One of the things that could possibly make foreigners’ lives in the U.S. much more complicated might be sending/receiving money between different countries. Including international students who come to SEVIS SAVVY to learn information on studying abroad in the U.S., parents of international students, or internationals who reside in the U.S. might have searched for better ways to save $$ on the international/overseas transaction fee.
Although each country has its own banking system and culture, people mostly used their banks to send and receive money in the past. With the internet, it became more convenient and accessible to send/receive money using online payment/transaction platforms like Paypal. Now, one of the downsides of using Paypal for overseas transactions is that the fee is too high for frequent transactions and for transactions with small amounts.
For example, the international/overseas transaction fee that Paypal charged was about $1.3 per transaction in 2022. In about one year, it almost doubled the fee which could be a burden for some customers to make regular transactions or for people who would like to cut unnecessary costs.
With a Savvy spirit, I did some research and found an online platform/mobile app in which you can send money with as low as $0 commission and save $10 for the first transaction. With this service, I was able to send money to my home country every month with a $0 commission which saved around $40~$50 per year.
In this blog post, I will share from which country you can send money from and which country you can send money to as well as what you need to initiate and complete the overseas transaction. Lastly, you will also be able to get $10 off which you can use for the first transaction if you sign up for WireBarley with this link.
Here are some of the scenarios where WireBarley could come in handy:
- When you need to send money from your home bank account to the U.S. bank account
- When an overseas transaction commission or international fee is too high to use Paypal, etc.
- When you would like to send all the money in your U.S. bank account to your home bank account after graduating
- When you need to send money from the U.S. to different countries regularly or vice versa
- When you would like to send money 24/7 using the mobile app
- When you would like to take advantage of strong dollars (exchange $$ first then use $$ later)
Although this post will be tailored for SAVVIES (international students in the U.S.), any individual who would like to send money from the following 7 countries to the following 45 countries can send money using WireBarley. Likewise, a $10 off discount coupon can be used for any first users. If you are Nepali, you can send money to eSewa Wallet as well.
If you prefer different languages than English, check out the list of languages below to see if you can seek WireBarley services in particular languages.
English
Filipino
Indonesian
Japanese
Korean
Malay
Nepali
Simplified Chinese
Thai language
Traditional Chinese
Vietnamese
- United States
- Australia
- Canada
- Hong Kong
- New Zealand
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malay, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam
Disclaimer: SEVIS SAVVY delivers information based on the visa/immigration regulations and this is no legal advice by any means. Since institutional policies may vary, getting confirmation from your international student advisor will be helpful to ensure that you comply with institutional policies and processes.
1. Change the language
Click here to get to the WireBarley main page. From there you will be able to change the language you see on the main page by clicking the flag and language icon next to the login button. You can also click “send from” to see the list of countries you can send money from.
2. Sign up and login
To get a $10 coupon which you can use from the first international transaction, click here to sign up. Signing up for WireBarley should not take more than 3 minutes if you use your email accounts.
After you create the login credentials, click the “sending from” drop down menu to select which country you are sending money from and complete the login. Once you log in, click the “Send Money” icon right next to your name (where the sign up button was located before you log in).
3. Enter the recipient's information
If you would like to send money from the U.S. bank account to your home bank account, you can simply click the toggle “To Myself”. If you are sending money to anyone else, you would need the following information from the recipient before you move on to the next step:
- Mobile phone number of the recipient
- First and last name of the recipient
- Address of the recipient
- Source and purpose of the fund and relationship to you
- Bank name and account number
What I liked about sending money from WireBarley is that you can check the currency and confirm how much the recipient will be receiving in their currency before you complete the transaction. It will be especially helpful for those who need to send specific amounts in their currency.
The maximum amount you can send from the U.S. is $5,000 as of February 2023. You can play around with the amount to see different fee structures. Transaction fees vary depending on the country you send money to but mostly it was lower than Paypal’s commission. It looks like sending money to India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada and China is free at this point but refer to the WireBarley to confirm the transaction fee.
4. Confirm the transaction
As you can see below, you can also download the pdf file of the transaction receipt. I completed the transaction on the 11th of January and the transaction information appeared on the recipient’s end on the same day. The transaction was completed within 2 days which is the 13th in the U.S. and the 12th in the recipient’s country.
I used the $5 off coupon but you can use this link to get $10 off. Hope this helps international students and their parents who would like to save living abroad costs as much as possible.
This blog post introduced WireBarley which can be useful for internationals in the U.S. for international/overseas transactions with a small to $0 fee. Once you create the credentials, you can simply send money at your fingertips using the mobile app so check it out if you were looking for an international/overseas transaction platform.
To learn more other visa information, study and life tips for international students in the U.S., click the “Learn More” box below!
