So it is 2012 and I am not sure if anyone has had to wire money this decade, but apparently people still have to. This August I found myself in a tight situation, I had to wire $700 to a travel agent in Israel to cover some costs for a trip I'm taking in September.
Originally I got an email from the travel agent saying they did not accept foreign credit cards (agency policy), but needed money and I had to wire it. So I called bull shit and tried to find out if this was some scam. I even went to the FBI's website and was about to file a report against them, but my Israeli contact told me they were legitimate and the travel agent proved it in the email. So after that, I was left with a few options, book with the agent by wiring the money to save $400 or go somewhere else and pick up more expensive arrangements.
I needed to have my payment to the Israeli travel agent ASAP, but have never wired money internationally. The first thing I did was go to Wells Fargo's website and look up how to do it. There instructions were go to a branch during business hours since they do not do wires online. So I left work and went to Wells Fargo. It sure sucked at Wells Fargo. After waiting one of the associates was nice enough to meet with me. I told him that I needed to wire money internationally and that I had the instructions. The associate replied that he could not wire for me, but I could wait a few minutes for another associate who does wires. I waited and meet with the other associate. I was very happy to hear he could do international wires and gave him my instructions. I thought he was writing the info down when I slide over the paper, but he was not. He said I did not have enough information and I need exact addresses for recipients and phone numbers. I told him that I could probably look that up online and asked to use his computer. The associate told me they did not have internet and I'd have to come back with the information. I did not really believe that, but asked for a copy of the wire sheet so I could get all of the fields. On they way out I asked how much does Wells Fargo charge for international wires anyways. The associate replied $45. So after wasting 1.3 hours of my life, I drove back to work and was worried how I'd meet the payment deadline.
At work I wanted to check my account balances anyways and we have the internet so I could look up missing parts. I noticed that Wells Fargo was asking for a hell of a lot more information than was on the wire instructions. I sent and email to the travel agent, who replied that I had wire instructions and the fields she gave me were all standard practice. She did not readily know about the other information Wells Fargo wanted. When I was checking my account with Ally, I clicked the "chat" button and in a few seconds a representative of Ally Bank asked how they could help. As I did at Wells Fargo, I told them I need to wire money internationally and I have the wiring instructions. With in one minute I was done with Ally Bank. The Ally representative sent me the following link http://www.ally.com/files/pdf/ally-international-wire-transfer.pdf and told me all I needed to do was fill it out, fax it, and confirm. I filled it out, faxed it, and confirmed the transfer within one day. Amazingly doing this wire transfer with Ally cost me just $20 vs. the $45 it would at Wells Fargo.
I learned a few things from this experience. First of all, wiring money is a savage practice that should have died out a long time ago. Second, by dealing with Wells Fargo I wasted a lot of my time and would have payed more than twice as much, plus all of the paper work hassles. If you ask Ally Bank, they will usually be able to offer some assistance if they can. After all of this I looked around at different banks and rates and I don't think you can really beat Ally's $20 flat international rate. In addition their wire department and bank is open 24/7 so you wire at your own convenience.
