How to Send a Money Remittance

There are a lot of overseas or foreign workers who send money to their homeland on a regular basis. Sending money through remittances is a common practice all over the world. In America, people who had been issued a worker's visa send money this way to their families. Not only overseas or foreign workers, but oftentimes citizens or residents all over the world who need to send money to their family and friends living in their country of origin would need to send money remittances. In case the situation should ever arise, read on to learn how to send a money remittance.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Remittance company
• Money
• Sender
• Recipient
• Telephone
• Sender's information
• Recipient's information

1. Find a reputable remittance carrier located in your area. Oftentimes, the best remittance companies are endorsed by word-of-mouth. This would be from the experiences of other people you may already know who regularly send money through these companies.
2. Shop and compare. There are a lot of remittance carriers, mostly operated by the people who originated from the country where you're sending your money. Pick your top three choices of remittance companies that service the areas you are sending money to, and then compare their services. The criteria would depend on proven track record or dependability, exchange rates, speed of delivery and amount of fees charged.
3. Once you have picked the best one, go to their branch and then start the process of sending. First, they will give you a form to fill out. Provide them your information and the information of the recipient. It is important that you give them your home and cell phone numbers. Email address can be given as well. Provide the same information for the recipient. Note that your recipient would need to present two forms of legal identification. Make sure that the names on the recipient's identification would match completely with the forms you filled out. There have been times that the, Jr. or Sr. had been mixed up, the carriers have been known not to give the money unless the information matched.
4. Write a short message to your recipient. Most remittance companies do this as an added service. Sign the completed form.
5. Give them the money. Count your money correctly in front of the cashier, who, in turn, will count the money in front of you for confirmation. Most remittance companies accept cash only. Very rarely do they accept official checks or money orders. At times, they would accept credit cards but there will be additional fees.
6. The cashier will then type the information and message you have provided, and then transmit it with the amount via their internal computer system to the nearest branch overseas.
7. Wait for your receipt to be generated. They will give you the original white copy and they'll keep the yellow or duplicate copy. Even if you do not plan on sending money again, they will give you an account number or membership card. This will speed up the process next time you send money since the information has been saved in their system.
8. Confirm the date or approximate time your recipient will expect the remittance. If you sent the money before 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time, in most cases, your money will be received the same day.
9. Call the recipient. Give instructions on the date and approximate time the money will arrive. Tell your recipient to answer his phone promptly and look out for the delivery person if this is being done via hand delivery. Tell your recipient to prepare the two forms of identification before the delivery person arrives to avoid scrambling and wasting time. Ask your recipient to call you back for status. If the money is delayed for some reason, you can follow up with the carrier.
10. Once your recipient had received the money you will then receive a confirmation with the signature of your recipient by mail. This may take weeks as they will process them overseas then mail.

Tips & Warnings

• Check with the Better Business Bureau in the United States when investigating a company.
• If it is not an emergency, it is best to send money when the conversion rate is high. So wait it out a little longer to get the best rate. Exchange rates can change several times in a day, depending on the market, so make sure to ask the schedule of rate changes.
• Report to the authorities any anomalies that you have noticed about the remittance company, especially if you have sufficient grounds to prove that you have been cheated on.
• Beware of fly by nights and scammers, as they will open a remittance company for a short time, advertise great deals to entice people then steal their money. Sometimes it is worth going with a company that has a good reputation, even with higher rates if you are guaranteed excellent service and prompt delivery. Saving you $5 or $10 is not worth the heartache.