I am in the U.S. and I send money to my parents in Pakistan from my bank account pretty frequently. Only this time, my account hasn’t yet been debitted, more than a week after the wire was initiated last week. The wire transfer was for $4k. I went to the bank this morning and I was informed that the wire has been flagged and that they need more information about the recipient of the wire - my father, who is 78 years old. I told them that this is not the first time I am doing a wire. I have been sending money home for more than a decade. Anyway, they needed his full name, address and the date of birth which I provided. I was told that they will contact me and let me know the progress. I haven’t heard from them yet.
Anyway, I have never felt that helpless before. Its my hard earned money and I am sending it to my own parents to their account. When I eventually move to Pakistan, I plan to send the big chunks to myself into my own foreign currency accounts oversease. If I won’t be able to do that, why am I even here?
I don't know if you're paying anything for the wire transfer (most banks do charge a fee for it), but I use UBL's online service to send money to my relatives and have never had an issue Alhamdullilah. You don't need to have a UBL account to send it.
What about Western Union? It's a little slow but it's cheaper to send money through them than what my bank charges for wire transer ($19).
never had such a problem, I wire to and from my US accounts regularly and have never had such a problem, could be because I transfer to my own accounts with the same title. If this becomes and issue open up your own dollar account in Pakistan and then transfer funds from your Pakistani account to your dad's.
I don't know if you're paying anything for the wire transfer (most banks do charge a fee for it), but I use UBL's online service to send money to my relatives and have never had an issue Alhamdullilah. You don't need to have a UBL account to send it.
What about Western Union? It's a little slow but it's cheaper to send money through them than what my bank charges for wire transer ($19).
I am more concerned about the issue at hand right now, rather than alternate options. I will look into other options once this flagged wire goes through.
I am in the U.S. and I send money to my parents in Pakistan from my bank account pretty frequently. Only this time, my account hasn't yet been debitted, more than a week after the wire was initiated last week. The wire transfer was for $4k. I went to the bank this morning and I was informed that the wire has been flagged and that they need more information about the recipient of the wire - my father, who is 78 years old. I told them that this is not the first time I am doing a wire. I have been sending money home for more than a decade. Anyway, they needed his full name, address and the date of birth which I provided. I was told that they will contact me and let me know the progress. I haven't heard from them yet.
Anyway, I have never felt that helpless before. Its my hard earned money and I am sending it to my own parents to their account. When I eventually move to Pakistan, I plan to send the big chunks to myself into my own foreign currency accounts oversease. If I won't be able to do that, why am I even here?
Anyone else has experienced this before?
Asif, do you send the money directly from your bank account to your parent's account in Pakistan? Or is there an intermediate branch in US involved?
Couple of years ago the same thing happened with me, however I was sending the wire thru my local bank here in US to standard Chartered (SC) in NYC. And then the SC-NYU was routing the money to SC- Karachi. Thats how I was saving the money which you usually have to pay for international wire transfers, because then my wire transfer was considered a local wire transfer from my bank to SC-NYC. SC-NYC was sending my money from NYC to karachi free of charge.
During this process SC-NYC messed up and the wire was delayed by 10 days.
Asif, do you send the money directly from your bank account to your parent's account in Pakistan? Or is there an intermediate branch in US involved?
Couple of years ago the same thing happened with me, however I was sending the wire thru my local bank here in US to standard Chartered (SC) in NYC. And then the SC-NYU was routing the money to SC- Karachi. Thats how I was saving the money which you usually have to pay for international wire transfers, because then my wire transfer was considered a local wire transfer from my bank to SC-NYC. SC-NYC was sending my money from NYC to karachi free of charge.
During this process SC-NYC messed up and the wire was delayed by 10 days.
Did they say that your wire was flagged for security reasons? Thats what they saying to me.
I just got a call from my bank that everything is fine on the wire and it will be sent end of the day today. I quickly checked my bank account online and I see the amount debitted, finally after almost a week. I will believe it when my dad gets it in his hands but I thought I should give an update on here.
The bank won't tell me who it was flagged by (internally or some external source) but they did tell me that my dad's name matched with "a" database.
^In Europe, if the amount is over 10.000 krones (scandinavian currency) then its required to show ID etc. for over seas transfer. Its so absurd that if you want to pay bills over 10.000 kr. its the same rules.....lol Anti-terror law.
It all depends on the bank ur using. As someone said Citibank is pretty lenient in this regard. I had opened an account at HSBC and they were giving me similar grief, so I promply closed the account and wrote a nasty letter to the bank manager. Nothing happened tho
How much does Citibank charge you for international wire transfers (to Pakistan)? Also, how is the bank itself?
How much does Western Union charge for a wire of say $5000 to a U.S dollar account in a pakistani bank?
Anyone uses Washington Mutual bank? They offer free international wire transfers in addition to a lot of other free things with their checking account.
I have been with Chase bank for many years but having second thoughts.
