Sending money home

April 12, 2010 4:58 PM

Help me figure out the best way to regularly transfer money to my family.

I've just started earning enough to regularly send money home, albeit in fairly small amounts (definitely small enough that a wire transfer fee would eat up a significant percentage!). Help me figure out an easy, free/cheap way to do this by direct transfer (rather than just writing her a check).

For what it's worth, my accounts are currently with Wells Fargo; my mother uses a small regional bank (in a town that doesn't have a Wells Fargo). I'm not especially wedded to staying with Wells Fargo, though if I change banks I'd like to go for a credit union, or at least a bank that's less evil than the one I already have. That said, there's a Bank of America and a CapitalOne branch in her town, and I guess we could both open accounts with them.

I'd like to be able to transfer money to her online if possible (fwiw, we're both computer literate, and she's totally comfortable sharing her account and routing number with me to facilitate this).

Thanks!

posted by soviet sleepover to Work & Money (16 answers total)

If you both have accounts with Bank of America, you can transfer money between them online instantly and for free. The same goes if you both have accounts at Wells Fargo. There is a daily cap on transfers, about $1000-$3000 (depending on which bank and what security features you have set up).
posted by phoenixy at 5:03 PM on April 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Do you use online bill pay? Is there a way to set your mother up as a payee? Wells Fargo's online tour seems to indicate you can do this.
posted by bgrebs at 5:06 PM on April 12, 2010

I know with Bank of America, you can transfer between two BofA accounts online relatively easily - I think the max is $1,000 at a time, with a max of something like $3,000 per month. You can't set it up to be a recurring payment, but it is free and the transfer itself happens very quickly - within a day or so in my experience. All you need to set your mom as a transferee is her BofA account number and her billing zip code.

For all I know, other banks (including Wells Fargo and Capital One) could have a similar set up.
posted by that possible maker of pork sausages at 5:09 PM on April 12, 2010

The Ingdirect Electric Orange account has something called p2p (Person2Person) to send money to friends and family. You just need her bank routing and account number, any bank. Video demo on the site.
posted by sharkfu at 5:13 PM on April 12, 2010

Paypal offers something like this, I think.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:16 PM on April 12, 2010

I have one of my accounts set up in wells fargo/wachovia as a bill pay. It's easy, but it take 5 days from when you request it for them to send it out. Just set the other bank account up under "pay bills."

You can either set it up as a person, or another business. I'm sure there's a way to automate payments as well if you know you are going to have a certain amount every month you can send.
posted by TheBones at 5:24 PM on April 12, 2010

I hate BoA, but their bill pay features are second to none. You can even have paper checks sent to any payee free of charge.
posted by speedgraphic at 5:27 PM on April 12, 2010

I just logged into my old Wells Fargo account, clicked on Transfers and noticed this:

NEW! Transfer Between Your Accounts
Bank-to-Bank Transfers

You can transfer money between your Wells Fargo and non-Wells Fargo accounts.
Add Non-Wells Fargo Account

There's your solution.
posted by halogen at 5:34 PM on April 12, 2010

The Wells Fargo thing is not available to all customers yet (I have a Wells Fargo account and don't see it). Also, I believe it's designed for transfers to another account that you own, although I don't know whether it actually checks the name on the account or whether confirming test deposits is enough.
posted by phoenixy at 5:44 PM on April 12, 2010

Er, that should read "the Wells Fargo thing that halogen mentions".
posted by phoenixy at 5:46 PM on April 12, 2010

Yeah, the Bank of America "transfer to another account" is pretty awesome. You can even do it from your iPhone (or other smartphone, I presume) if you have set up the account you are transferring to on the regular website ahead of time.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:47 PM on April 12, 2010

The Ingdirect Electric Orange account has something called p2p (Person2Person) to send money to friends and family. You just need her bank routing and account number, any bank. Video demo on the site.

I have an Electric Orange account and this is free and pretty easy to do. The Electric Orange checking is great in general if you're like me and setup most of your bills to be autopaid and don't need to have a physical checkbook.
posted by burnmp3s at 6:01 PM on April 12, 2010

I have ETrade Checking and it allows for direct ACH transfers. I would look at banks that are also brokerages as they seem to be more capable of transferring money around online with little hassle.
posted by geoff. at 6:41 PM on April 12, 2010

Open an account at your bank that is separate from any other accounts. Get a debit card. Sent/give that to your mother. Call her and tell her when you make a deposit. Ta-da!

It will give you both a reason to talk to each other and if something happens to her, you can be able to use the money on her behalf (a medical bill, for example).
posted by Emintx at 11:20 PM on April 12, 2010

I often use Bank of America's online transfer to send money to others with BoA accounts. It is easy and happens within minutes, and there's no charge. There are per day and per month limits, but from your description I don't think that will be a problem.

I still like @Emintx's idea. If you can leave big banks and go to a credit union, I'd highly recommend that! I have a local CU account, and the customer service is always excellent, yet the fees are non-existent or tiny. If you open two bank accounts there, and give one debit card to your mother, that gives you an easy way to transfer money. Any decent CU should allow you to transfer money between your accounts online for free.
posted by thewildgreen at 8:20 PM on April 13, 2010

per halogen, bank-to-bank transfers are a really convenient way to go. unfortunately, according to Wells Fargo's FAQs, they currently only offer this service in Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, Ohio, or Wisconsin.

if you're willing to open an account with Citibank, Citibank offers free Inter Institution Transfer (IIT). they're free, done online, and extremely convenient.

if you open an acct, you will need to link your mom's online account to your Citibank account through one of 2 ways:

1. she will need to provide you with either her account login and password, or
2. your bank will deposit and withdraw very small amounts into her bank account (after you provide the routing and account numbers). she will need to pass the amounts onto you in order for you to verify her account and link it to yours.

once it's linked, you can make a one-time transfer, set up recurring transfers, etc. Citibank's customer service is also very responsive.
posted by cranberryskies at 5:33 PM on April 15, 2010