<p>On several occasions, I’ve paid for things in Europe by transferring funds from my American bank account to a European one.</p>
<p>My bank charges $30 for doing this.</p>
<p>Does anyone know any way to do this for less money?</p>
<p>I need to pay a 60 Euro fee and it is irksome to have to pay $30 to do so.</p>
<p>What about PayPal? I think they do international transfer now.</p>
<p>We used to bank with HSBC when we lived abroad. We had an American acct, and a local acct, but all with HSBC. I was able to do transfer online with no cost and it was in real time, and the exchange rate was better than what I could get outside.</p>
<p>I thought of PayPal, and I asked if I could use it, but I must pay the fee directly to their bank account.</p>
<p>Thanks for the online banking suggestion, I will investigate that option.</p>
<p>Shop around at your local banks and credit unions. Back when Happydad was on sabbatical here in the US and was being paid his salary each month from his old research institute outside the country, our credit union got the transfer fee down to $2. No kidding! I was amazed. Maybe it was because it was every single month?</p>
<p>What are you paying for outside the US? Will the sellers/providers accept a credit card?</p>
<p>I’m paying for an online university course in Germany, and they will only accept payment to their account (so no credit cards or PayPal).</p>
<p>I have to say though, that even if I end up paying the $30 transfer fee, the online courses are a bargain compared to what I would pay here!</p>
<p>Try Xoom. Their fees are reasonable but they do make money on the exchange rate. We use them to transfer funds to our son’s UK bank account. Also, the exchange rate has been much better than that we got with a direct cheque deposit with HSBC.</p>