Best way to send thousands of dollars to Poland into a bank account. Paying a bill.

jon357 73 | 22595

17 Jul 2014 / #1

Your best bet is a specialist currency broker. They usually charge a premium of about 1% of the interbank rate (banks generally have a mark up of about 3%). Some of them will also do the wire transfer for free.

You should get quotes from several, since they have slightly different offers. Just google currency broker and ask a few for a price.

Tlum 12 | 251

23 Jul 2014 / #2

Western Union business services may be even cheaper, there is even a fixed-fee option regardless the transaction amount, but not sure if they are available in Canada (they are in the US). Also, a regular bank transfer may work well (could be a cheap option if bank has locations both in America and Europe).

Maluch 30 | 94

23 Jul 2014 / #3

I would agree. Deutsche Bank is great too because they have virtual CAD accounts. It cost me $50 back in Canada for my dad to wire money here.

Keep in mind a few things:

- Someone will need a Power of Attorney over your Canadian accounts back home if you want to physically be in Poland and receive the money.

-DB charges 250zl (I believe) each transfer out of the account to other banks

-The Kantor with the best exchange rate for me could only accept 20k CAD per day or something, so I would have had to transfer multiple times to his Raiefhausen bank to get the money converted to PLN.

Monitor 13 | 1810

23 Jul 2014 / #4

- Someone will need a Power of Attorney over your Canadian accounts back home if you want to physically be in Poland and receive the money.

What about online banking?

-DB charges 250zl (I believe) each transfer out of the account to other banks

wow, that's not cheap at all, but if you intend to exchange your CAD to PLN in currency exchange office, then you should be able to withdraw cash for free and carry it to Kantor.

cms 9 | 1253

23 Jul 2014 / #5

If you are sending tens of thousands then be aware that the online brokers are often unregulated and uninsured. Remote chance of it going wrong, but if it does you will have nobody to complain to and no way to get your money back.

jon357 73 | 22595

6 Aug 2014 / #6

Have you looked at transfer wise. It looks interesting and may be an option. They say their fees are lowest.

Related: Paying a Poland-related bill from the United States

I have the account number for the bill I need to pay - however, I live in the US. Is there a way to pay by credit card or paypal and then the funds would get transferred to the bill account number?

If it's a bill from a shop or hotel, they should be able to take it off your credit card, you just need to authorise them. If it's fine or utility bill, then it might be difficult.

In any case you should speak to their accounts, if they want their money, they should make it possible.