Author Topic: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?  (Read 3266 times)

Lifeblood

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Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« on: February 24, 2015, 08:19:10 PM »
I need to transfer $500 to a family member's bank account in Uganda. Any tips on the cheapest way to do this? From what I see, it will cost me about $40 or $45 to go through Chase.

2lazy2retire

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2015, 06:24:37 AM »
I have a Nigerian bank account, if you send it to me I'll make sure it gets to Uganda, much cheaper to transfer money within the continent.

netskyblue

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2015, 07:12:25 AM »
Is Paypal an option?

jackiechiles2

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2015, 07:18:28 AM »
I have a Nigerian bank account, if you send it to me I'll make sure it gets to Uganda, much cheaper to transfer money within the continent.

Seems legit. 

KCM5

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2015, 10:28:12 AM »
Is Chase your bank? Transferring money with mine to another county is somewhere closer to $20 (although I've never tried to send money to Uganda, so there's that). Paypal doesn't send money to Uganda. Does the person you're sending the money to use one of those cell phone banking organizations that you can transfer the money through (I have no idea if that works internationally).

TreeTired

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2015, 10:33:36 AM »
Try asking the Gates Foundation if they have any ideas.  They have done work in that area.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#newwindow=1&q=gates+foundation+payment+system+to+africa

Quote
Digital Financial Services

In countries where digital payment systems have taken hold in poor and rural communities, specifically in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, we work with banks, insurance companies, and other providers to increase the range of financial services that people can access in digital form. Many of these services are designed to meet the specific household management needs of low-income people, particularly smallholder farmers and women.

seattlecyclone

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2015, 11:01:53 AM »
Have you considered Bitcoin? Converting USD to Bitcoin is simple and cheap enough. I'm not sure whether your family member would be able to find a suitable way to convert BTC back to the local currency in Uganda. Might be worth looking into if the alternative is paying 10% to a bank.

SantaFeSteve

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2015, 11:34:42 AM »
When I lived in Uganda I had an account with Stanbic Bank, basically the Ugandan National Bank.  My family was able to transfer money from my US Bank account into the Stanbic account for about $25.  I believe it was a $500 transfer also.  This was 3 years ago so it may have increased. 

What bank account will your family member be drawing the money from? 

Lifeblood

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2015, 04:30:59 PM »
I went ahead with Chase this time around. The transfer was indeed to Stanbic. We were charged $40 and they also blocked our online account for good measure until I went down and convinced them the transfer was legit.

The ease of transferring money in this country stops at the borders!


gimp

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Re: Cheapest money transfer to Africa (Uganda)?
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2015, 05:16:09 PM »
This is a family member who is not long-lost royalty, right?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!