subject: 3 Reasons To Use A Prepaid Debit Card To Transfer Money To Europe [print this page] A prepaid debit card is one way to avoid going through expensive money transfer companies and banks with strict rules when you need to transfer money to Europe. Consider the top reasons to use a prepaid debit card instead of other options.
1). There are no expensive exchange rate fees. When you transfer money to Europe using a prepaid debit card, you will send the funds in U.S. dollars. However, when you or the recipient goes to withdraw the cash in any country, the funds will be in the proper currency. In most cases, it will be in the euro, as most European countries switched to that currency. So if you withdraw money in Italy, Belgium, France, Finland, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain, among others, you will get euros. However, a few countries do not use the euro. This means that if you withdraw money in England, it will be in pounds, in Denmark it will be in kroner, in Sweden it will be in kronor, in Bulgaria it will be in lev, to name a few currencies. No matter where you go, you will have the correct currency, whether you withdraw money from the ATM or use your debit card at retailers.
2). The prepaid debit card can get money to recipients fast. As long as you have the card already, your funds will be available immediately. In fact, if you have friends or family overseas that might need your financial assistance, you might consider sending them a prepaid debit card as soon as possible. They might not need it for years, or at all, but if they ever do, the funds you add to the card would be available for use immediately. Most money transfers through banks take at least one to three business days, and checks can take weeks. When it comes to getting money immediately, the prepaid debit card makes sense.
3). You can transfer large amounts of money for very little. If you only need to send a few dollars at a time, it might make sense to use a service that charges a percentage of your funds. However, when you send a hundreds of dollars at once, the fees can add up unless it is a flat rate. The prepaid debit card charges a flat rate of $5, no matter how much you send. This means you can transfer money to Europe at quite reasonable prices. There are small fees to use the card, but it is less than a dollar to use it at retailers, and a few dollars to withdraw cash. The most cost-effective way to use it would likely be to send a lot of money at once, and then have your recipient withdraw the cash at one time. No matter how you use it, though, it is still much cheaper than most other transfer options.
You might transfer money to Europe frequently, in which case you hopefully already use a prepaid debit card. Even if you hardly ever send money, the best way to be prepared is to send a card to your friends or family in European countries. This preparation can not only save you a lot of money in fees, but might also prevent your recipients from going without money for long.
by: Peter Frampton
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