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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2013 15:39:53 GMT 7
hi Ross, My gf is Filipino teaching in Thailand and sends money home to her son regularly and gets ripped off by Western Union, can she use OrbitRemit for these type of transfers? Any problems with her being Filipino?
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Post by hypoman on Dec 16, 2013 18:36:08 GMT 7
I use LBC remit for sending money to the Philippines. it costs $8 0r $9 (cant remember) and you can transfer up to 100,000pesos ($2500aus). I just log onto my aussie bank account and do a transfer direct to LBC's aussie account (they have st.george and westpac accounts). I then email them with a screen shot of the transaction and give them my wifes details (name, address and phone number).
usually within the same day (or even a couple of hours!),they will email me back a control number. I txt my wife the number, she jumps onto the bike and goes to the local LBC branch 5mins away.
she can take the whole lot out in one lump sum and has to budget from there on till i send more. the rate is usually found on the LBC website.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2013 4:06:32 GMT 7
Thanks hypoman, can she do it in Thailand do you know? LBC what does that stand for please?
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Post by ding on Dec 17, 2013 7:14:59 GMT 7
Hi Mogo, OritRemit are not doing Thailand at the moment. They are still sorting some aspects of banking there. But it seems LBC is similar www.lbchome.com/ I have only ever used OrbitRemit from Aus to RP, so I can only comment on them. But with OrbitRemit the payments go into a bank account. From what hypoman says, and from what I can find on the web, it seems LBC works like Western Union, and you can actually pick up cash at their branch. The fees at WU killed them off my list though. LBC seems to have similar low fees to Orbit Remit and the same excellent exchange rates. I know there are quite a lot of these low volume remittance firms. You would need to search for one that is trusted. I sent a lot of small payments (at $8 total cost per payment I could justify it) before trusting them with a couple of thousand dollars at a time. Now when I am going over there I just send all my travel money in two lots, and carry just enough for taxi and a halo halo when I arrive LOL.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 4:08:18 GMT 7
Thanks ding, I will pass this onto her, she sends money every few months and I was horrified when I saw the costs with Western Union. I will get her to check this website, many thanks.
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Post by ding on Dec 19, 2013 6:49:59 GMT 7
Hi mogo51,
I think hypoman is the one that deserves thanks :-) He passed the info about LBC. I only expanded a little on it.
I got so sick of charges and exchange rates with WU and the banks that once I found OrbitRemit's low fee and exchange rate almost exactly the official daily rate, and decided I should trust them, I have never looked anywhere else.
But for now, as they don't do Thailand, hypoman's LBC suggestion seems the go.
I have had a gut full of Australia and trying to exist on a shoestring. I wish I could either work, or just drop dead, or go and live in RP with other poor people.
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Post by tablet on Dec 19, 2013 10:35:17 GMT 7
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Post by Denis-NFA on Dec 19, 2013 11:13:35 GMT 7
Well picked up @1960. I think it is outrageous the cost of remitting money through a bank. Sure they can charge whatever fee they want but to discount the exchange rate from the official rate to the extent that they do must nearly bring their practices into the realm of contravening whatever Consumer Fair Trading laws of whatever legal jurisdiction.
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Post by mick on Dec 19, 2013 12:38:32 GMT 7
Hi Mick Citi bank which is not Australian but is an International bank you can use your key/debit card wherever there is a branch assuming you have an account with them there should be no problems . There are no fee's also for this service. The only downside is the Debit card only lasts for 1 year its worth checking out. good luck mate. Thanks IML I am looking into Citibank now. I plan to go to Thailand but have found only a handful of Citibank ATM's in Bangkok. On average what are the fees for using non Citibank ATM's, or what is the worst I will be stung?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2013 9:09:57 GMT 7
You will pay 150bht for non Citibank transactions, plus whatever they will charge. They are only in Bkk, I have been keeping a track on whether they will open one in Pattaya but nothing yet, despite having stands at shopping Centres there.
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Post by tablet on Dec 20, 2013 12:14:20 GMT 7
With the Citibank Visa Debit card, you can use any atm with a Visa sign. In Thailand, if you want to get no fee's what so ever, then use AEON atm's, which are found in shopping centre's. If you use other banks atm's,other than AEON you will be charged the 150bht or 180bht Thai bank atm fee. But you won't be charged any currency exchange rate transaction fee's, that the other Australian banks impose. I have asked at a Citibank branch in Bangkok if there is a 150 - 180bht fee for using the card in a Citibank atm, and was told there might be. If you know Thai people, then that means they didn't know. I haven't tried using the Citibank atm as it's a long way from where my guesthouse is, and I don't want to carry 20,000bht on me across town on a 6.5bht red bus. The exchange rate on that Citibank card is the Visa rate, which is close to the interbank rate, so you are losing very little. By the way, has anyone been charged the new 180bht fee, or is it still 150bht. Also if you use it for international online shopping, again you will not be hit by any fee's for the currency exchange. When buying your air tickets on an international airline, using this card, always click on the currency of the home country of the airline. Don't click on Australian dollars, as the airline will use there own make believe exchange rate, and you will lose out. That is another one of their hidden ways of boosting their profit. Someone mentioned on another post, that the Citibank card only lasts for one year. I am not sure which card they are referring to, but this Visa debit will not expire. Maybe if you don't use it for a year it will go dorment, and you will have to re-activate it. Here is a link to read. All the hassles people have are true. If this card had any fee's, I would not go near Citibank. www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/foreign-exchange-travel-money/citibank-plus-no-fee-no-34155.html1960
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Post by mick on Dec 23, 2013 10:57:09 GMT 7
Yes Citibank looks like quite a good option, I opened an account the other day and am waiting for the card. I hope the Visa exchange rate is better than what the banks offer, they skim off heaps! I will make sure to look for AEON atm's as they sound like a good deal. Another option that people keep mentioning is the 28 degrees MasterCard, which is a credit card.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2013 10:22:42 GMT 7
hi Mick. When I was going regularly to PHils and using the card, the exchange rate was very good. It is a shame they are not more prevalent in Thailand, but outside Bkk non existent.
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Post by tablet on Dec 24, 2013 13:44:17 GMT 7
Hi Mojo, You don't need to use Citibank atm's to get absolutly no fee's. You use the Citibank Visa Debit card in an AEON atm.
1960
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Post by ding on Dec 25, 2013 4:13:13 GMT 7
Hi Mojo, You don't need to use Citibank atm's to get absolutly no fee's. You use the Citibank Visa Debit card in an AEON atm. 1960 Now THAT sounds great. I will still sent money to the bank in Manila, but if I can find the right ATM for Philippines I can get money out occasionally instead of having my gf control the money. When it comes to spending she's tighter than a fishes backside. Or is don't we use sayings like that in Aus these days? Can't keep up with what is p.c. these days.
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