FNB's site, and was a bit bothered by this in particular:

Foreign exchange may be provided for advance payments not exceeding 33.3% of the factory cost of the goods

Is there an easy way to make transfers to foreign countries?

[Morticia]

You need SA Reserve Bank approval anyway so rather contact the forex department of your local commercial bank who will (should) have all the required paperworks and answers at the tips of their fingers.

[daveob]

Hi Duncan

What value ( amount ) do you need and in what currency does your supplier work in ?

[Dave A]

contact the forex department of your local commercial bank who will (should) have all the required paperworks and answers at the tips of their fingers.

And take a bucketload of patience with you. It's a process

[duncan drennan]

You need SA Reserve Bank approval anyway so rather contact the forex department of your local commercial bank who will (should) have all the required paperworks and answers at the tips of their fingers.

Have done that, waiting for the correct person to phone me back

What value ( amount ) do you need and in what currency does your supplier work in ?

USD and it will be about $150USD.

Would have been really easy to order by credit card....damn fraudsters.

[Dave A]

I know some USA suppliers are windy about Paypal. I'm surprised they wouldn't take a direct credit card transaction, though.

I had a similar experience with Hostgator. I'd paid by Paypal for hosting and they came back wanting a wire transfer. Apparently if I'd gone directly via credit card it wouldn't have been a problem, but once "flagged" they were unmoving.

I ended up placing my business elsewhere and they had to refund me.

[duncan drennan]

I know some USA suppliers are windy about Paypal. I'm surprised they wouldn't take a direct credit card transaction, though.

This would have been a direct credit card transaction. Once they noted that the shipment was to SA they said sorry, they don't ship to SA. I followed up and they came back that it is due to past fraudulent activities.

[Dave A]

Frustrating. They can be surprisingly paranoid at times, though. I remember being in Orlando and meeting folks who were living in fear that they might be the next victim of the Washington sniper.

Talk about a long shot

[derrickm]

What about a service like escrow.com? Owned by the eBay/Paypal conglomerate, sure, but probably quicker than getting Reserve Bank approval...

[daveob]

Might be a stupid question, but how does the Reserve Bank regulate things if I can use my Credit Card to buy things online ?

Have been buying software and services for years and never been questioned about it.

[duncan drennan]

...probably quicker than getting Reserve Bank approval...

At this point it doesn't sound too complicated. Need all their banking details (SWIFT number, IBAN, address of bank, account number) and a pro-forma invoice. There is a R100 fee + 0.5% commission on the Rand value. The shipping would be done by a courier, so that makes things a little easier. Just have to get all the info, go in and they'll make the payment across.

I may have managed to find another supplier though, so I can probably skirt around this.

[Dave A]

I may have managed to find another supplier though, so I can probably skirt around this.

Always the first prize when a supplier gets unreasonable. With all the verification facilities available for online credit card transactions nowadays, their problem is more paranoia than fraud.