Any Bank transfer specialists here?
 

I noticed a discepancy between the amount my cc-processor transfers to me weekly
and the amount that my bank receives. Everytime it's a discepancy of around $4,50,-.

I do not have to go on foodstamps for this, just trying to understand Banks... which seems
almost unpossible as an outsider. Everytime i see a bank, my bloodpressure risses and i'm having troubles to not drive my car through the entrance...:mad:

I called my bank (I did a 30 minutes yoga first... or else i would probably start with screaming) and they gave the following explanation:

My money goes from Bank A in London (i thought i had an American processor) to Bank B in Ney York, because i am paid in dollars and Bank A is in euro area so they need to "buy" dollars so my amount is send to Bank B in Ney York to "exchange" it. :upsidedow

I said: "There is a difference in buying dollars so i can get paid in dollars and sending MY money to America to exchange that amount in dollars... She didn't understand this logic... maybe i'm the one who doesn't understand things about banking... could be... :upsidedow


Well... Then... From Bank B in New York MY money is transferred to Bank C... also in New York.... for what reason... I absolutely have no clue... :upsidedow
Even my own bank hasn't got a clue on this... :upsidedow

Then... From Bank C in New York , MY money is send to my bank in Holland... Bank D....

There I receive my money in USDollars:1orglaugh with a dicrepancy of around 4,50 dollars... which is eaten by all the banks it saw on it's way to my bank.:mad:
Then my bank has to exchange it into euro's:upsidedow and then i see MY amount received in euro's in my bankstatement...


Woudn't it be easier if Bank A just paid me in euro's? :1orglaugh
why do banks send money to US to transfer it into dollars?
When it comes to banks everything is untransparent... i wonder why....

sounds like it goes to an intermediary bank... not all banks accepts wires from point A, so it goes via a bank that does, and that 4.50 is the intermediary fee.

So Bank B = intermediary, bank C is the one that can't recieve from Bank A, but they can recieve from Bank B

especially as the amount is the same each time, and not a variable due to the exchange rate that day.

discrepancy...

Bank A and Bank B are the same company... one is in London and the other is the New York office of that same bank. So Bank C cannot receive from Bank A although Bank B is the same bank as Bank A except the location is different?

amount is everytime different...

With this globalization in the world there are still situations where a Bank C cannot receive from a Bank A? :upsidedow

fuck knows then lol.

And yep, mindblowing isn't it :) Though more likely intentional, as it generates a nice chunk extra for banks as a whole.

lol....

Yes... for us $4,50 is peanuts... even a to small amount to even ask about it... but think about all transaction like this all around...
must be a huge money maker...

The amount they "eat" is the same everytime... The amount that is tranferred (my money)
is different every week...

ah right, I thought the eaten amount was different. So it is a fixed fee, so in turn the explanation they gave doesn't make sense about having to buy $ etc.

Are you 100% the banks are the same (A & B)? eg lloyds business is a separate entity than lloyds personal banking even though they are the same bank - so hazarding another guess, it's a way for them to engineer this charge by going through the 'intermediary'. However the specifics, that's where I'm semi-cautiously betting the discrepancy is.

Maybe she meant that they sell the euros, pounds, etc. to US bank and they send USDs back. And there is exchange fee for that transaction.

It is not your's money by the way. It is bank's money, as long as bank has it. Bank just ows to you.

Banks are a bunch of bastards!

It must be some sort of handling fee, for one bank to process it. But it seems odd that it wouldn't be included in your bank's wire fee. Just curious as to why you wouldn't have a USD account in the NL. That way you can receive in USD without having to be subject to the rate at the time the money is transferred. You could wait until the rates are favourable to you.

There is also a difference in currency conversion between what a bank sells currency for, and what it pays for that currency. For example, a bank may sell $1 USD for $1.14 CAD, but pay $1.15 CAD to get it, even on the same day and same time.

If you can find a way to be more efficient with your banks, do it, and put some of those fees into your pocket.